Mars Explorers: A Science Inquiry-Based Learning Project in Preschool

Inquiry-based science education has become one of the most effective methodologies to learn science; however, proposals in preschool are scarce. Different factors are responsible for this situation, such as the low self-confidence of teachers to teach science and the belief that young children are unable to develop certain reasoning skills. This study reports the implementation of an inquiry-based science project in a preschool setting, in the context of a preservice teacher’s school placement. The project aimed to promote the development of basic and integrated scientific skills, enhance acquisition of conceptual knowledge and make the students enjoy while learning science. The intervention is described thoroughly and illustrated with examples from the real implementation of the theoretical IBSE sequence. At the beginning of the proposal, the students received a hypothetical letter from the astronaut Pedro Duque, in which they were asked for help to plan his trip to living on Mars, a cold planet, with only frozen and saltwater. After some introductory POE (predict, observe, and explain) experiences on the perception of temperature and activities with fresh and saline water, the students performed a piece of research: growing lettuce in four different conditions, combining two variables: temperature and the salinity of water. As the project developed, the students progressively gave better descriptions and justifications, and also showed great interest in performing more “research experiments”. For the preservice teacher, the project provided an excellent opportunity to implement academic knowledge in school practice.

Inquiry-Based Teaching Practices, Attitudes, and Difficulties of Secondary Science Teachers in Masinloc District Division of Zambales for S.Y. 2020-2021

This study aimed to assess the science inquiry-based practices, attitudes, and difficulties of secondary science teachers in the district of Masinloc, division of Zambales. The data gathered through the questionnaire were statistically treated with percentage, weighted mean, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). There is significant difference on the number of trainings towards origin of questioning, nature of problem, responsibility within the inquiry process, students’ diversity and variability and explanation of learning goals. There is significant difference on highest educational attainment towards explanation of learning goals and significant on sex towards origin of questioning. There is significant difference on the perception towards attitude on the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning when grouped according to highest educational attainment. There is significant difference on the number of trainings towards all dimensions of practices of science teachers exhibited components of scientific inquiry-based learning approach; The researcher recommended that the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning approach in teaching Science is highly encouraged in order to help the learners to overcome their problems in engaging with the lesson; that the teacher is encouraged to use the inquiry-based teaching and learning practices model to help them in attaining the consistency of the inquiry process within their lesson; and lastly a replication of this study is encouraged with in-depth and wider in scope so as to better determine the effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Teaching/Learning approach.

How the Finnish compulsory school science curriculum emphasises scientific literacy

Science subjects are introduced as separate subjects in the Finnish national lower-secondary level science curriculum. The curriculum concentrates on attitudes, which support the use of scientific knowledge in different science inquiry situations and contexts. The competence aims, introduced in the curriculum, emphasise the use of scientific knowledge, such as describing, explaining and predicting scientific phenomena, evaluating and identifying scientific issues, and interpreting data and evidence scientifically. The curriculum emphasises the learning of transversal competencies, such as learning critical and creative thinking skills and learning versatile ways of working. The curriculum also focuses on the use of knowledge in inquiry, life and living and society related situations. Overall, the description of the core subject matter knowledge aims to integrate Vision I (a conceptual approach) and Vision II (a contextual approach) related to the development of science literacy, introduced by Roberts.

Scholar Entangled: The Unattainable Detachment in Social Inquiry

The practice of social studies continues to be a complicated scientific endeavor. From an epistemological point of view, the social sciences, unlike the natural sciences, do not conform to the predominant definition of science. The existing differences among expositions of “science,” “inquiry,” and “studies” lie with the contested role of the intellectual who is embarked on understanding the social realm. The “maturity” of the social sciences is usually discussed in the context of objectivity and rationality. But continuing epistemological debates would be insufficient without reference to the scholar as a human studying humans. The philosophy of science has focused mainly on the procedures of knowledge accumulation, neglecting social context and its implications for inquiry. To address this neglect, this essay sets out first to retrace doubts about the role of the scholar that emerged with the institutionalization of the social sciences at the outset of the twentieth century and then to rethink these issues in terms of recent scientific developments. What surfaces is a new, participatory role for scholars that demands responsible contextualization and a broader conception of causal stories.

Emotional and Cognitive Preservice Science Teachers’ Engagement While Living a Model-Based Inquiry Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Sequence About Acid-Base

Science inquiry and modeling activities have been proved to heighten emotional situations; therefore, research about emotions should aim to identify which activities promote student engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields through multidimensional models that include emotional and cognitive engagement. This research is focused on science teachers’ need to carefully review their classroom instructions to ensure that students are provided with opportunities to develop appropriate understandings of acid/base models (and their concepts). To achieve this, we have implemented a short model-based inquiry acid-base instructional sequence in the context of a TV-spot about chewing gum. A descriptive, non-experimental quantitative methodology with a heuristic (emotional: self-report questionnaire; and cognitive: self-regulation questionnaire) has been used to analyze what Pre-Service Secondary Education Teachers from several Spanish universities recognize to have learned and felt in each activity. Differences regarding knowledge declared by the participants were identified in all the tasks from before to after carrying them out. Furthermore, the results seem to indicate that there are significant relationships between the knowledge and the emotions, being different depending on the skill involved. Significant correlations between emotions have been found. However, there were no significant correlations with either rejection and knowledge or with other emotions, which points to emotional engagement. Generally, no significant differences were identified between emotions and gender or universities, with some exceptions between genders in two tasks. Thus, the results led us to reflect on the instructional sequence implementation’s ability to bring awareness to the learning process and how it produces multidimensional engagements.

Ensuring Social Impact at Every Stage of Technology Research & Development

Although the United States national innovation system has produced many technologies, their benefits are not evenly distributed across the country’s population. This stands in direct contrast to the aims of government, which frequently funds science research for the purpose of social benefit. This paper first undertakes a deep reconsideration of the US national innovation system, and then reframes it as a collective impact initiative in order to coordinate every one of its contributors around this goal. It begins by tracing the origins of the longstanding tensions between science undertaken for the sakes of science inquiry versus societal benefit. It then discusses the inadequacies of practices meant to bridge science outcomes and societal needs like the broader impacts and technology transfer. It concludes by proposing a significant expansion of the stakeholders that evaluate the proposals and outcomes of federally funded research. This integrates diverse public participation into the proposal selection process, research discussions, and technology transfer to ensure that universal social impact is routinely considered.