VIRTUAL INQUIRY : USING VIRTUAL EXPERIMENTS IN INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE TEACHING

This paper aims to examine the possibility to use virtual simulations in inquiry-based primary science teaching. Virtual simulations are concluded in research to generally assist science teaching as they assist experimentation and skills. Inquiry-based teaching is considered by research as an effective approach to science teaching, since it promotes and develops skills not only about science content but also science process and nature. This research aims to investigate if simulations can be beneficial specifically in inquiry–based teaching in primary schools. Through a qualitative approach it was concluded that simulations assist skills required in inquiry teaching, but not all. Virtual Simulations in the Science Class Virtual experiments and computer simulations have been described to be useful in science teaching. Science teaching, according to current approaches is expected to be based in experimental laboratory, hands-on activities, which help learners understand phenomena and the applications of the new knowledge they construct. These experiments, however, are not always easy to implement in the science classroom, as they are expected to be carried out under safe conditions, planned carefully so that no interference of real world unexpected factors can emerge and affect the results. For example, even though using batteries, cables and lighting are useful to experiments, in order to learn about electricity and circuits, it is important to make sure, that no learner will be harmed from dangerous materials and that these materials will actually work. So safety and assurance of the result is required in experimental processes, if they are to assist in science teaching. Virtual experiments provide this advantage. Indeed, virtual experiments and simulations help learners work in a rather idealized computer, virtual, environment, and they can understand better the simple cause-and-effect relationship, among variables, in testing and experiments. For instance, in the simulation it is easy to see that when applying force in an ideal situation, with no friction, the object may move endlessly, which is difficult to be seen in actual world. Besides that, in the simulation it is easy to experiment with science phenomena, even nuclear reaction, with no risk (Jakkola & Nurmi, 2007). Another major advantage that computer simulations and virtual experiments offer is the possibility to investigate phenomena and concepts that are not easy for learners to understand through their every day experience, such as phenomena and concepts relevant to topics of space and astronomy, human anatomy, air, wildlife and marine ecosystems. This way, educators and learners can broaden their opportunities for engaging in experimentation and learning in science fields of study that would be difficult to approach in a ICICTE 2017 Proceedings 2 regular classroom otherwise. Relevant to this advantage, is the possibility they offer to observe and understand phenomena and concepts of the microworld. Molecules, atoms and their anatomy are not easy to understand for learners, neither is their behavior and its relationship to concepts and effect in natural phenomena. Simulations can help learners see how the flow of electrons, the electric current, runs or should run across electric circuits to let electric devices function properly. They can also help learners see how heating objects such as ice, provides energy and velocity to molecules, which then gradually leads to change in states of matter. This investigation of concepts and phenomena from a microscopic point of view is very significant in science learning and is strongly assisted by virtual experiments. In short, virtual simulations expand the opportunities of learners to get involved in discourse, observe, hypothesize, plan experiments, carry out experiments, test data, construct new knowledge and apply it, by providing possibilities to apply such skills in plenty of science topics (Jakkola & Nurmi, 2007; Zacharia, 2003). Despite the advantages that simulations’ use provides to learning, challenges exist as well. First, when working, experimenting and learning in a virtual environment, which can be oversimplified, learners do not have the opportunity to meet the authentic environment, in which scientists work, and the knowledge they may construct may differ from the one they can apply in the real world. When observing, for example, the greenhouse effect in a simulation, learners may get an idea about the outcomes, but may miss crucial information about variables, such as time needed, room temperature, light volume, which in only the real world may actually be understood and evaluated (Pinto et al., 2014; Zacharia, 2003). Apart from that, Chang, Chen, Lin, and Sung (2008), claim that the benefits of simulations are rather restricted to experimenting, but not to scientific exploration. Additionally, as Jakkola and Nurmi (2007) suggest, a teaching intervention using simulations, requires careful planning and teaching designing. Inquiry in Science Teaching Scientific work is highly dependent on inquiry. This is the main reason why research in science education stresses the importance of science teaching to include and, in fact, be based on inquiry. Thanks to inquiry, science teaching can be linked with authentic, real-life science phenomena, processes and challenges, which are similar to those that scientists come across in their work. By using skills, such as observation, critical thinking, group work, information searching, analysis of data, learners can construct knowledge and develop deeper understanding around science, more compatible to the scientific work and nature. This can be done with the help of approaches such as inquiry – based science teaching, instead of traditional approaches emphasizing only superficial learning concepts of various topics (NRS, 2000). Teaching Inquiry-Based Science According to Eastwell (2009), there are four different levels of inquiry research to be conquered by learners. The first level is confirmation research. At that level, learners are asked a question, which they would answer by using data given to them, through a pre-decided methodology, in order to reach preICICTE 2017 Proceedings 3 determined findings. In other words, at that level, learners would confirm a theory or a set of findings, with the help of activities such as experiments. The second level is structured research. At that level, learners are also asked a question. They would use data given to them in order to reach pre-determined findings. However, they are given the flexibility to select the methodology, they would use. The third level is guided research. At that level, the learners are asked to plan by themselves the methodology and activity they would implement, in order to access the necessary data and answer the question given to them, so that they would reach results, which are not pre-determined. Finally, the ultimate and desired level is open research. At that level, learners should also point out the question they should answer to explain a phenomenon of everyday life. As soon as the question is pointed out, learners would have to plan research activity to hypothesize, gather data, implement methodology and present the answer. As learners, move from one level to a higher one, they develop deeper skills relevant to scientific inquiry and adopt more stable attitudes towards science, the nature of science and scientific process (Eastwell, 2009; Přinosilová, Mechlová, & Kubicová, 2013). Current pedagogy stresses also the effectiveness of computer assisted science inquiry. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are justified to contribute significantly to the promotion of learning. By providing access to information and opportunities for observing, hypothesizing, gathering data, analyzing, engaging in discourse and constructing knowledge, ICT serves as a useful tool in science teaching (Sun, Looi, & Xie, 2014). Virtual simulations are an example of ICT applications, which can help learning through experimentation and inquiry process as they can accommodate all the skills and tasks that inquiry learning requires in an attractive way. Conducting inquiry-based simulation laboratory experiments, or combining hands-on laboratory experiments with the use of relevant simulations, can enhance learners’ understanding of science concepts, processes and nature (Zacharia, 2003). Involving Simulations in Inquiry-Based Science Teaching So teaching science through a computer-assisted inquiry-based approach has plenty of benefits. It promotes and requires development of important knowledge around science concepts and phenomena, skills such as critical thinking, involvement in discourse and development of friendly attitudes towards science both as sum of information and as process. Implementation of inquiry-based science teaching requires involvement in laboratory activities, which assist the active participation of learners in the learning process and in the inquiry tasks. Simulations can help inquiry-based science teaching. First, they provide grounds for experimentation. By using them, learners can hypothesize, gather data, test, analyze and construct knowledge. It is quite convenient that this experimentation can be easily repeated, so that more accurate data for analysis can be gathered. Second, they expand the selection of contexts for inquiry learning. Promoting inquiry learning and discourse in topics such as astronomy, anatomy and the microworld would be out of question otherwise. Third, simulations are justified through research to promote positive attitudes towards science and science processes (Zacharia, 2003). This is important, ICICTE 2017 Proceedings 4 especially in the higher levels of guided and open research, where there is focus on planning and questioning (Eastwell, 2009; Přinosilová et al., 2013). The challenges of simulation use should not be neglected though. It is still