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Education Sciences
Special Issues
The Impact of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching in Secondary Schools
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The Impact of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching in Secondary Schools

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2025) | Viewed by 1710

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jean Marie Boilevin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
INSPE Bretagne, University of Western Brittany, 35000 Rennes, France
Interests: study of teaching practices in primary and secondary science teaching; inquiry-based science teaching and learning (IBST/IBSL); professional development for teachers; development of student autonomy in the learning of physics in secondary schools
Prof. Dr. Patricia Marzin-Janvier

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
INSPE Bretagne, University of Western Brittany, 29200 Brest, France
Interests: studies in biology education; IBST/L; sustainability; environment; climate change and health education in several contexts; outdoor education; responsible citizen science with science researchers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For many years, various institutional texts have discussed the role of inquiry-based science teaching (IBST) in renewing science teaching practices. A number of curricula have adopted this teaching approach in more or less similar forms, but there is no real consensus on IBST definition.

IBST is the subject of a great deal of research. However, the merits of this type of teaching approach are hardly debated, with some publications arguing that IBST is superior to more direct, explicit teaching in terms of learning, or that they should be combined. But what kind of learning are we really talking about? If we consider that the stakes of science learning are centered on a better understanding of science by the learner and the training of scientists, three aspects need to be developed: learning science, learning about science and learning to do science. IBST seems to be a good candidate for implementing these principles.

This Special Issue of Education Sciences aims to reflect current work investigating the impact of IBST on secondary school students' learning of science in and out of the classroom. Potential topics include the following: pedagogical interventions; analyses of teacher and student practices, taking into account student diversity, including linguistic diversity or special education; outdoor education; the development of student autonomy; student argumentation and creativity; student cooperation; student motivation for science; and relationships between student learning and teacher guidance and/or task type. Any other topics within the scope of this Special Issue are also welcome and will be given full consideration.

Prof. Dr. Jean Marie Boilevin
Prof. Dr. Patricia Marzin-Janvier
Guest Editors

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.

Keywords

  • biology education
  • chemistry education
  • physics education
  • sustainability education
  • inquiry-based science teaching
  • learning
  • impacts
  • evaluation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 2665 KB  
Article
Inquiry-Based Approaches in Two Generations of Science Reference Frameworks in French-Speaking Belgium: A Curricular Analysis
by Corentin Poffé and Marie Noëlle Hindryckx
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(12), 1645; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15121645 - 6 Dec 2025
Viewed by 232
Abstract
In French-speaking Belgium, new science curricula are being introduced for pupils aged 12 to 15 and will gradually be implemented in classrooms until 2028. At a time when the reference frameworks for the rest of the compulsory curriculum (ages 16 to 18) are [...] Read more.
In French-speaking Belgium, new science curricula are being introduced for pupils aged 12 to 15 and will gradually be implemented in classrooms until 2028. At a time when the reference frameworks for the rest of the compulsory curriculum (ages 16 to 18) are being rebuilt, we wanted to ascertain—via qualitative and textometric analyses—the importance of inquiry-based approaches in the new common core reference framework (ages 12 to 15), as well as in the current upper secondary framework (ages 16 to 18) it is being developed to replace. More broadly, we examine and compare the ways in which didactic research findings on these approaches, and the major epistemological orientations underlying them, are operationalised; in this way, we draw up some guidelines for rewriting upper secondary science reference frameworks. Our analysis shows that the common core reference framework is much more explicit about epistemological orientations and inquiry-based approaches than that for upper secondary, although it does not include research in science didactics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching in Secondary Schools)
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15 pages, 1177 KB  
Article
An Exploration of Physics Teachers’ Lesson Plans Within the IBSE Framework: The Case of Teaching Mechanics in Autistic Students
by George Kaliampos, Antomi Saregar, Muhammad Aizri Fadillah and Konstantinos Ravanis
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(11), 1535; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15111535 - 14 Nov 2025
Viewed by 431
Abstract
Drawing from a broad and multifaceted stream of educational research and practice that has gradually emerged in recent decades within science education field, widely known as Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE), the current study aims to extend its boundaries within the special education field. [...] Read more.
Drawing from a broad and multifaceted stream of educational research and practice that has gradually emerged in recent decades within science education field, widely known as Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE), the current study aims to extend its boundaries within the special education field. In particular it aspires to investigate to what extent teachers foster IBSE characteristics and accommodate the specific learning characteristics of students with autism when they are called to teach them projectile motion and the concept of force. To fulfill this goal, seven secondary school physics teachers with a background in special education were recruited to develop lesson plans on mechanics for high-functioning autistic adolescents. Our findings indicate that these teachers exhibit varying levels of engagement, with certain aspects of IBSE being applied more consistently than others. Notably, the nature of the content appears to play a significant role in shaping this variability. The findings show that teachers tend to demonstrate different levels of engagement, with some aspects of IBSE being more consistently applied than others. Interestingly, the nature of the content appears to play a significant role in influencing this variability. The findings of the current study are likely to contribute to teaching and learning science content to students that with autism spectrum disorder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching in Secondary Schools)
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