Epistemology of scientific inquiry and computer-supported collaborative learning

The problem addressed in the study was whether 10- and 11-year-old children, collaborating within a computer-supported classroom, could learn a process of inquiry that represented certain principal features of scientific inquiry, namely (1) engagement in increasingly deep levels of explanation, (2) progressive generation of subordinate questions, and (3) collaborative effort to advance explanations. Technical infrastructure for the study was provided by the Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments, CSILE. The study was entirely based on qualitative content analysis of students' written productions posted to CSILE's database. Five studies were carried out to analyze CSILE students' process of inquiry. The first two studies aimed at analyzing changes in CSILE students' culture of inquiry in two CSILE classrooms across a three-year period. The results of the studies indicate that the classroom culture changed over three years following the introduction of CSILE. The explanatory level of knowledge produced by the students became increasingly deeper in tracking from the first to third year representing the first principal feature of scientific inquiry. Moreover, between-student communication increasingly focused on facilitating advancement of explanation (the third principal feature). These effects were substantial only in one classroom; the teacher of this class provided strong pedagogical support and epistemological guidance for the students. Detailed analysis of this classroom's inquiry, carried out in the last three studies, indicated that with teacher's guidance the students were able to produce meaningful intuitive explanations as well as go beyond the functional and empirical nature of their intuitive explanations and appropriate theoretical scientific explanations (the first principal feature). Advancement of the students' inquiry appeared to be closely associated with generation of new subordinate questions (the second principal feature) and peer interaction focused on providing and requesting explanations (the third principal feature). Expert evaluations of three widely recognized philosophers of science confirmed the progressive nature of the students' inquiry as well as the cognitive value of their research questions and peer interaction. Conclusion: it is entirely possible for children, with computer-support for collaborative learning and appropriate teacher guidance, to pursue processes of inquiry that exhibit the principal features of mature scientific inquiry.