Student characteristics beyond prior knowledge bear on inquiry learning: inhibitory control predicts inquiry outcomes, and in one study a direct-instruction advantage over inquiry held only for students with low domain self-concept¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r1–r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2023 · checked against its sources 2026-10-24 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The review reports Kwon and Lawson (2000): high school students' inhibitory control predicted 29% of the variance in inquiry skills test scores and 28% of the variance in conceptual knowledge gains during a 14-lesson inquiry unit; this is a correlational association within inquiry, not a test of whether inhibitory control moderates inquiry's effect. → de Jong 2023 q2 i? The review reports Richter et al. (2022): direct instruction was more successful overall than inquiry conditions for university students learning about photosynthesis, but further analysis showed the advantage held only for students with a low domain self-concept. → de Jong 2023 (2)

Evidence¶

de Jong 2023¶

de Jong, T., Lazonder, A. W., Chinn, C. A., Fischer, F., Gobert, J., Hmelo-Silver, C. H., Koedinger, K. R., Krajcik, J. S., Kyza, E. A., Linn, M. C., Pedaste, M., Scheiter, K., & Zacharia, Z. C. (2023). Let's talk evidence – The case for combining inquiry-based and direct instruction. Educational Research Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100536

q2 · i? · review · r1

A narrative review reporting Kwon and Lawson (2000), a correlational study of high school students in a 14-lesson inquiry-based unit. Inhibitory control predicted sizeable shares of variance (29% and 28%), so the association is not null; the review prints no standardized effect size, so impact is coded i? (not reported, not zero). The study compared no instructional conditions, so it shows that inhibitory control predicts outcomes under inquiry, not that it moderates inquiry's effectiveness or causes the gains.

"Kwon and Lawson (2000) found that high school students' degree of inhibitory control predicted 29% of the variance in scores on an inquiry skills test and 28% of the variance in conceptual knowledge gains during a 14-lesson inquiry-based unit."

de Jong 2023 (2)¶

de Jong, T., Lazonder, A. W., Chinn, C. A., Fischer, F., Gobert, J., Hmelo-Silver, C. H., Koedinger, K. R., Krajcik, J. S., Kyza, E. A., Linn, M. C., Pedaste, M., Scheiter, K., & Zacharia, Z. C. (2023). Let's talk evidence – The case for combining inquiry-based and direct instruction. Educational Research Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100536

q2 · i? · review · r2

A narrative review reporting Richter et al. (2022): direct instruction was more successful overall than inquiry learning conditions for university students acquiring conceptual knowledge about photosynthesis, but a further analysis showed this was "only the case for students with a low domain self-concept," highlighting individual differences.

"They found that a direct instruction condition was more successful overall than inquiry learning conditions for university students acquiring conceptual knowledge about photosynthesis. However, a further analysis by these authors showed that this was only the case for students with a low domain self-concept"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Academic Self-Concept — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it
• Executive Function — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Cognitive factors explain about 49% of variance in simulation-based inquiry performance among young adults — related
• Dispositional factors add little to predicting inquiry performance except physics self-concept, and extraneous load has a significant negative effect — related
• Mathematics achievement correlates more strongly with learners' knowledge, skills and cognitive abilities than with their personality traits, goals or emotions — a broader claim this one bears on
• Reading comprehension, self-concept and interest were collected prior to learning only to ensure comparability of conditions — related
• Children's inhibitory control moderates the association between parental number talk and children's math achievement, with a positive association only at higher inhibitory control — related