Critique-then-inquire sequence for virtual lab activities¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A lesson-level sequence in which students first critique problematic inquiry cases and then conduct science inquiries with a virtual lab. The article states that before inquiry, students "were required to critique problematic inquiry cases (the critique group) or watch teachers' demonstrations (the teacher demonstration group) before taking part in the inquiry." The critique-first variant aligned with developing inquiry skills and scientific literacy, supporting a design where evaluation of flawed experiments precedes hands-on virtual experimentation.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Problematic inquiry cases matched to the virtual lab topic must be available for the critique phase

Constraints¶

Compared in middle school science (buoyancy) with a teacher-demonstration comparison condition

Target Learners¶

middle school science students

Learning Goals¶

scientific inquiry skills
scientific literacy
alertness to methodological flaws

Claims¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Liu, C.-C., Wen, C.-T., Chang, H.-Y., Chang, M.-H., Lai, P.-H., Fan Chiang, S.-H., Yang, C.-W., & Hwang, F.-K. (2022). Augmenting the effect of virtual labs with "teacher demonstration" and "student critique" instructional designs to scaffold the development of scientific literacy. Instructional Science, 50, 303-333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-021-09571-4

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`critique-then-inquire-virtual-lab-sequence`
`title`	`Critique-then-inquire sequence for virtual lab activities`
`description`	`A lesson-level sequence in which students first critique problematic inquiry cases and then conduct science inquiries with a virtual lab.`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-10-18`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `liu-2022`

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