Guest Editors’ Introduction Special Issue: International Perspectives on Inquiry and Technology

Introduction Preparing young people to successfully use science during the course of their lives requires more than just providing them with a body of factual knowledge. We must also help them develop strategies for continuously acquiring new knowledge and relevant skills in response to the ever changing issues and choices that will confront them. This view of learning holds that students should acquire a certain attitude of mind, making them willing and able to grow throughout the course of their lives. An important goal of science education is thus to foster a sense of inquiry and lifelong learning, enabling them to continuously inquire about their environment in order to respond to scenarios they encounter in everyday life. Should they reject genetically modified foods? Is nuclear energy dangerous? Are we at risk from various diseases? The term “inquiry” has been applied to a broad range of perspectives about learning and instruction, with a variety of activities like questioning, information seeking, hypothesizing, experimenting, evaluating results, reasoning, and designing