LAUSR

Recently, researchers have demonstrated the benefits of technology-enhanced science inquiry activities. To improve students’ self-regulation and assist them in controlling their own learning pace through inquiry activities, in this study, a self-regulated science inquiry approach was developed to assist them in organizing information from their real-world exploration. A quasi-experimental design was conducted in an elementary school natural science course to evaluate the students’ performance using the proposed learning approach. One class assigned as the treatment group learned with the self-regulated science inquiry approach, while the other class assigned as the control group learned with the conventional science inquiry approach. The students’ learning achievement, tendency of information help seeking, tendency of self-regulation, and self-efficacy were evaluated. The results of the study revealed that the self-regulated science inquiry approach improved the students’ learning achievement, especially for those students with higher self-regulation. In addition, the students who conducted inquiry with the self-regulated learning strategy increased their tendency of information help seeking, self-efficacy, and several aspects of self-regulation, including time management, help seeking, and self-evaluation. Accordingly, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of the self-regulated learning strategy, an approach with high learner control, in terms of improving students’ learning achievement and their self-regulation.