Implementing Inquiry-Based Science Education to Foster Emotional Engagement of Special-Needs Students - Affective Dimensions in Chemistry Education - page 106

best to further inquiry-related abilities and whether or not all students are capable of
conducting scientific inquiries as this not only furthers but also requires a number of
skills (Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, & Chinn, 2007 ; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clarke, 2006 ;
Lee, Buxton, Lewis, & LeRoy, 2006 ).
The National Research Council ( 2000 , p. 19) describes fundamental abilities
needed for scientific inquiry. Displayed below are the skills necessary as of grades
K-4 (which apply for the 5th and 6th graders of the study at hand due to their
developmental age and cognitive learning abilities):

￿ “Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.
￿ Plan and conduct a simple investigation.
￿ Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
￿ Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
￿ Communicate investigations and explanations.”

As not all students can be expected to have the knowledge and skills needed to
do and discuss inquiry right from the beginning, successive implementation is
necessary. “Instruction should gradually and systematically move from Level

0

' '

activities with the ultimate goal being some Level activities” (Lederman,

Southerland, & Akerson, 2008 , p. 32). Blanchard et al. ( 2010 ) illustrate the different
levels and increasing student responsibility in the table below (Table 1 ).
The levels should be applied appropriately in terms of the situation, students

3

' '

'
abilities, topic, etc. Consequently, level 3 is not automatically the aim for every
student. Overall, students—and not only those with special educational needs—
benefit from guided inquiry rather than open inquiry, with adapted structuring,
differentiated support, and cooperation (Scruggs et al., 2008 ). “There is growing
evidence from large-scale experimental and quasi-experimental studies demon-
strating that inquiry-based instruction results in significant learning gains in com-
parison to traditional instruction and that disadvantaged students benefit most from
inquiry-based instructional approaches” (Hmelo-Silver et al., 2007 , p. 104). More
and more studies revealed that it is possible to conduct inquiry-based science
education with special-needs students when it is carefully and clearly scaffolded
(Villanueva et al., 2012 ). The studies vote for guided inquiry as this level balances
openness and structure, which is recommended for students with special needs to
avoid mental overload and thus frustration, refusal, and anger (e.g., Bay et al., 1992 ;
Scruggs & Mastropieri, 2007 ; Werning & L¨ tje-Klose, 2007 ).

Table 1 Levels of inquiry
Source of the
question

Data collection
methods

Interpretation of
results

Level 0:
verification

Given by teacher Given by teacher Given by teacher

Level 1: structured Given by teacher Given by teacher Open to student

Level 2: guided Given by teacher Open to student Open to student

Level 3: open Open to student Open to student Open to student