Integrating scientific inquiry and technological design activities using microcomputer-based laboratories

Research findings suggest the inclusion of design activities in science teaching to foster students’ learning of scientific/technological contents. Integration with inquiry-based activities has also been suggested to improve engagement in authentic practices. We propose a Teaching-Learning Sequence (TLS), “The insulated house”, which integrates scientific inquiry and technological design activities using a blend of traditional and microcomputer-based laboratories. The TLS was developed within an Italian National Project aimed at improving students’ scientific literacy. The activities have involved 15 students (17-18 years-old) of a Technical School. The contents addressed are: heat, temperature, materials thermal properties. First, an experiment to describe/interpret cooling/heating of a water quantity was done with thermometers and temperature probes; data analysis allowed to identify the mathematical function describing the temperature vs. time trend and the physical parameters of the phenomenon (e.g. conductivity, exchange surface, thickness, etc…). Then, the students were asked to design the walls of an house to met certain temperature requirements in the inner rooms. A prototype “house” with 3 “rooms” separated by “walls” of different materials was built and tested to verify that the materials met the desired requirements when illuminated by an artificial “sun” (high wattage lamp). In each room a sensor measured the temperature. The students drew on the experiment results to investigate the influence of the walls’ material on the heating curve of each room and identify the most suitable materials for walls’ construction. Analysis of answers to an open question shows that the proposed integrated activities improved students’ views about Science and Technology relationships.