Role diversification, the different roles participants adopt within collaborative or inquiry-based teaching and learning environments, is insufficiently understood. We observed two inquiry classroom groups, two teachers and eight students, in weekly visits over three months. Qualitative analysis of audiorecorded interactions, interviews, journals,…

This study investigated 27 chemistry professors' perceptions of learning in undergraduate education and their suggestions for adopting an inquiry-based pedagogical approach to teaching and learning. Semistructured interviews revealed that two thirds of participants perceived undergraduate learning in traditional ways such as the acquisition of…

Inquiry-based teaching and learning are rooted in social constructivism and are central to curricular reform. Role theory and social constructivism provided insight into a commonly observed but insufficiently understood phenomenon in inquiry. Within inquiry, role shifts have been described as the switching of roles between students and teachers;…

Students and teachers engage in specific roles in classrooms, and within inquiry classrooms, these roles tend to be more varied compared to traditional settings. Teachers may take on traditional student roles including the role of learner, and students, for example, take on the additional role of question asker, traditionally reserved for the role…

Curricular reform efforts are underway in many countries, focused on adopting inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning. Therefore, it is increasingly important to understand what outcomes students attain in inquiry environments. Derived from a literature review, a 23-item, criterion-referenced inventory is presented for theoretically…