This ethnographic study of emerging inquiry-based science instruction in an urban, low socioeconomic elementary school science lab was designed to gain insight into the perspectives of the teacher and students. The study involved a Central Florida elementary school whose population was over 80 percent African-American. In this six month study, the researcher examined the classroom setting of a science lab teacher and her fourth and fifth grade students during a six month period of time. Data sources included interviews, field notes, reflections, and student work , which were used to identify the emerging themes and patterns in the study. The emergent themes were grouped into two categories: the perspective of the teacher and students in the inquiry environment and the microculture of the teacher and students in that environment. The teacher’s perspectives on instructional strategies, standard based instructional guidelines, and the realities of teaching in an urban low socioeconomic setting were the major emergent themes. The students’ perspectives into environment and sense-making of elementary school students were the other major emergent themes. Chapter I provides background and the significance of the study. Chapter II provides a research of the literature surrounding inquiry-based instruction in science education. Chapter III describes the methodology, specifically the ethnographic approach to this study. A metaphoric journey down the river of perspectives in science lab classroom sets the tone for Chapter IV. This chapter provides a "view from the shore," an introduction to the general background of the elementary school. Chapter V explores the teacher perspectives, and uses vignettes to analyze instructional strategies, questioning, assessment, standards state and district guideline and the realities of teaching. Chapter VI discusses the student perspectives, and uses vignettes to analyze behaviors and actions, responsibility of learners, assessment, and ways of knowing. Chapter VII pulls together conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research.This study contributes to the total body of research of science education in two ways: 1. It provides student and teacher perspectives on science in an urban, low socioeconomic elementary school. 2. It provides research with a teacher and student perspective of inquiry-based science instruction.

This study was designed as a collaborative action research study and focused on the use of an inquiry-based unit in an eighth grade honors science class at a middle school with a diverse population in the southeastern portion of the United States in the Spring of 2005. The inquiry-based unit was taught through the use of the electronics unit in Full Option Science System (FOSS). The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of an inquiry based curriculum on the level of participation in, attitudes of, and academic performance of students towards science. This collaborative action research study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative forms consisted of written notes taken by the classroom teacher and I that included observations of the whole class as well as observations of students in smaller inquiry groups and conversation and interview notations of student comments while they were doing inquiry work, both individual and group, as well as my notations of interviews and conversations with the classroom teacher. Although used to a lesser degree, quantitative data was collected from pre and post attitude surveys as well as from students' scores on inquiry-based investigations, paper activities and formal assessments. All data was triangulated across a variety of data sources so that any resulting patterns or themes would be supported. My access to this middle school was based on my role as the science coach assigned to the school. As the science coach, I worked with teachers and students to integrate the FOSS middle school curriculum unit into the school's science curriculum. The FOSS kits, workbooks and related reading books were designed to increase the use of inquiry and hands-on activities within middle and elementary school science classrooms.

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Syftet med det här examensarbetet har varit att undersöka elevers erfarenheter och upplevelser av inquiry som arbetssätt i klassrummet. Ett delsyfte har varit att undersöka hur en frågedriven undervisning kan fungera i en svensk skola, i en klass som är van vid lärarledd undervisning. Detta undersöktes genom att genomföra ett arbetsområde i historia med frågedriven undervisning som metod i en klass. Därefter undersöktes elevernas erfarenheter och upplevelser med hjälp av både kvalitativa strukturerade intervjuer med några elever och en kvantitativ enkät i helklass. Det visade sig att frågedriven undervisning är ett tidskrävande undervisningsmoment som ändå fungerade delvis bra i klassen. Det var gynnsamt för klassen med ett tydligt styrt arbete med ett tydligt upplägg. Under tidigare arbetsområden hade diskussioner varit kritiska moment för eleverna men dessa underlättades av arbetssättet inom frågedriven undervisning. En nackdel som visade sig var att flera elever hade svårt att se sammanhanget i arbetsområdet. Flertalet av eleverna ansåg att de lärde sig mer av frågedriven undervisning. De flesta ansåg att det var diskussionerna i klassen som gjorde att de lärde sig mer.

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Explores the implementation of inquiry into the science classroom and presents a model for incrementally changing the traditional (behavioralist) instruction found in the science class to inquiry-based (constructivist) instructional strategies.