Epistemologically authentic inquiry in schools: A theoretical framework for evaluating inquiry tasks

TLDR

Science education aims to help students reason scientifically, often through inquiry activities such as experiments. This article proposes a theoretical framework to evaluate inquiry tasks based on their authenticity to real science. The framework identifies similarities and differences between classroom tasks and authentic research, grounded in a recent theory of reasoning and models‑of‑data. The authors argue that typical school inquiry tasks invoke reasoning processes and epistemologies distinct from authentic science, though researcher‑designed tasks increasingly approximate authenticity, warranting further refinement and implications for research, assessment, and instruction. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Sci Ed 86:175–218, DOI 10.1002/sce.10001.

Abstract

Abstract A main goal of science education is to help students learn to reason scientifically. A main way to facilitate learning is to engage students in inquiry activities such as conducting experiments. This article presents a theoretical framework for evaluating inquiry tasks in terms of how similar they are to authentic science. The framework helps identify the respects in which these reasoning tasks are similar to and different from real scientific research. The framework is based on a recent theory of reasoning, models‐of‐data theory . We argue that inquiry tasks commonly used in schools evoke reasoning processes that are qualitatively different from the processes employed in real scientific inquiry. Moreover, school reasoning tasks appear to be based on an epistemology that differs from the epistemology of authentic science. Inquiry tasks developed by researchers have increasingly captured features of authentic science, but further improvement is still possible. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our analysis for research, assessment, and instruction. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 86: 175–218, 2002; DOI 10.1002/sce.10001