Exploring the Transfer of Students' Competencies From Virtual Inquiry to Hands-On Inquiry

• In Event: Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications in Education

Abstract

NGSS (2013) emphasizes the need to develop students’ inquiry competencies so that they are transferrable across contexts. We used a quasi-experimental design to investigate whether students’ learning in Inq-ITS virtual labs would transfer to performance on inquiry practices in hands-on investigations. Fifty-one middle school students completed a hands-on lab as a baseline on hypothesizing, collecting data, and analyzing data. Students then completed 0-3 virtual investigations in the Inq-ITS system before completing a second hands-on lab. A repeated measures MANOVA indicated that after completing 2-3 Inq-ITS labs, students began to show greater improvement on and transfer of practices (particularly hypothesizing and collecting data) on their second hands-on lab, when compared to a group who did 0-1 Inq-ITS virtual labs.

Authors

• Rachel F. Dickler, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Janice Gobert, Rutgers University

• Charity Staudenraus, Apprendis

• Rinat Levy Cohen, Fordham University