ABSTRACT
Recent educational reforms internationally have placed inquiry at the center of science education, shifting from teaching “final form” scientific content toward facilitating student engagement with inquiry practices. This follows changes in views of what scientific inquiry entails, which have shifted from an emphasis on science as verified through observation, to an emphasis on theory change in science and, currently, to emphasizing the social context of scientific knowledge building, particularly through collectively engaging in model-building practices. In engaging students with these practices, one key goal is to develop competencies that are necessary for productive lay engagement with science as “competent outsiders.” Building on the AIR model of epistemic cognition, this chapter unpacks the practices of effective inquiry in science classes. The authors highlight several exemplars of model-based inquiry learning environments and discuss how they can each foreground different aspects of modeling practices. Features of effective inquiry learning include engagement in inquiry, scaffolding epistemic practices, promoting epistemic agency, developing metacognitive understanding and regulation, and fostering communities of inquiry. The authors discuss key benefits of engaging students in well-designed inquiry environments, including increased motivation, enhanced content learning, and growth in reasoning. The authors conclude by discussing critical challenges to inquiry-based science instruction.
