Virtual manipulatives running on tablets have been demonstrated to improve students' conceptual understanding in previous studies. However, the differential effects on group interaction during face-to-face collaborative inquiry learning from the support of alternative technology affordances has received little attention. Technology affordances in…

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,…

Background and Context: in this paper, we argue that integrating Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) into K-12 computing education can present learners with opportunities to develop human-centered design skills as well as higher-order thinking skills. Objective: to address the issues related to the development of HCI forms of expertise, we introduce…

This paper examines the potential of culturally-responsive environmental education to engage immigrant early adolescents. Our study suggests that environmental involvement can become a means and an end for children to bridge their school and home in agential ways. Drawing from a multi-phase study involving focus groups with children, parents, and…

The fifth grade students in this project were part of a yearlong ethnographic study in an urban elementary school. They engaged in a student initiated inquiry project combining bakeries and mysteries, which culminated in the production of an original film. Situated in a socio-spatialized stance on literacy involving networks of participation and…

This research investigated Grades 5 and 6 science workbooks for the degree to which they promote scientific inquiry abilities, opportunities that students had to acquire these abilities and the obstacles hindering students from implementing them. A document review technique and a constant comparative method were applied sequentially. A total of 58…

This quasi-experimental study investigates how the classroom learning environment changed after inquiry-based activities were introduced and student questioning was encouraged. Three science teachers and three classes of fifth graders (n = 92) participated in this study. The analysis of covariance reveals that although the experimental group…

Student initiatives play an important role in inquiry-based science with all students, including English language learning (ELL) students. This study examined initiatives that elementary students made as they participated in an intervention to promote science learning and English language development over a three-year period. In addition, the…

Background: Existing research suggests that one of the challenges for teachers in persisting with innovative inquiry curricula is their difficulty scaffolding students' transitions into technology-supported and open-ended activities. The question of whether students can effectively scaffold one another's transitions has not been previously…