Scientific inquiry, digital literacy, and mobile computing in informal learning environments

Abstract

Understanding the connections between scientific inquiry and digital literacy in informal learning environments is essential to furthering students' critical thinking and technology skills. The Habitat Tracker project combines a standards-based curriculum focused on the nature of science with an integrated system of online and mobile computing technologies designed to help students learn about and participate in scientific inquiry in formal classroom settings and informal learning environments such as science museums or wildlife centers. This research documents the digital literacy skills elementary students used while participating in the Habitat Tracker project, exploring the connections between the scientific inquiry practices they developed and the digital literacy skills they employed as they engaged with the Habitat Tracker curriculum. The results of this research have implications for researchers and practitioners interested in fostering both the scientific inquiry practices and digital literacy skills of elementary students in formal and informal learning environments.

A review of the types of mobile activities in mobile inquiry-based learning

“…Learners were not notified about the communication, so it was difficult to follow up the communications. More examples of asynchronous communications can be enact with the use of forums (Chiang et al, 2014a(Chiang et al, , 2014bJones et al, 2013;Lai et al, 2010;Liljeström et al, 2013), online discussion panels (Marty et al, 2013;Wong, 2013) and comments in social boards Aristeidou et al, 2015;Boticki et al, 2015;Song, 2016;Song & Kong, 2014;Wong, 2013).…”

Framing a topic: Mobile video tasks in museum learning

“…In recent years, there have been numerous studies of ways to integrate museum learning research, effective worksheet designs, and mobile applications for field trip use, often modeled on inquiry learning perspectives that prompt students to develop scientific questions and hypotheses, make observations, collect evidence and communicate findings (Frohberg et al, 2009;Marty et al, 2013). The option of making videos using cameras in mobile devices is often included in the educational design of such 'multimodal worksheets.'…”

“Doing Science” in Elementary School: Using Digital Technology to Foster the Development of Elementary Students’ Understandings of Scientific Inquiry

“…The project, Habitat Tracker (http://tracker.cci.fsu.edu/), was structured to use online and mobile learning technologies while students conducted inquires in the classroom and on a field trip to a local wildlife center as part of a larger curriculum focused on understanding scientific inquiry and nature of science (Marty et al, 2013). Pre-and post-responses to an open-ended questionnaire developed by Schwarz, Lederman, and Lederman (2008) called The Views of Scientific Inquiry -Elementary School Version (VOSI-E) were evaluated using a mixed methods approach.…”

“…Bell, Smetana, and Binns (2005) describe four types of inquiry that provide varying opportunities for students to engage in the practices of science: a) confirmation inquiry -students corroborate a principle by completing an activity where the results of the inquiry are already known; b) structured inquiry -the teacher provides a question or problem to the students along with a set of prescribed procedures to follow in order to answer the question or solve the problem; c) guided inquiry -the teacher presents a question or problem and the student designs or selects the procedures to answer the question or solve the problem; and d) open inquiry -the student formulates questions or problems and designs or selects the procedures to answer the question or solve the problem. Regardless of the type of inquiry, there has been a move to provide students with multiple learning opportunities (Dierking, Falk, Rennie, Anderson, & Ellenbogen, 2003;Eshach, 2007;Hofstein & Rosenfeld, 1996;Marty et al, 2013) across formal classroom and informal settings, such as museums and wildlife parks (Griffin, 2004;Hwang, Tsai, Chu, Kinshuk, & Chen, 2012;Kisiel, 2007;Knapp & Barrie, 2001;Rennie & McClafferty, 1995) to develop "habits of mind" (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993, p. 281) associated with inquiry.…”

“…The curriculum was structured to use online and mobile learning technologies to engage students in the practices of science as they conducted scientific inquiries on field trips to a local wildlife center (Marty et al, 2013). Students used a custom-designed mobile learning (iPad) application and integrated website to work with digital journals and online databases to gather, share, and analyze scientific data about wildlife and natural habitats.…”