rk over a period of time. Describing problems students encounter as they engage in inquiry and finding ways to ameliorate those problems has received considerable attention recently (Hmelo & Williams, [Special Issue, JLS], 1998; McGilly, 1994, Blumenfeld et al, 1998). In this paper, we describe inquiry in more detail, discuss ways to aid students via instructional, curriculum, and 1 . In Minstell, J. Van Zee, E. (Eds.) Inquiry into inquiry: Science learning and Teaching, American Association for the Advancement of Science Press, Washington, D.C. (in press). 2 The authors would like to thank Ann Rivet from the University of Michigan for her helpful editorial comments. 11/4/98 page 2 technological supports, and then illustrate how these have been applied to specific phases on inquiry where students encounter difficulties. What Is Inquiry And Why Use It? Broadly conceived inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists stu

Although educational research and practice has found many benefits of long-term and complex design activities, an issue of growing concern is that students might lose sight of science learning while diverting their attention to design aesthetics, collaborative management, and technology. A question is whether or not science is actually separate from these aspects; it may be that science permeates the design environment and is thus contexted within these other activities. To investigate this possibility we followed a classroom of 33 students, divided into 7 teams, and we examined their science discussions as they planned for creating instructional software designs. Specifically, we investigated which conversational contexts gave rise to science talk. We found that a focus on the fine-grained details of the instructional science designs themselves and the contributions of more design-experienced students played an important role in the sophistication of the science content in the planning discussions. In examining less productive contexts for science talk, we found that a conversational focus in planning discussions on collaboration and software issues, as well as the science focus of the software designs, impacted the quality of science integration. In our

The prescriptive tradition

To understand the issues of inquiry-based education, I adopted John Dewey’s theory of inquiry as the analytical framework to examine science learning activities, students ’ interactions, and education standards. Educators have tried to engage students in meaningful learning, but the analysis revealed that the meaning of inquiry was diverse: interesting hands-on materials to teach scientific knowledge; collaborative group work for independence and democratic attitudes; and dynamic problem solving to change the community and the students ’ identities. Efforts to connect students ’ experiences with school learning aimed at different learning outcomes and consequently met with a different set of dilemmas in drawing students ’ participation and supporting their learning. The interaction among the educational goals, the learning outcomes, and the difficulties shows that we need to evaluate carefully the meanings of inquiry-based education and its learning goals in order to find better ways to ensure students ’ growth to its fullest. ii Acknowledgements In the long journey of my graduate study, I have met many wonderful people. They provided generous support for my intellectual growth and for this dissertation. I’m afraid I