Supporting planning and conducting experiments

In inquiry learning learners design and conduct experiments. Learners experience difficulties with the involved processes and need guidance to design useful experiments. To guide students in this we created a configurable experiment design tool that is usable in multiple domains. The tool was tested with two configurations; one with a CVS structure in which learners had to design at least three experimental trials before conducting their experiment, and one in which this wa s not required. In the current study secondary students designed and conducted experiments in an online lab about buoyancy and Archimedes' principle. Three conditions were compared in terms of students' conceptual knowledge gain. Students worked with one configuration of the tool, or with no tool. Results showed significant differences between conditions for lower prior knowledge students' learning gain about buoyanc

The influence of prior knowledge on experiment design guidance in a science inquiry context

Designing and conducting sound and informative experiments is an important aspect of inquiry learning. Students, however, often design experiments that do not allow them to reach conclusions. Considering the difficulties students experience with the process of designing experiments, additional guidance in the form of an Experiment Design Tool (EDT) was developed, together with reflection questions. In this study, 147 pre-university students worked in an online inquiry learning environment on buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle. Students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions, each of which contained a different version of the EDT. Since students’ prior knowledge has been found to influence the amount and type of guidance they need, the versions of the tool differed with respect to the level of guidance provided. A pre- and post-test were administered to assess students’ conceptual knowledge. No overall differences between conditions were found. In a subsequent analysis, students were classified as either low, low-intermediate-, high-intermediate, or high prior knowledge students. For Archimedes’ principle we found that low-intermediate prior knowledge students gained significantly more conceptual knowledge than low prior knowledge students in the fully guided condition. It is hypothesised that students need at least some prior knowledge in order to fully benefit from the guidance offered

Providing guidance in virtual lab experimentation: the case of an experiment design tool

The present study employed a quasi-experimental design to assess a computer-based tool, which was intended to scaffold the task of designing experiments when using a virtual lab for the process of experimentation. In particular, we assessed the impact of this tool on primary school students’ cognitive processes and inquiry skills before and after the study’s treatment, using pre- and post-tests. Our research design involved a group of students who used the computer-based tool/scaffold to design the study’s experiments (experimental condition) and a group of students who used a paper-and-pencil worksheet as a scaffold to design the same experiments (control condition). The primary finding of the study was that the use of the computer-based experiment design tool had a more positive effect on students’ inquiry skills related to identifying variables and designing investigations than the paper-and-pencil one. This might be attributed to the functionalities provided only by the computer-based experiment design tool, which enabled students to focus their attention on crucial aspects of the task of designing experiments through (1) maintaining values for constant variables when planning experimental trials and (2) the provision of instant feedback when classifying variables into independent, dependent and controlled variables. Moreover, students in the two conditions displayed differing patterns of interactions among cognitive process and inquiry skills. Implications for designing and assessing similar computer-based scaffolds are discussed

Supporting planning and conducting experiments

In inquiry learning learners design and conduct experiments. Learners experience difficulties with the involved processes and need guidance to design useful experiments. To guide students in this we created a configurable experiment design tool that is usable in multiple domains. The tool was tested with two configurations; one with a CVS structure in which learners had to design at least three experimental trials before conducting their experiment, and one in which this wa s not required. In the current study secondary students designed and conducted experiments in an online lab about buoyancy and Archimedes' principle. Three conditions were compared in terms of students' conceptual knowledge gain. Students worked with one configuration of the tool, or with no tool. Results showed significant differences between conditions for lower prior knowledge students' learning gain about buoyanc

NF-kappa B/MAPK activation underlies ACVR1-mediated inflammation in human heterotopic ossification

Immunogenetics and cellular immunology of bacterial infectious disease

Identifying potential types of guidance for supporting student inquiry when using virtual and remote labs in science: a literature review

The aim of this review is to identify specific types of guidance for supporting student use of online labs, that is, virtual and remote labs, in an inquiry context. To do so, we reviewed the literature on providing guidance within computer supported inquiry learning (CoSIL) environments in science education and classified all identified guidance according to a recent taxonomy of types of guidance. In addition, we classified the types of guidance in phases of inquiry. Moreover, we examined whether the types of guidance identified for each inquiry phase were found to be effective in promoting student learning, as documented in the CoSIL research. This review identifies what types of effective guidance currently exist and can be applied in developing future CoSIL environments, especially CoSIL environments with online labs. It also highlights the needs/shortcomings of these available types of guidance. Such information is crucial for the design and development of future CoSIL environments with online lab