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Kenneth W. Miller
Teaching Science Methods
Online: Myths about Inquiry-based
Online Learning
The author addresses six myths about inquiry-based online science
delivery and offers some strategies to demonstrate effective online science
teaching.
Introduction the delivery of an online course are David has a two-year associate degree
With universities, teacher education provided. from a community college, and he is
institutions, and high schools gearing Katherine started her degree from also a substitute teacher.
up heavily in online course delivery Montana State University-Billing by Programs in teacher education for
in every discipline, science educators driving three times a week from her learning online have given both these
specifically are asking themselves home and family over 50 miles away. students options to fulfill their dreams
“How do we provide this access to The worst part was not the slippery of becoming teachers that previously
our students and still maintain our roads during the winter or the two- were not available to them. The ben-
pedagogical integrity in science hour-a-day commute. The worst was efits do not stop with the individual.
instruction?” This question seems to that she often ran behind schedule to Rural schools in the Northwest are in
be at the heart of a national discussion. pick up her two sons after school in dire need of elementary and second-
The standards in science promote an her hometown miles away. ary teachers. The state of Montana
inquiry-based approach at both the David lives over 90 miles away is a perfect example. Montana is the
national and state levels, therefore, an from a community college or univer- fourth largest state geographically
arguable difficulty exists in adapting sity. He helps his wife with their tamale in the United States, with many of
a reticent online inquiry approach company business which turns out over its 900,000 people living in remote
that is more consistent with the 600 tamales a week in a hometown areas, hundreds of miles from the
excitement of an inquiry based face- kitchen, and he also drives a school nearest four-year institution. Many
to-face classroom approach. Today’s bus route and works with the school of those seek to finish their degrees in
students require coursework when district’s technology department. elementary and secondary education
they want it, where it is convenient and teach in the schools where they
for them, and how it fits their needs. live, but it is emotionally, physically,
Many students need online delivery and geographically impossible to
because of distance from the university Given the plethora of online restructure their lives and families to
or their already demanding schedules. learning courses at most do so. Providing methods of teaching
Delivering coursework using scientific post secondary institutions, courses online within their regions and
inquiry techniques can be problematic. we as science methods offering opportunities to intern in the
This paper discusses six myths about instructors find ourselves schools where they weave theory into
inquiry-based online science delivery. discussing the issues of practice helps these students to earn
Examples of how to design and their bachelors or masters degrees and
promote inquiry that is embedded in sound pedagogical delivery. become certified teachers.
80 ScieNce educator
Almost every community college Most faculty, though quite
and university within the current Instruction in an online pedagogically sound for on campus
milieu offers online course offerings, format requires that faculty delivery, also understand that teaching
and science teacher educators often re-think the tried and true online requires a different mindset
find themselves in a quandary. and delivery style. A small on-
Coursework and scheduling for online methods they use to teach campus survey showed that 0 faculty
delivery increases, and there exists on campus. members were questioned prior to
a philosophical struggle between experiencing, developing and teaching
perceived appropriate teaching continue by stating that approaches courses online. All responded that they
strategies that promote the national should be used to help students to were quite hesitant to teach online,
and state science standards and what “construct new understandings, and most reported they did not think
many believe we are capable of doing through experiences that extend and it was possible to teach their courses
in online delivery platforms. Given the challenge what they already know” (p. and their content totally online, void
plethora of online learning courses at ). Loucks-Horsley et al., thoroughly of face to face interaction. However,
most post secondary institutions, we relate these practices to teacher after planning online delivery and
as science methods instructors find education. They state that “engaging actually experiencing teaching online,
ourselves discussing the issues of teachers in learning experiences that this same faculty reported a new
sound pedagogical delivery. enhance their understanding” (p. 2) understanding of delivery methods
Mission statements of public of science concepts and appropriate and discussed how much learning
universities have at their heart outreach pedagogy should be a definite took place in their online courses
and accessibility, yet many state priority. They suggest that teachers, (Miller & Knuth, 2004). Some faculty
funded institutions do not provide, or like students, learn best by doing echo, “It can’t be done! To prepare
cannot provide, outreach opportunities science in an inquiry approach, science teachers appropriately, you
to their constituency unless those investigating and constructing their have to be able to monitor student
opportunities are offered online. own understandings. Loucks-Horsley learning, model teaching strategies
Distance to universities, in many suggests that professional development for the student, and mentor students
rural states is a barrier to possible on- must include the modeling of effective in their teaching careers.” Generally,
campus attendance and participation; learning environments. these words originate from faculty
however, providing access to state These reasons make online learning relatively inexperienced in online
institutions is the duty, and many attractive and challenging. Gill (2003) delivery and/or those that lack the
times, the mission of those institutions. suggests that almost 20% of training technological expertise to format an
Access to institutional grounds should in “world class organizations” is being inquiry-based online course. Faculty
mean more than being physically delivered online with an even greater with no experiences with online
able to set foot on the university percentage foreseen for the near teaching typically made comments
campus quad. Using metaphoric future. Change of any kind is difficult such as these:
language like “e-learning” or “open- and hence, fraught with myths. This • I think it will compromise quality,
education” advocates have hailed paper will discuss six myths of online and that we will eventually lose
online learning as the harbinger of a learning in an inquiry-based science our share of the market to larger
complete transformation in teaching methods course and begin to construct universities with more attractive
and learning (Cox, 2005). A synthesis a better understanding of the power of transcripts.
