Fostering middle school students’ knowledge integration using the web-based inquiry science environment (WISE)

Abstract

mixed methods study investigated the use of a web-based inquiry science environment (WISE) unit to improve Turkish middle school students’ knowledge integration (KI), which refers to the ability to link ideas and to distinguish among these ideas in the process of generating arguments based on normative ideas. This study examined whether using this unit improved Turkish seventh-graders’ knowledge integration about heat and temperature concepts and investigated the mechanisms of WISE that led to higher KI gains. The unit on heat and temperature was newly designed within the WISE authoring environment that reflected KI principles and processes. Seventh-grade (n=75) students from a public middle school in Istanbul participated in this study. To evaluate students’ KI levels, a 10-item KI Scale about heat and temperature was developed and used as a data collection instrument for quantitative analysis. Finally, the WISE logs of three students were analyzed qualitatively to examine how the mechanisms of the WISE interaction varied for students who had different levels of KI gains when they started with the same or the similar KI scores. The results indicated that the students significantly improved their KI levels on the heat and temperature topic after studying on the WISE unit. The qualitative findings suggested that revisiting the steps, the quality of revising explanations, and reflecting on the learning process were influential factors to improve KI within the WISE platform.