Literature Review of Constructivism in Online Science Courses

TL;DR

This literature review examines how constructivist inquiry-based science education, especially lab experiences, can be effectively implemented in online courses through various models and design strategies.

Contribution

It synthesizes existing research on online science labs, highlighting models, challenges, and design considerations for applying constructivist principles online.

Findings

Simulated and virtual labs can be as effective as hands-on labs for certain instructional goals.

Online constructivist instruction requires making student thinking visible and responsive.

Intentional design can overcome challenges of implementing constructivist practices online.

Abstract

Reform movements in science education, such as inquiry-based instruction, have been heavily influenced by constructivist learning theories (National Research Council, 2000). These learning theories place the learner as the sole constructor of knowledge and emphasize the importance of the learner's inquiry process (Yilmaz, 2008). In constructivist inquiry-based science education, lab experiences frequently play an important role in instruction as they provide students with opportunities to observe and make sense of the world around them (National Research Council, 2000), which raises the question of how inquiry-based science instruction can be translated to online environments. There are several models for lab experiences in online science courses, including hands-on labs where students directly manipulate materials, remote labs where students manipulate materials through a computer, and virtual labs and simulations where students work with simulated materials (Powell, et al., 2010). Hands-on labs play an important role, especially given constructivist views that students construct meaning by making observations of the world around them, but there is evidence that simulated and virtual labs can play an important role and may even be better suited to some instructional goals than hands-on labs. Constructivist instruction also requires students to make their process visible and teachers to be responsive to student thinking, both of which are more challenging in online environments (Crippen, et al., 2013). However, with intentional design, these features can be incorporated into online science courses (Jaber, et al., 2018; Jang, 2009).