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.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

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.

Proposes a new model for teaching inquiry and critical thinking in the middle school science classroom. This model will assist students in learning the evidence for evolution for themselves, as well as assisting them in developing skills in critical thinking and inquiry. The objective of this model is to create a more scientifically literate student body who can go on to pursue an even greater understanding of the nature of science.

This study investigated the implementability of the French La main à la pâte (LAMAP) inquiry-based science education (IBSE) programme in the South African context. An interpretative, qualitative multiple-case study design was utilised to elicit the voices of both young children-as-scientists engaged in scientific inquiry and student teachers who facilitated science education following the LAMAP approach. The conceptual framework integrated contemporary perspectives on childhood, theory theory and constructivist theory concepts and IBSE. Three conveniently sampled schools in an urban setting were purposively selected as cases, with 70 Grade 1 to Grade 3 children and three student teachers as participants. The findings of the study indicate that the children engaged in IBSE as natural scientists, displaying the cognitive capacity to think, act and learn like real scientists in the context of their classrooms. Engaging in science within a community of scientists, and being physically and mentally active in the knowledge construction process furthermore shaped children’s sense of agency and identity as scientists. The findings furthermore indicate that implementing IBSE contributed to shaping student teachers’ professional identity as science teachers for young children. As young scientists-in-waiting children are, however, dependent on researchers, higher education institutions concerned with teacher training, decision-makers and the broader education community to mobilise and sustain their potential for being and becoming scientists. The findings of the study resulted in a framework proposing guidelines on multi-levels for IBSE implementation in the South African Foundation Phase classroom context. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / The National Research Foundation Sabbatical Grant for Doctoral Studies / The University of Pretoria Vice-Chancellor's Academic Grant Programme / Educational Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

JUHASOVÁ, P., Invertebrate Lectures And Their Use In Leisure Lessons. Master thesis. Praha: Charles univerzsity in Prague, Faculty of Education, 2016. 94 s. In this diploma thesis, practical tasks focused on invertebrate biology are presented. They are targeted for science hobby groups. Detailed instructions for experiments and observations as well as for capturing invertebrates can be found in this diploma thesis. There are described also long-term projects in the form of inquiry-based teaching tasks, construction of man-made outdoor insect nests (so-called "insect hostels") and also the indoor invertebrate keepings. The vast majority of tasks were tested in practice in two science hobby groups, attended by a total of 30 participants. The aim of these tasks is to increase the attractiveness and accessibility of natural science to a wider audience and improving its presentation, but also to arouse positive attitude to nature and all living creatures. Inspiration will be found there not only by leaders of natural science clubs, but also by teachers, who want to incorporate practical work with animals into teaching. Key words: invertebrates, experiment, observation, breeding, inquiry-based edusdion, IBE

Making the transition from calculus to advanced calculus/real analysis can be challenging for undergraduate students. Part of this challenge lies in the shift in the focus of student activity, from a focus on algorithms and computational techniques to activities focused around definitions, theorems, and proofs. The goal of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) is to support students in making this transition by building on and formalizing their informal knowledge. There are a growing number of projects in this vein at the undergraduate level, in the areas of abstract algebra (TAAFU: Larsen, 2013; Larsen & Lockwood, 2013), differential equations (IO-DE: Rasmussen & Kwon, 2007), geometry (Zandieh & Rasmussen, 2010), and linear algebra (IOLA: Wawro, et al., 2012). This project represents the first steps in a similar RME-based, inquiry-oriented instructional design project aimed at advanced calculus. The results of this project are presented as three journal articles. In the first article I describe the development of a local instructional theory (LIT) for supporting the reinvention of formal conceptions of sequence convergence, the completeness property of the real numbers, and continuity of real functions. This LIT was inspired by Cauchy's proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem, and has been developed and refined using the instructional design heuristics of RME through the course of two teaching experiments. I found that a proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem was a powerful context for supporting the reinvention of a number of the core concepts of advanced calculus. The second article reports on two students' reinventions of formal conceptions of sequence convergence and the completeness property of the real numbers in the context of developing a proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT). Over the course of ten, hour-long sessions I worked with two students in a clinical setting, as these students collaborated on a sequence of tasks designed to support them in producing a proof of the IVT. Along the way, these students conjectured and developed a proof of the Monotone Convergence Theorem. Through this development I found that student conceptions of completeness were based on the geometric representation of the real numbers as a number line, and that the development of formal conceptions of sequence convergence and completeness were inextricably intertwined and supported one another in powerful ways. The third and final article takes the findings from the two aforementioned papers and translates them for use in an advanced calculus classroom. Specifically, Cauchy's proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem is used as an inspiration and touchstone for developing some of the core concepts of advanced calculus/real analysis: namely, sequence convergence, the completeness property of the real numbers, and continuous functions. These are presented as a succession of student investigations, within the context of students developing their own formal proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem.

