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Teacher epistemology and scientific inquiry in computerized classroom environments
Author(s) -
Maor Dorit,
Taylor Peter Charles
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660320807
Subject(s) - mathematics education , class (philosophy) , perspective (graphical) , psychology , science education , pedagogy , constructivist teaching methods , science class , teaching method , epistemology , computer science , philosophy , artificial intelligence
A 20‐week classroom‐based study was conducted to investigate the extent to which a computerized learning environment could facilitate students' development of higher‐level thinking skills associated with scientific inquiry. In two classes students' interactions with a scientific data base— Birds of Antarctica —were closely monitored, and the mediating roles of the teachers' epistemologies were examined. Interpretive data were generated and analyzed in relation to a constructivist perspective on learning. In the class where the teacher implemented a constructivist‐oriented pedagogy, students took advantage of enhanced opportunities to generate creative questions and conduct complex scientific investigations. These higher‐level thinking skills were much less evident in the class in which a more transmissionist‐oriented pedagogy prevailed. The results of the study suggest that it is not the computer itself that facilitates inquiry learning; the teacher's epistemology is a key mediating influence on students' use of the computer as a tool of scientific inquiry.