Advisor

Recently, inquiry-based learning has been used to enable students to ask scientific questions and come to objective conclusions based on observation and experimenta-tion. Within this context, we have been exploring the impact of mobile devices upon different modes of learning including inquiry-based instruction. While much attention has been on mobile devices in the classroom due to their growing popularity, mobile learning has the ability to go beyond the confines of the brick and mortar to improve information retention and student engagement. This thesis explores best practices in engaging students in inquiry-based learning experiences using Research Buddy, an application developed over the course of this study to support citizen science and research data collection. We found that participants who used mobile devices in our study preferred using mobile devices as they made data collection easier and less overwhelming compared to participants using traditional paper and pencil methods of data collection. There is further work to be done to understand the full effect mo-bile devices have on perceived learning and engagement in inquiry-based experimen