O presente trabalho foi elaborado com o intuito de mapear quais ações tomadas por um professor promovem a argumentação dos estudantes. Para isso levamos em conta o contexto do ensino por investigação e a importância dessa abordagem didática para a promoção da Alfabetização Científica. Caracterizamos o que é o ensino por investigação e explicitamos qual é o espaço da argumentação em um ambiente de ensino pautado em seus pressupostos. Com base na revisão da literatura, discutimos especificidades em torno do que vem a ser argumentação em sala de aula e qual a sua importância para a construção de entendimento pelos estudantes sobre conteúdos científicos, bem como seu espaço na implementação de abordagens investigativas. À luz dessas conjecturas, estruturamos um grupo de categorias denominadas propósitos epistêmicos para promoção da argumentação que, em conjunto com os indicadores de alfabetização científica propostos por Sasseron (2008) e com os tipos de perguntas realizadas pelo um professor propostas por Machado (2012), nos permitiu construir um instrumento analítico para estudo de uma situação empírica de sala de aula. Nossa fonte de dados consistiu nos registros oriundos da implementação de uma Sequência de Ensino Investigativa que abordou o tema dualidade onda-partícula da luz. Por meio da análise das transcrições das falas de alunos e professor referentes às duas aulas finais desta sequência de ensino foi possível encontrar diferentes tipos de argumentos construídos pelos alunos e estabelecer como estes foram favorecidos. Concluímos, entre outras coisas, que o professor exerce papel importante para a promoção e o desenvolvimento de situações argumentativas, uma vez que nossa interpretação dos dados evidenciou aspectos, como, por exemplo, a necessidade da retomada de informações, da problematização de situações de investigação e exploração de distintos pontos de vistas para a construção de argumentos e entendimento pelos alunos sobre o objeto que estava sendo investigado coletivamente. / This research was performed aiming to map out which teacher\'s actions can promote argumentation by students. Therefore, we considered the context of inquiry-based teaching and the importance of this didactic approach to promote Scientific Literacy. We characterized the inquiry-based teaching and explained what is the place occupied of argumentation in an educational environment based on their assumptions. Based on the literature review, we discussed what is argumentation and its relevance to building up understandings by students about scientific contents. In light of these conjectures, we have structured a category group called epistemic purposes to promote argumentation that, together with the scientific literacy indicators proposed by Sasseron (2008) and the types of questions asked by a teacher proposed by Machado (2012), allowed us to design an analytical tool to study classroom empirical situation. Our data source consisted of records arising from the implementation of an Inquiry-based Teaching Sequence that addressed the subject wave-particle duality of light. Analyzing the transcripts of the speeches of students and teachers concerning to the final two classes of this teaching sequence was possible to find different types of arguments built by students. We concluded, among other things, the importance of the role of the teacher to promote the development of argumentation situations, since our interpretation of the data indicated aspects, as, for example, the need for resumption information, the questioning of situations and exploration of different points of views to construct arguments and understanding by students about the object that was being investigated collectively.