1. TEACHING SCIENCE AS INQUIRY: A 40-YEAR PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
A Presentation for the 40th Anniversary of
the Science Teaching Department at the
Weizmann Institute of Science
Rodger W. Bybee
Rehovot, Israel
2-3 July 2008

2. “Teaching Science as Inquiry”
Teaching -To impart knowledge or skill
-To provide knowledge of…
-To advocate for…
Science Content and processes
As -To the same extent or degree, equally
-The consequent in correlative construction
Inquiry -A question
-To request information
-To investigate

3. In. quir. y (In´ kwir´ ē) n. , pl. ies. 1
In.quir.y (In´ kwir´ ē) n., pl.ies. 1. An outcome of science teaching that is characterized by knowledge and understanding of the processes and methods of science. 2. Outcomes of science teaching that refer to specific skills and abilities integral to the processes and methods of science. 3. The instructional strategies used to achieve students’ knowledge and understanding of science concepts, principles, and facts and/or the outcomes described in the aforementioned definitions 1 and 2.

4. Formative Experiences
Teaching Science by Inquiry in the Secondary School
Robert B. Sund & Leslie Trowbridge (1964)
Greeley Public Schools, 9th grade Earth Science ( )
Earth Science Curriculum Project (ESCP)

5. Formative Experiences
Laboratory School, University of Northern Colorado
9th grade Earth Science Earth Science Curriculum Study
K-6 Elementary Science Science Curriculum Improvement Study
Elementary Science Study
Science-A Process Approach
Upward Bound Students BSCS Green Version
ESCP
Mentally Retarded SCIS
Preschool Deaf SCIS
Undergraduate Pre-Service

6. Graduate Study
Master’s Thesis (1969): Comparison of Lecture-Demonstration versus Laboratory Approach to an Undergraduate, Non- Major Earth Science Course
Doctoral Thesis (1975): Implications of Abraham H. Maslow’s Philosophy and Psychology for Science Education in the United States

7. Historical Goals of Science Education
Scientific Knowledge
Scientific Methods
Social Issues
Personal Needs
Career Awareness
(DeBoer, 1991; Bybee & DeBoer, 1994)

8. Prior to Sputnik The Report of the Committee of Ten (1894)
Harvard University Descriptive List of Elementary Physical Experiments (1884 and 1889)
How We Think – John Dewey (1910)
A Program for Science Teaching 31st Yearbook, National Society for the Study of Education (1932)
Instruction in Science – Wilbur Beauchamp (1933)
Science in General Education – Report of the Committee on the Function of Science in General Education as Reflective Thinking in the Solution of Problems (1938)
General Education in a Free Society (1945)
Science Education in American Schools 46th Yearbook National Society for the Study of Education (1947)

9. The Sputnik Era: Secondary Level
BSCS Biology: An Ecological Approach
ESCP Earth Science: Investigating the Earth

10. Science As Inquiry in BSCS Biology
Narrative of Inquiry in the Textbooks
Laboratory Exercises for Use with the Textbooks
Laboratory Block Program
Invitations to Inquiry

11. Science As Inquiry in ESCP Earth Science
In this investigative approach, science is presented as inquiry, as a search for new and more accurate knowledge about the earth. The student learns through experiences in the laboratory by using scientific methods that have led to our present knowledge of science, as well as to a feeling of the incompleteness and uncertainty of this knowledge.
(Teachers Guide for ESCP, 1967, p. 3)

12. The Sputnik Era: Elementary Level
Science—A Process Approach
Robert Gagne
Elementary Science Study
David Hawkins—”Messing About in Science”
Science Curriculum Improvement Study
Robert Karplus, Herb Thier “Learning Cycle”

13. Post Sputnik and Pre Standards
( )
Science for Life and Living: Integrating Science, Technology and Health (Later BSCS Science TRACS)
Middle School Science & Technology
BSCS Biology: A Human Approach
Biological Perspectives

