The learner must find his or her own pathway through this process. Along the way, the inquirer collects and records data, makes representations of results and explanations, and draws upon other resources such as books, videos, and the expertise or insights of others. Making meaning from the experience requires reflection, conversations, comparisons of findings with others, interpretation of data and observations, and the application of new conceptions to other contexts. All of this serves to help the learner construct a new mental framework of the world. Good science education requires both learning scientific concepts and developing scientific thinking skills.
Effective classrooms rely on many different ways of teaching science.
This book is devoted to one approach, inquiry learning, which has proven to be a powerful tool in learning science and in keeping wonder and curiosity alive in the classroom.