Technology-enhanced inquiry approaches and benefits in secondary science classrooms

There are a variety of teacher practices related to how technology is used in the science classroom. However, of the technology used in the classroom, studies have shown that student- centered technologies were almost non-existent in pedagogical practices (Hechter & Vermette, 2014; Chen, Gallagher-Mackay & Kidder, 2014). This research study aimed to look at how teachers use technology to support or enhance inquiry as well as the outcomes. A qualitative research methodology was employed, including three semi-structured interviews. From thematic analysis, the themes that emerged were practices related to technology-enhanced inquiry, benefits of technology and, challenges of technology-enhanced inquiry. The research findings demonstrated that teachers need to dedicate class time to introduce new technologies and that there is a preference for teacher scaffolds (e.g. prompting, design conversations, creation of diverse groupings) over technology scaffolds (e.g. embedded scripts in technology) in technology-enhanced inquiry. Furthermore, technology use was dependent on the school context and if challenges could be overcome. The patterns of technology use indicated support for the investigation and communication steps of the inquiry process and could enable students to overcome failure narrative and gain metacognitive skills. Overall, this has broad implications for the educational community including considerations of emphasizing process over content in the science curriculum and classroom, school funding for training and better technological equipment, and access to online professional development