The Development and Evaluation of the Online Science Fair Inquiry System

Abstract

Science fair is one of the most common open inquiry activities which can facilitate learners to construct their science knowledge and develop science literacy in school. However, there are a great deal of difficulties and challenges in Taiwan’s education fair. For example, novice teachers may neither effectively guide learners to conduct science fair inquiry activities nor facilitate learners to construct related knowledge. To scaffold teachers’ instruction and students’ learning in science fair inquiry, the “Online Science Fair Inquiry System” (OSFIS) was developed in this study. After the development of the OSFIS, this study also conducted a series of system evaluations on it. To this end, both questionnaire survey and tape-recorded interviews were conducted. The participants of the system evaluation in this study were 52 elementary school teachers. The participants expressed satisfactory perceived usefulness and ease of use of the OSFIS. Also, they had high intention to use the OSFIS. Moreover, this study reveals that the OSFIS may facilitate both teachers and students to understand the process of science fair inquiry, solve the limitation of activities times, record the portfolio during inquiry activities, and complement teachers’ professional knowledge. Results also indicated that the participants’ perception toward OSFIS might be influenced by environmental limitation, and their professional knowledge of science fair and confidence. Finally, some suggestions and implications for teachers to conduct open inquiry activities, system design, and future work are also proposed.