  The impact of inquiry-based instruction on the improvement of content
knowledge of electricity and wave properties in two studies was the subject of
this investigation. Groups of pre-college and undergraduate students performed
a series of tasks designed to determine the effectiveness of
exploratory/investigative approaches to the study of wave properties in
fostering content retention and conceptual change, as well as in comparison
with traditionally performed experimental activities. The results show that a
guided inquiry-based method using simulations significantly improves content
performance on electricity and wave motion, although not in optics; in
particular, it helps students to visualize charge exchanges and electric
neutrality, the shape of electric fields, types of waves and their
characteristics, and the effects of the transmitting medium on the speed of a
wave. Additionally, its exploratory nature is superior to the confirmatory
laboratory experience, both in content retention and in facilitating the
incorporation of perceptual features that help learners deal with documented
challenging properties of waves.
