SUPPORTING INQUIRY BASED LABORATORY PRACTICES WITH MOBILE LEARNING TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ PROCESS SKILLS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

Abstract

Supporting the latest technology for inquiry is among one of the topics that is currently being discussed in the context of science education. The aim of this research is to examine the laboratory practices that use mobile learning to enhance the science process skills of the participants. The research is of qualitative design and has been planned as action research. The practices on determining the quality of water are based on an approach of guided inquiry based learning. The research was conducted with eleven (n=11) volunteering pre-service teachers who were third-year students in department of the science teacher education. Group discussions, classroom camera records and spreadsheet responses were used to determine the scope of the research. The data were analyzed with directed content analysis by two separate researchers who used the Nvivo 8 program. At the end of the research, it was concluded that using mobile learning contributed to the laboratory practices in many ways. Key words: inquiry based laboratory practices, mobile learning, science process skills, and water quality.