The role of structured inquiry, open inquiry, and epistemological beliefs in developing secondary students’ scientific and mathematical literacies

International Journal of STEM Education

Zuway-R Hong¹  Huann-shyang Lin²  Hsin-Hui Wang³  Thomas J. Smith⁴  Jill Fielding⁵  Hsiao-Ching She⁶ 

[1] Center for General Education, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Center for General Education, National Sun Yat-Sen University, 70 Lien-hai Road, 804, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Center for General Education, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Center for General Education, National Sun Yat-Sen University, 70 Lien-hai Road, 804, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia;Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA;Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia;University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia;Institute of Education, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan;

关键词: Epistemological beliefs;    Inquiry-related learning activities;    Mathematical literacy;    Scientific literacy;    Structural equation modelling;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40594-022-00329-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe recommendation from national documents and reports to promote inquiry-related science activities has not been supported by recent studies, which have found the overall frequency of inquiry activities to be negatively associated with student learning outcomes. This study was inspired by such conflicting reports and aimed to clarify the associations of science-specific, inquiry-related activities and epistemological beliefs with students’ mathematical and scientific literacies.ResultsA secondary analysis of the database from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2015 of Australia (N1 = 14,530) and Taiwan (N2 = 7708) utilizing structural equation modelling revealed that these two countries exhibited similar data patterns. Results suggested that open-inquiry activities (such as debating and planning experiments) had a negative relationship with secondary students’ mathematical and scientific literacies. Structured inquiry learning (such as students explaining their ideas and teacher explaining how an idea can be applied to different phenomena) and epistemological beliefs about science were significant and positive predictors of student mathematical and scientific literacy performance.ConclusionsThe current study further highlights and provides empirical evidence that the teacher’s role in structured inquiry (especially pertaining to the relevance and applicability of these ideas) appears to be essential to the development of student literacy. Educational implications and recommendations are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY