Well-controlled comparison studies show clear advantages of inquiry-based instruction over direct instruction for science conceptual learning¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r1 · q3
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In rigorously controlled studies, most comparisons favored inquiry-based learning over less inquiry-focused conditions. → Ton de Jong 2024

Evidence¶

Ton de Jong 2024¶

Ton de Jong, Ard W. Lazonder, Clark A. Chinn, Frank Fischer, Janice Gobert, Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver, Ken R. Koedinger, Joseph S. Krajcik, Eleni A. Kyza, Marcia C. Linn, Margus Pedaste, Katharina Scheiter, Zacharias C. Zacharia. (2024). Beyond inquiry or direct instruction: Pressing issues for designing impactful science learning opportunities. Educational Research Review, 44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2024.100623

q3 · i? · review · r1

The authors' revisit of the literature cites the Minner et al. (2010) research synthesis of controlled comparisons: "55% showed a significant advantage of inquiry-based learning" while only one study (2%) favored the less inquiry-focused condition. No effect size is printed for this synthesis.

"For example, 42 of the studies in the review by Minner et al. (2010) involved comparisons between conditions with various degrees of inquiry saturation. Of these, 55% showed a significant advantage of inquiry-based learning, and only 1 (2%) showed an advantage for a less inquiry-focused condition."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Teacher Guided Inquiry Outperforms Student Led — related
• Studies comparing pure simulation-based discovery learning with expository teaching show no clear and univocal outcome in favor of simulations — related
• Enhanced discovery learning produces greater learning than other forms of instruction — related
• PAIR-C scaffolding shows mixed evidence for deep understanding and reduced misconceptions in emergent-phenomena instruction — related
• Minimal guidance is less effective for novices than explicit instruction — related
• Inquiry Based Teaching Improves Science Achievement — related
• Productive Failure Improves Conceptual Learning — related
• Large randomized evaluations of project-based learning programs show advantages over traditional science teaching of about 0.2 standard deviations — related
• Controlled studies comparing exploration-based investigation with explicit instruction overwhelmingly favor explicit instruction for science content learning — reports the opposite