of the professional development online science content and pedagogical • When I first heard about online
principles found in the standards, learning. Some strategies will be instruction, I thought, ‘I don’t
Loucks-Horsley, Stiles, and Hewson provided to demonstrate effective like it and I don’t think I will
(996) suggest that there should online science teaching. ever do it.’
be an emphasis on “inquiry-based Myth One: Good on campus face to After having taught their course
learning, problem-solving, student face instructors make good instructors online, faculty became more aware of
investigation and discovery, and online. the variety that online delivery could
application of knowledge” (p. ). They
Fall 2008 Vol. 17, No. 2 8
produce. They then made comments who teach online should receive information to make choices that
like these: training in online communications arise every day. Everyone needs
• After teaching an online class, and course facilitation (Kleinman, to be able to engage intelligently
I think I really like teaching 2005). in public discourse and debate
online. I get to know my students Being void of visual cues, online about important issues that
individually. Each one becomes teaching forces instruction to be involve science and technology,
unique, and I learn about each more reflective and planned. “It is and everyone deserves to share
one’s strengths better than when true that face-to-face pedagogy can in the excitement and personal
I had them in class. I also have and should be used to inform online fulfillment that can come from
the opportunity to relate each unit pedagogy. However, this in itself can understanding and learning about
with a field experience, which not be the driving force to designing the natural world. (National
I am unable to do with face to online courses; one must consider Research Council, 996, para )
face, since we have so many ePedagogy to create a successful and The NSES also suggest that
restrictions on placements in our meaningful course” (Li & Akins, the science teacher must use these
college. 2005). Consequently, a weak on inquiry-based techniques to develop
• It is great! It forces me to be campus teacher will quite likely make appropriate content development in
more constructivist. I lay the a weak online instructor. It can also their students. However, an inquiry-
groundwork. I set the stage. I be suggested that without appropriate based online science course is
become a facilitator. The students e-pedagogical decisions, a good on- certainly not the same as the mail
have to get involved and take campus instructor will not necessarily delivered correspondence course of
responsibility for their own make a good online instructor. yore. In sharp contrast to some initial
learning! Myth Two: Online delivery is perceptions, online courses can be
Instruction in an online format requires similar to correspondence coursework designed to simulate constructivist
that faculty re-think the tried and and limited to content learning teaching and inquiry approaches.
true methods they use to teach on The definitions of inquiry and Figure represents the continuum
campus. Online delivery, sometimes constructivist teaching come into play from which online courses can
call ePedagogy, does not provide when we begin to think of training be designed. If the nature of the
instructors with instantaneous cues science teachers to teach. Certainly, the coursework is to develop a content
regarding their teaching and the National Science Education Standards knowledge base and provide student
students’ learning. Online delivery (NSES) call for inquiry as a way of access to information, feedback loops
must be well thought out in advance, life in the science classroom. from peers or the instructor do not need
as it is virtually impossible to ‘shoot The world is filled with the to be as prominent an embedded feature
from the hip’ and improvise online. products of scientific inquiry, in the course. Hence, an instructor
Teaching online is different from and scientific literacy has could possibly design a content driven
teaching face-to- face, and instructors become a necessity for everyone. course using a direct instruction
Everyone needs to use scientific model with little instructor or peer
Figure 1. Continuum from which online courses can be designed.
