Web-based Collaborative Inquiry to Bridge Gaps in Secondary Science Education

Abstract

As secondary students’ interest in science is decreasing, schools are faced with the challenging task of providing adequate instruction to engage students—and more particularly the disadvantaged students—to learn science and improve their science inquiry skills. In this respect, the integration of Web-based collaborative inquiry can be seen as a possible answer. However, the differential effects of Web-based inquiry on disadvantaged students have barely been studied. To bridge this gap, this study deals with the implementation of a Web-based inquiry project in 19 secondary classes and focuses specifically on gender, achievement level, and academic track. Multilevel analysis was applied to uncover the effects on knowledge acquisition, inquiry skills, and interest in science. The study provides quantitative evidence not only that a Web-based collaborative inquiry project is an effective approach for science learning, but that this approach can also offer advantages for students who are not typically successful in science or who are not enrolled in a science track. This approach can contribute to narrowing the gap between boys and girls in science and can give low-achieving students and general-track students an opportunity to develop confidence and skills for learning science, bringing them to a performance level that is closer to that of high-achieving students.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We wish to thank the reviewers and more particularly Nikol Rummel, who acted as the Associate Editor during the review of this article, for her thoughtful and fruitful feedback, which improved this article through the different rounds of revision. We are also thankful to James Slotta, who introduced us to WISE and the knowledge integration approach; and to Marcia Linn, who gave Annelies Raes the opportunity to visit the University of California at Berkeley as a visiting student researcher and get acquainted with the Technology Enhanced Learning in Science research community.