IBSE model UniSchooLabs aims to improve the quality of science education in Europe. The pedagogical approach is based upon inquiry learning, where students learn by doing and through inquiry (science experiments) both in real and in virtual settings.
We define inquiry as the intentional process of diagnosing problems, critiquing experiments, and distinguishing alternatives, planning investigations, researching conjectures, searching for information, constructing models, debating with peers, and forming coherent arguments. In science inquiry projects, students communicate about scientific topics, evaluate scientific texts, conduct investigations, ask questions about science or technology policies, create design, and critique arguments, often using technology resources.
The simplest template for structuring a lab activity is the Predict-Observe-Explain pattern. Students are first asked to predict what they would expect to happen in a given situation and to write this down, then to carry out some observations, and finally to explain what they have observed (which may or may not be what they predicted).
In the activity developed by the UniSchooLabs project we adopt the Inquiry Based Teaching Template developed by the COSMOS project. However other inquiry based frameworks (for example the one developed by the Fibonacci project) can be used with our tool-kit. Inquiry based science education as an instructional model can be implemented in different formats (e.g. guided inquiry, guided research model), the COSMOS templates provide an introduction to the ones most popular among teachers.
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