14. BSCS 5E INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL
Engage The instructor assesses the learners’ prior knowledge and helps them become engaged in a new concept by reading a vignette, posing questions, presenting a discrepant event, showing a video clip, or conducting some other short activity that promotes curiosity and elicits prior knowledge (Champagne, 1987).
Explore Learners work in collaborative teams to complete lab activities that help them use prior knowledge to generate ideas, explore questions and possibilities, and design and conduct a preliminary inquiry (Renner, Abraham, & Bernie, 1988).
Explain To explain their understanding of the concept, learners may make presentations, share ideas with one another, review current scientific explanations and compare these to their own understanding, or listen to an explanation from the teacher that guides the learners toward a more in-depth understanding (Renner, Abraham, & Bernie, 1988).
Elaborate Learners elaborate their understanding of the concept by conducting additional lab activities. They may revisit an earlier lab and build on it or conduct an activity that requires an application of the concept (Renner, Abraham, & Bernie, 1988).
Evaluate The evaluation phase helps both learners and instructors assess how well the learners understand the concepts and whether or not they have met the learning outcomes (Kulm & Malcom, 1991).
From:: Profiles in Science: A Guide to NSF-Funded High School Instructional Materials (2001). The SCI Center, BSCS. p. 45.

15. National Science Education Standards
Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. Inquiry also refers to the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world.
(NRC, 1996, p. 28)

16. Abilities of Scientific Inquiry
Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations
Design and conduct scientific investigations
Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications
Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence
Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models
Communicate and defend a scientific argument)
(NRC, 1996)

17. Understandings about Scientific Literacy
Scientists usually inquire about how physical, living, or designed systems function.
Conceptual principles and knowledge guide scientific inquiries.
Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons.
Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.
Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry.
Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and current scientific knowledge.
Results of scientific inquiry—new knowledge and methods—emerge from different types of investigations and public communication among scientists. In communicating and defending the results of scientific inquiry, arguments must be logical and demonstrate connections between natural phenomena, investigations, and the historical body of scientific knowledge. In addition, the methods and procedures that scientists used to obtain evidence must be clearly reported to enhance opportunities for further investigation.
(NRC, 1996)

18. Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry and Their Variations
Less Learner Self-Direction More
More Direction from Teacher or Material Less
1. Learner engages
in scientifically
oriented questions.
A. Learner engages
in question pro-
vided by teacher,
materials, or
other source.
B. Learner sharpens
or clarifies ques-
tion provided by
teacher, materials
or other source.
C. Learner selects
among questions,
or poses new
questions based
on provided
examples.
D. Learner poses
a question.
2. Learner gives
priority to
evidence
in responding to
questions.
B. Learner is given
data and told how
to analyze it.
data and asked
C. Learner is
directed to
collect certain
data.
C. Learner deter-
mines what
constitutes
evidence and
collects it.
3. Learner
formulates
explanations from
evidence.
A. Learner is
provided with
B. Learner chooses
among possible
ways to use
evidence to
formulate
explanation.
guided in process
of formulating
explanations
from evidence.
D. Learner
explanation after
summarizing
4. Learner connects
explanations to
scientific
knowledge.
A. Learner is given
all connections.
possible connec-
tions and
chooses
among them.
directed
toward areas and
sources of scien-
tific knowledge.
D. Learner indepen-
dently examines
other resources
and forms the
links to explan-
ations.
4. Learner
communicates
and justifies
explanations.
steps and pro-
cedures for
communication.
B. Learner is provi-
ded broad guide-
lines to use to
sharpen
coached in de-
velopment of
D. Learner forms
reasonable and
logical argument
to communicate
Adapted from: National Research Council (2000). Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for
Teaching and Learning. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, p. 29.

19. Linking Inquiry and Instruction: One Perspective
Essential Features of Inquiry (NRC, 2000)
BSCS 5E Model As An Integrated
Instruction Sequence (NRC, 2006)
Teachers can engage learners with demonstrations, discrepant events, or field trips, to form scientifically oriented questions.
Engagement initiates the learning process and exposes students’ current conceptions.
Learners can use the results of laboratory investigations to give priority to evidence and allows them to address scientific questions.
In the Explore phase, students gain experience with phenomena or events.
Learners formulate explanations and teachers can provide direct instruction about scientific concepts, principles, and facts.
In the Explain phase, the teacher may give an explanation to guide students toward a deeper understanding.
Learners evaluate scientific explanations as they apply them to new situations.
In the Elaborate phase, students apply their understanding in a new situation or context.
Learners communicate and justify their scientific understanding.
In the Evaluate phase, teachers assess student understanding and transfer.

