Searching for a common ground – A literature review of empirical research on scientific inquiry activities

Figures & data

Figure 1. Analysing the construct scientific inquiry on different levels in this review.

Figure 2. Schematic representation of the literature search and selection process.

Figure 3. Distribution of studies focusing on specific inquiry activities and providing conceptual details of this activity. The larger bars (light grey) indicate the ratio of studies addressing a specific activity in relation to the total number of studies reviewed (n = 81). The dark grey bars indicate the portion of studies providing conceptual details within each activity category. The annotation above each pair of bars provides the absolute numbers for this comparison, giving the number of studies providing conceptual details and the total number of studies for each activity category, e.g. 12 studies focused on the inquiry activity of identifying questions and 9 out of these 12 studies provided conceptual details about this activity.

Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of the publications in the review related to argumentation and reasoning (the numbers give the numbers of publications within the different categories out of a total of n = 40 studies focusing on argumentation and providing conceptual details).

Constructs
Argument(ation) + reasoning	Argument(ation)	Reasoning
31	7	2
Definition of argument(ation)
Explicit	Implicit	Examples	Not given
27	5	1	5
Definition of reasoning
Explicit	Implicit	Examples	Not given
16	7	2	8
Context^a
Science content	Socioscientific/ill-structured	Not described
33	7	2
Framework for analysis^a
Toulmin^b	Mercer	Raven’s test^c	Self-developed	Content	Not described
22	1	1	13	1	3

^a Studies can belong to more than one category.

^b The category also includes adapted versions of the original model.

^c Raven’s test = Raven’s progressive tests of non-verbal reasoning.

Figure 4. Aggregation of central aspects of the current review. Within scientific inquiry, specific activities (white boxes) are often considered in close correspondence to each other (indicated by black frames) and could be clustered in phases of the inquiry process (preparation, carrying out, explaining and evaluating). These phases are commonly aligned in a circular, interactive sequence (indicated by bolder arrows). Beyond the type, range and sequencing of specific inquiry activities (left side), research about scientific inquiry should be based on a clear theoretical rationale which comprises inquiry, content knowledge and NOS/NOSI.