Beyond inquiry or direct instruction: Pressing issues for designing impactful science learning opportunities

We recently published a paper in this journal (de Jong et al., 2023) that presented an overview of the literature on learning in science domains through direct instruction and guided inquiry-based learning. This paper was, in part, a response to Zhang et al. (2022) who argued that the evidence firml...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational research review 2024-08, Vol.44, p.100623, Article 100623
Main Authors: de Jong, Ton, Lazonder, Ard W., Chinn, Clark A., Fischer, Frank, Gobert, Janice, Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E., Koedinger, Ken R., Krajcik, Joseph S., Kyza, Eleni A., Linn, Marcia C., Pedaste, Margus, Scheiter, Katharina, Zacharia, Zacharias C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Direct instruction
Evidence-based instruction
Inquiry-based instruction
Instructional design
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Summary:We recently published a paper in this journal (de Jong et al., 2023) that presented an overview of the literature on learning in science domains through direct instruction and guided inquiry-based learning. This paper was, in part, a response to Zhang et al. (2022) who argued that the evidence firmly supported the superiority of direct instruction over inquiry learning. Sweller et al. (2024) recently replied by repeating this claim and also argued that we had ignored evidence against our position, questioned our analysis of the evidence, and claimed that direct instruction (unlike inquiry learning) is grounded in a strong theory. In this rebuttal we start by reemphasizing the conclusion from our previous paper: adequate instruction always involves different strategies, which should be thoughtfully selected based on contextual factors. Next, we demonstrate that inquiry-based learning is firmly rooted in both cognitive and socio-cultural theories of learning and conclude from recent literature that Sweller et al.‘s belief that direct instruction is overall more effective than inquiry learning is not supported by the data from empirical studies. •Inquiry-based instruction is firmly rooted in cognitive and sociocultural theories.•Well-designed instructional methods often combine direct instruction and student inquiry.•Teachers are key to successfully implementing methods in the classroom.
ISSN:1747-938X
DOI:10.1016/j.edurev.2024.100623