Direct Hands-on Guided Full Inquiry
Instruction Verification Lab Inquiry Constructivist
Teaching
82 ScieNce educator
feedback. Given such a scenario, an as they discuss with each other pre- Darling-Hammond, 990); and the
online student could sign into a course, determined questions, rather than to 5E teaching model (BSCS, 989) in
determine the unit’s requirements, specific individuals. The instructor previous coursework. Now, you would
read, do activities, research, and can direct or re-direct discussions like to have your students do an activity
comply with the requirements of that of the group, thus providing the to experience one of these. You choose
unit. The student would eventually be necessary feedback loops. Assessment the Conceptual Change Model (CCM)
assessed on those requirements. The can be more individualized and can because you are fairly sure from
unit assessment, likely true/false or provide the instructor with a deeper previous courses that your students
multiple choice, could quite possibly understanding of the students, as seen need experiential opportunities with
be the only feedback that the students Bernoulli’s Principle. You are fairly
might receive. Further, in some cases, certain your students do not understand
that feedback can be totally computer the CCM teaching model, and this
generated. For example, at a nearby It can also be suggested becomes your primary objective for
university, a beginning personal health that without appropriate this unit. Bernoulli’s principle, at
course is offered each semester with e-pedagogical decisions, a a basic level, suggests that a fluid
almost one thousand students enrolled. good on-campus instructor in motion has a lower pressure that
The students read the material and will not necessarily make a surrounding fluid. Consequently,
respond to the content with exams the surrounding fluid (or air) tends
to determine content understanding. good online instructor. to move from a higher pressure to a
Evaluation is multiple choice and lower pressure. You need to take into
true or false. The computer scores account that your students do not
each student and records the grade in more interactive, discussion-based, have access to equipment other than
in the online gradebook. This type on-campus classrooms. most household materials. Again,
of course is extremely efficient and Myth Three: You cannot model your major objective in this method
generates a large number of FTE for constructivist inquiry teaching of science teaching course is for the
the university. However, it is a course strategies online. students is to understand the steps and
that is based upon content knowledge Further along the continuum (see stages of the CCM and how it is used
understanding; not pedagogical, Figure ), we can establish a guided in the classroom.
attitudinal, and following the inquiry inquiry course nearing full inquiry. A series of digital video segments are
standards-based understandings as How does an instructor design an constructed by the instructor to model
prescribed by the NSES. online course that models appropriate this inquiry-based activity. These
Toward the middle of the continuum, standards based teaching pedagogy? videos represent a modeling of the
a course can be developed that would Certainly, this is a daunting task. It steps of the CCM and help to develop
enable more in-depth instructor requires that the instructor plan for the activity sequentially, following the
feedback and can also include peer- inquiry-based activities that model CCM format. Students are directed
to-peer discussions and feedback. appropriate constructivist techniques, to watch a segment of a video and
Logistically, this type of feedback yet with clearly defined e-pedagogical respond online in a discussion format.
limits the total number of students objectives. Let’s see how this might The following segments and directed
in a course simply because of the be done. student responses show how to model
time required by the instructor to Assume that you have introduced inquiry-based teaching through online
interact with individuals and monitor various teaching models, i.e. The delivery.
their responses. Should there be Learning Cycle (Karplus, 974; Video Segment One: Show a video
a large number of students in the Lawson, Abrahamn, & Renner, where the instructor asks the students
course, the instructor may establish 989), The Conceptual Change to predict what would happen, if
discussion groups to facilitate content Model (Hewson, 992; Posner, anything, to a strip of paper when you
understanding. This plan allows Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 982) blow across it. (the paper moves up
for the instructor to interact and The Instructional Theory Into Practice and flutters). Have the students enter
provide feedback to groups of 5-8 (ITIP) (Hunter, as described by into the discussion area of the online
Fall 2008 Vol. 17, No. 2 83
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