Unlocking Potential with Inquiry-Based Science Education

Dear Colleagues,

Science education in today’s society has an increasingly significant responsibility to improve scientific literacy such that individuals and communities are prepared through knowledge and critical thinking skills to make informed decisions regarding scientific issues that impact them, our environment, and our world. We approach education with the mindset that every learner has the potential to be scientifically literate in this functional way. Inquiry-based science education [IBSE] has been a targeted approach for developing scientific literacy for decades. Through inquiry experiences. Learners engage in active investigation of questions and relevant problems, have opportunities to develop critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills, and gain deeper understandings of scientific concepts and inquiry processes. Moreover, IBSE provides a productive context for fostering understanding regarding the nature of science and scientific inquiry, both essential components of scientific literacy. By embracing learners’ innate curiosities, IBSE encourages students to take ownership of their learning to become more confident in their ability to engage with scientific concepts and apply their knowledge to real-world situations. This empowerment has the potential to foster science identities, where students view themselves as capable and competent in the realm of science. That’s unlocking potential!

In this special issue, entitled “Unlocking Potential with Inquiry-based Science Education”, we welcome submissions that examine approaches to and contexts of IBSE that showcase its benefits as well as limitations in terms of advancing scientific identity and literacy. Papers may be empirical or theoretical, representing various scientific disciplines and content relevant from primary to post-secondary education. Also welcome are papers focused on teacher preparation as well as student learning in formal or informal contexts that demonstrate how IBSE can unlock potential within teachers and learners.

Topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

• Inquiry in teacher preparation: models, challenges, facilitators, impacts;
• Inquiry as pedagogy for developing critical thinking/scientific reasoning;
• Inquiry in authentic contexts;
• Inquiry for developing science identity;
• Epistemic knowledge development through inquiry;
• Assessment of inquiry pedagogy;
• Assessment of learning through inquiry;
• Impact of inquiry for scientific literacy;
• Models of IBSE;
• Inquiry for equity and social justice;
• Knowledge about inquiry and/or the nature of scientific inquiry;
• Literature reviews or meta-analyses of research on IBSE for scientific identity or literacy development.

Prof. Dr. Reneè Schwartz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• inquiry-based science education
• IBSE
• inquiry
• scientific practices
• scientific literacy
• science identity
• nature of scientific inquiry