Inquiry based science supported by technology: Achievement among urban middle school students

Inquiry is an essential component of science. NRC (1996) argues that inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science. Teachers focus inquiry predominantly on real phenomena, in classrooms, outdoors, or in laboratory settings, where students are given investigations or guided toward fashioning investigations that are demanding but within their capabilities. Technology can play a central role in implementing those standards. The new computational and communications technologies afford students an opportunity to engage in serious inquiry.