A blended mobile learning environment could be useful in helping teach students how to employ their scientific inquiry skills in a science museum, according to research published in the International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning.
Hua Du and Xiaoqing Gu of the Department of Educational Information Technology at East China Normal University, in Shanghai, explain how science museums are ripe for development as teaching environments for developing scientific skills. In the age of the always-connected mobile device, phones and tablets can be pulled into this scenario to develop the concept still further. Blending the online environment with the offline, physical world of a museum has great potential, the work suggests.
The team has explored how well such a blended mobile environment might function in education and tested the approach with two groups of students and activities designed for particular capabilities and educational maturity. The bottom line, reports the team is that “a well-designed blended mobile learning environment in science museums is effective in developing students’ scientific inquiry skills.” Critically, however, the best results were seen with those students for whom specific scientific tasks had been appropriately tailored.
“The findings strengthen our view that learner-centeredness is an important perspective in mobile device-based science museum experiences,” the team concludes.
Du, H. and Gu, X. (2019) ‘Exploring a blended mobile learning environment to develop students’ scientific inquiry skills in science museums’, Int. J. Smart Technology and Learning, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.310–322.
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