Students' Understandings of Scientific Inquiry: Africa

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 48
  In Roundtable Session: Understandings of Scientific Inquiry: A Collaborative International Study of Grade 7 Students

Abstract

Introduction and objective
Understanding scientific inquiry (SI) is critical to the development of students’ scientific literacy (Lederman, Lederman & Antik, 2013). However, SI research is scarce. The aim of this study was to identify the understandings of SI in 7th grade students from Africa.

Theoretical framework
Current science education reform documents emphasize the importance of that students develop abilities to do inquiry and have informed views about SI (National Research Council [NRC], 2011). Lederman et al. (2014) describes eight aspects of SI appropriate in the context of K-12 classrooms. Hence, students should develop informed understandings of the following aspects: Scientific investigations begin with a question, There is no single method followed in all investigations, Inquiry procedures are guided by the question, All scientists performing the same procedures may not get the same results, Inquiry procedures can influence results, Research conclusions must be consistent with the data collected, Scientific data is different to scientific evidence, and Explanations are developed from data collected and previous knowledge.

Methods, participants, and data sources
The participants were representative samples of 7th grade students from Egypt (n=109), Nigeria (n=102) and South Africa (n=106) in Africa. The study is a qualitative study and the VASI questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument that address eight aspects of SI and it was answered using a pencil/paper format in the corresponding students’ language. Each questionnaire was scored by a local team in each country and they received training provided by the instrument´s authors about scoring and reliability. Each aspect of SI was scored for each student as No answer (NA), Naïve (N), Mixed (M), and Informed (I) according to the students´ responses to in each question. Finally, 20% of the students were interviewed for validity purposes.

Results, Conclusions and Implications
Overall, the results show that 7th grade students in Africa show mixed results about understanding of SI aspects. Egyptian students held naïve views in six aspects of SI: Procedures are guided by the question (57%), Data does not equal evidence (55%), Same procedures, different results (51%), Multiple methods (50%), Conclusions consistent with data collected (50%), and Procedure influence results (47%%). Nigerian students show Naïve views in six aspects: Same procedures, different results (77.5%), Multiple methods (68.6%), Procedures are guided by the question (61.7%), Explanations are developed from data and previous knowledge (60.8%), Begins with a question (57.8%), and Conclusions consistent with data collected (42.2%), and informed views in two aspects: Procedure influence results (54.9%), and Data does not equal evidence (36.3%). finally, South African students held informed views in three aspects: Begin with a question (48%, Conclusions consistent with data collected (48%), and Procedure influence results (39%) and Naïve views in three aspects: Same procedures, different results (57%), Procedures are guided by the question (53%), and Data does not equal evidence (51%). Curriculum reforms, textbook activities without an explicit focus on SI, teaching styles and teacher understanding of SI are possible explanations for the current results.

Author

• Heba El-Deghaidy