Tago Sarapuu

Developing an effective support system for inquiry learning in a Web-based environment

Sixty-five teams of basic and secondary school students solved problem-solving tasks during a virtual hike in a Web-based inquiry-learning simulation ‘Hiking Across Estonia’. This environment provided learners with all necessary background information for problem-solving and tools for carrying out experiments. There were 25 tasks in certain order about ecological and environmental issues. The teams were clustered according to the data about participants, the results of the pre- and post-test, and their achievement in problem-solving tasks of the virtual hike. Only two out of five clusters were regarded as effective in solving problems and analysing tables, graphs, figures, and photos. The others had difficulties in forming contextual or task and process awareness. A support system for increasing the effectiveness of inquiry learning and enhancing their development of analytical skills was developed on the basis of the strategies that the members of five clusters had used in solving the problems, their achievement in solving the tasks during the virtual hike and in the pre- and post-test, and the personal data about the teams. The support system contained different notes before solving the problems and changed sequence of the tasks on the virtual hike for some clusters. The usage of this system was evaluated in a second study with 60 teams. The comparison of two studies demonstrated significant effectiveness of the support system to both general problem-solving ability and analytical skills. The characteristics of each cluster and the influence of the support system are discussed in this paper.

A Comparison of Reasoning Processes in a Collaborative Modelling Environment: Learning about genetics problems using virtual chat

This study investigated the possible activation of different types of model‐based reasoning processes in two learning settings, and the influence of various terms of reasoning on the learners’ problem representation development. Changes in 53 students’ problem representations about genetic issue were analysed while they worked with different modelling tools in a synchronous network‐based environment. The discussion log‐files were used for the “microgenetic” analysis of reasoning types. For studying the stages of students’ problem representation development, individual pre‐essays and post‐essays and their utterances during two reasoning phases were used. An approach for mapping problem representations was developed. Characterizing the elements of mental models and their reasoning level enabled the description of five hierarchical categories of problem representations. Learning in exploratory and experimental settings was registered as the shift towards more complex stages of problem representations in genetics. The effect of different types of reasoning could be observed as the divergent development of problem representations within hierarchical categories.

Design Principles for Support in Developing Students' Transformative Inquiry Skills in Web-Based Learning Environments

The aim of this explorative study was to find the factors limiting sixth-grade learners’ outcomes in acquiring skills related to the transformative inquiry learning processes as well as to analyse the interrelations between inquiry skills in order to develop an optimal support system for designing Web-based inquiry learning environments. A Web-based learning environment ‘Young Scientist’ was developed and applied to the domain of integrated science. The skill of identifying the correct research questions appeared to be a prerequisite for formulating research questions. When students understand how to identify the research questions correctly, there is no need for supporting formulation of research questions or hypotheses. We have found that at the stages of analysing data and inferring, students have to be provided with the tools to activate their prior knowledge, assignments help to organize their work into manageable sections, and reflective support or adaptive feedback to relate the results achieved with the process of inquiry. Our findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of inquiry learning can be strongly influenced by regulative support; however, a particular level of initial inquiry knowledge in theoretical context is also needed in order to develop inquiry skills in a situational context.

Investigating Ecosystems as a Blended Learning Experience

The SCY ECO mission, an IBI prize–winning module, fosters inquiry learning, collaboration, and design for ecology following a blended learning approach. Learning by inquiry, collaboration, and design are the central didactic principles of the software developed by the Science Created by You (SCY) project. In SCY technology-enhanced learning environments, or SCY missions, students learn by creating products that they can share and discuss with their peers. In order to do this, they make use of textual or multimedia learning materials and perform physical and virtual experiments.

Comparison of French and Estonian students' conceptions in genetic determinism of human behaviours

Innatism is the belief that most of the human personality can be determined by genes. This ideology is dangerous, especially when it claims to be scientific. The present study investigates conceptions of 1060 students from Estonia and France related to genetic determinism of some human behaviours. Factors taken into account included students’ religion, gender, parents’ education level and the school curriculum. The data analysis used χ2 for single comparisons but also multivariate analyses as between-class analysis and the Monte Carlo test to differentiate samples. The difference in the answers from students of the two countries is strongly significant, Estonian students’ answers being more innatist and linked with more intolerant attitudes than French ones, although in both cases the majority is tolerant. For each country, very few factors differentiate students: only gender in France for the question on sexism and schools in Estonia. These findings show how sociocultural context is important for questions containing values interacting with scientific knowledge. The interpretation of the results infers significantly different trends among Estonian and French students’ conceptions about the determinism of human behaviours and performances.

Transforming Students' Inquiry Skills with Computer-Based Simulations

The application of Web-based learning environment ldquoYoung Scientistrdquo (http://bio.edu.ee/noor) in developing the 6th grade studentspsila inquiry skills (aged 10-12) was studied. The main objectives have been to evaluate the development of studentspsila inquiry skills and how the development of these skills depends on their pre-skills. 302 students all over Estonia solved three problems in the following topics: ldquoThe Production of Plantsrdquo, ldquoThe Fertilization of Plantsrdquo, and ldquoThe Biological Control of Plant-hazardous Insectsrdquo. According to the results of the pre- and post-test their skills of formulating problems, research questions, and hypotheses, planning and conducting investigations, analyzing data, and skills of making inferences developed statistically significantly. Spearman correlation demonstrated that the highest development occurred among the students with initial low level of inquiry skills. The only exception was found in the case of formulating research questions since more advanced pre-skills led to higher development.