20. PISA 2006: Definition of Scientific Literacy
PISA defines scientific literacy in terms of an individual’s:
Scientific knowledge and use of that knowledge to identify questions, to acquire new knowledge, to explain scientific phenomena, and to draw evidence-based conclusions about science-related issues
Understanding of the characteristic features of science as a form of human knowledge and inquiry
Awareness of how science and technology shape our material, intellectual, and cultural environments
Willingness to engage with science-related issues, and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen

21. PISA 2006 Scientific Competencies
Identifying scientific issues
Recognizing issues that are possible to investigate scientifically
Identifying keywords to search for scientific information
Recognizing the key features of a scientific investigation
Explaining phenomena scientifically
Applying knowledge of science in a given situation
Describing or interpreting phenomena scientifically and predicting changes
Identifying appropriate descriptions, explanations, and predictions
Using scientific evidence
Interpreting scientific evidence and making and communicating conclusions
Identifying the assumptions, evidence and reasoning behind conclusions
Reflecting on the societal implications of science and technological developments

22. PISA 2006: Knowledge About Science Categories
Science inquiry
Origin (e.g. scientific questions)
Purpose (e.g. to produce evidence that helps answer scientific questions, current ideas/models/theories)
Experiments (e.g. different questions suggest different scientific investigations, design)
Data (e.g. quantitative [measurements], qualitative [observations])
Measurement (e.g. inherent uncertainty, replicability, variation, accuracy/precision in equipment and procedures)
Characteristics of results (e.g. empirical, tentative, testable, falsifiable, self-correcting)
Scientific explanations
Types (e.g. hypothesis, theory, model, law)
Formation (e.g. extant knowledge and new evidence, creativity and imagination, logic)
Rules (e.g. logically consistent, based on evidence, based on historical and current knowledge)
Outcomes (e.g. new knowledge, new methods, new technologies, new investigations.

23. PISA 2006: Attitudes Toward Scientific Inquiry
Support for scientific inquiry
Acknowledge the importance of considering different scientific perspectives and arguments
Support the use of factual information and rational explanations
Express the need for logical and careful processes in drawing conclusions
Demonstrate awareness of the environmental consequences of individual actions

24. The PISA Science Framework
Context
Life situations that involve science and technology…
Requires you to
Competencies
• Identify scientific Issues
• Explain phenomena
scientifically
• Use scientific evidence
How you do so is influenced by
Knowledge
a) What you know:
• About the natural world
(knowledge of science)
• About science itself
(knowledge about science)
Attitudes
b) How you respond to
science issues (interest,
support for scientific
inquiry, responsibility)

25. Identifying Scientific Issues: Summary Descriptions of the Six Proficiency Levels
Proficiency at each level
Percentage of all
students across OECD who can perform tasks at this level 6
Students at this level demonstrate an ability to understand and articulate the complex modeling inherent in the design of an investigation.
1.3% 5
Students at this level understand the essential elements of a scientific investigation and thus can determine if scientific methods can be applied in a variety of quite complex, and often abstract contexts. Alternatively, by analyzing a given experiment can identify the question being investigated and explain how the methodology relates to that question.
8.4% 4
Students at this level can identify the change and measured variables in an investigation and at least one variable that is being controlled. They can suggest appropriate ways of controlling that variable. The question being investigated in straightforward investigations can be articulated.
28.4% 3
Students at this level are able to make judgments about whether an issue is open to scientific measurement and, consequently, to scientific investigation. Given a description of an investigation can identify the change and measured variables.
56.7% 2
Students at this level can determine if scientific measurement can be applied to a given variable in an investigation. They can recognize the variable being manipulated (changed) by the investigator. Students can appreciate the relationship between a simple model and the phenomenon it is modeling. In researching topics students can select appropriate key words for a search.
81.3% 1
Students at this level can suggest appropriate sources of information on scientific topics. They can identify a quantity that is undergoing variation in an experiment. In specific contexts they can recognize whether that variable can be measured using familiar measuring tools or not.
94.9%
Below Level 1
5.1%

