Mobile, Inquiry-Based Learning and Geological Observation

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the use of integrated and complementary technology systems including mobile devices to explore an instructional experience designed to provoke observational inquiry and geological reasoning with upper elementary and middle school students. Mobile devices combined with classroom-based computer technology loaded with Google EarthTM software provided enhanced and varying views of a geological phenomenon allowing students to identify and reason about visual evidence of erosion in their local environment. A socio-cultural frame was also employed to examine the data in relation to social structures, cultural practices and individual agency. Findings indicate that the incorporation of mobile devices into an overarching instructional intervention involving geological observational inquiry promoted enhanced geological observation and reasoning in the field as well as demonstrated some evidence of appropriation in shifts of agency, social structures and cultural practices for the students in this study.