How might fourth graders address the problem of measuring the size of a leaf? And why might their classroom teachers choose such a shape to measure? One group of fourth-grade students in an urban Australian school were interested in knowing the sizes of leaves on a passionfruit vine growing at their school. The children were excited after a visit…

While endorsed as critical for promoting learning, students' interest in a topic has had minimal, if any, influence on curriculum development. Teachers thus are challenged to promote students' interest within an established curriculum. After students demonstrated misunderstandings after reading an article about bacteria, Sarah Stallings and Samuel…

With the proliferation of information on how to use data to inform instruction for more than two decades, district leaders, principals, and other stakeholders assume teachers know how to use the cycle of inquiry process to improve student achievement. This case study is an examination of the practice of data use in seven schools in one urban…

Echoing calls to expand environmental education research through design, this study explores the role of design in garden-based education and illustrate its contributions towards practical impact and theoretical insight. Design can explicate and map conjectures about resources, tasks, roles, and other supports for learning and teaching then, in…

This quantitative, nonexperimental research study focused on discovering the impact of inquiry-based instruction on the science achievement of rural Georgia fifth-grade students as measured by the Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS), a criterion referenced test. Inquiry-based instruction is a teaching method that combines the natural…

Developing knowledge and practice for high-quality K-12 class discussion remains challenging, especially for new teachers juggling other classroom responsibilities. Our study reports the case of a preservice teacher learning to lead discussions while enrolled in a teacher education inquiry course, simultaneous with semester-long supervised…

In this study, the relationship among the group creativity, empathy, and scientific inquiry ability of elementary school students were investigated. For this purpose, average scores and standard deviations of the group creativity problem solving, empathy, and scientific inquiry ability inventory were calculated and their correlation was analysed…

On average, Florida students earn only half of the points possible in the statistics content area of the state's annual mathematics assessment. Leaders in Broward County Public Schools, a large, diverse, urban school district, viewed changes to statistics curriculum and instruction as one way to address this issue. This study randomly assigned 40…

Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) has identified low student achievement in statistics in the middle grades as a critical concern. It has also expressed concern that statistics instruction does not meet the level of cognitive complexity described in the state curriculum standards. This randomized controlled trial in 40 BCPS middle schools…

In our interconnected world, what does it mean to teach global environmental issues to young children? Using theoretical foundations from the social justice learning community and child-directed, inquiry-based learning best practices, this practitioner reflection details a seven-week, student-centered, interdisciplinary learning experience…

The Professional Development (PD) intervention in this study introduced special education teachers to inquiry-driven practices utilizing assistive technology (AT) to support student diverse learning needs. The study followed multiple case study research design to examine changes in AT competency and mindset of three special education teachers…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of inquiry-based instruction in the teaching of fundamental movement skills to fifth-grade students on the children's perceived motor competence. Utilizing a post-test experimental design with control group, the study was carried out with 260 fifth-grade students studying in ten different classes…

International research has recognized numerous alternative conceptions and obstacles to learning about Earth dynamics. The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of a teaching intervention that incorporates models and scientific inquiry to promote understanding about Earth dynamics in a group of seventh grade students at a school in…

These are the appendixes for the report "Effects of an Inquiry-Oriented Curriculum and Professional Development Program on Grade 7 Students' Understanding of Statistics and on Statistics Instruction." This cluster-randomized controlled trial compared the Supporting Teacher Enactment of the Probability and Statistics Standards (STEPSS)…

I examine one set of elementary school library standards (New York City School Library System, n.d.) in an effort to analyze the impact that the standards might have on literacy experiences for young children in one urban school setting. Employing a critical discourse analysis framework, I examine the language that the Empire State Information…