26. Explaining Phenomena Scientifically: Summary Description of the Six Proficiency Levels
Proficiency at each level
Percentage of all students across OECD who can perform tasks
at this level 6
Students at this level draw on a range of abstract scientific knowledge and concepts and the relationships between these in developing explanations of processes within systems.
1.8% 5
Students at this level draw on knowledge of two or three scientific concepts and identify the relationship between them in developing an explanation of a contextual phenomenon.
9.8% 4
Students at this level have an understanding of scientific ideas, including scientific models, with a significant level of abstraction. They can apply a general, scientific concept containing such ideas in the development of an explanation of a phenomenon.
29.4% 3
Students at this level can apply one or more concrete or tangible scientific ideas/concepts in the development of an explanation of a phenomenon. This is enhanced when there are specific cues given or options available from which to choose. When developing an explanation, cause and effect relationships are recognized and simple, explicit scientific models may be drawn upon.
56.4% 2
Students at this level can recall an appropriate, tangible, scientific fact applicable in a simple and straightforward context and can use it to explain or predict an outcome.
80.4% 1
Students at this level can recognize simple cause and effect relationships given relevant cues. The knowledge drawn upon is a singular scientific fact that is drawn from experience or has widespread popular currency.
94.6%
Below Level 1
5.4%

27. Using Scientific Evidence: Summary Descriptions of the Six Proficiency Levels
Proficiency at each level
Percentage of all students across OECD who can perform tasks
at this level 6
Students at this level demonstrate an ability to compare and differentiate among competing explanations by examining supporting evidence. They can formulate arguments by synthesizing evidence from multiple sources.
2.4% 5
Students at this level are able to interpret data from related datasets presented in various formats. They can identify and explain differences and similarities in the datasets and draw conclusions based on the combined evidence presented in those datasets.
11.8% 4
Students at this level can interpret a dataset expressed in a number of formats, such as tabular, graphic and diagrammatic, by summarizing the data and explaining relevant patterns. They can use the data to draw relevant conclusions. Students can also determine whether the data support assertions about a phenomenon.
31.6% 3
Students at this level are able to select a piece of relevant information from data in answering a question or in providing support for or against a given conclusion. They can draw a conclusion from an uncomplicated or simple pattern in a dataset. Students can also determine, in simple cases, if enough information is present to support a given conclusion.
56.3% 2
Students at this level are able to recognize the general features of a graph if they are given appropriate cues and can point to an obvious feature in a graph or simple table in support of a given statement. They are able to recognize if a set of given characteristics apply to the function of everyday artifacts in making choices about their use.
78.1% 1
In response to a question, students at this level can extract information from a fact sheet or diagram pertinent to a common context. They can extract information from bar graphs where the requirement is simple comparisons of bar heights. In common, experienced contexts students at this level can attribute an effect to a cause.
92.1%
Below Level 1
7.9%

28. PRIOR TO SPUTNIK: Inquiry as Experiments and Methods
SUMMARY
PRIOR TO SPUTNIK: Inquiry as Experiments and Methods

29. THE SPUTNIK ERA: Inquiry as A Means to Scientific Knowledge
SUMMARY
THE SPUTNIK ERA: Inquiry as A Means to Scientific Knowledge

30. SUMMARY
THE POST SPUTNIK ERA: Inquiry as Instructional Models to Develop Scientific Concepts

31. SUMMARY
THE STANDARDS ERA: Inquiry as Content, Abilities, and Teaching Strategies

32. THE POST-STANDARDS ERA: Inquiry as Scientific Competencies
SUMMARY
THE POST-STANDARDS ERA: Inquiry as Scientific Competencies

33. Teaching Science As Inquiry
Reflections On 40 Years in Science Education

34. CONCLUSION