Cognitive mapping-mediated inquiry learning in an online environment

Abstract

Inquiry learning has been widely promoted in educational practice, particularly in science learning. It is considered central to achieving goals of science learning that focus on scientific reasoning, as it involves students in exploring phenomena or problems by collecting and interpreting data, and making hypothetical reasoning. However, students often have difficulties in formulating hypotheses and reasoning with logic and evidence in inquiry learning that involves multiple intertwined variables. It is therefore important to facilitate inquiry learning by making the complex processes accessible to students. This study proposes a Three-dimensional Cognitive Mapping (3DCM) approach that incorporates a concept map, a data table, and a reasoning map. This approach allows learners to combine, in a single picture, knowledge of relevant concepts and their relationships, problem information and data, and the hypothetical reasoning processes, to support inquiry into complex domains. This study adopted a design-based research paradigm with two rounds of designs and evaluations to examine the effects of the 3DCM versus concept mapping. The participants completed a group-based inquiry task of explaining a fish die-off phenomenon in a virtual ecosystem in an online environment featured by the 3DCM. Data collected included measures of group task performance, pre- and post-tests, post-test questionnaires of student perceptions, and responses to open-ended questions. The results showed that participants using the 3DCM approach achieved significantly higher knowledge improvement and performed better in the inquiry task − especially in hypothesis formulation and evidence-based reasoning − than their counterparts using only the concept mapping approach. The 3DCM makes salient the processes of hypothesizing and reasoning, thereby enabling students to develop hypothetical reasoning in a logical and progressive way and with a global view. Regarding students’ perceptions, the first-round experiment results showed no significant differences between the two conditions in terms of attitudes toward inquiry learning, consensus building, confidence, and anxiety. Yet, after refinement and improvement of the learning environment, compared with the concept mapping, the 3DCM had more positive effects on students’ confidence, anxiety, intrinsic cognitive load, and task planning. On the other hand, it seemed to share equal value with concept mapping in terms of drawing conclusions, fostering positive attitudes, and promoting group discourse and engagement in the inquiry. This study may contribute to knowledge about the design principles and effects of cognitive mapping on learning in inquiry or problem-solving contexts. Specifically, it examines how cognitive mapping can be designed in a way that helps learners capture the complex cognitive processes involved in inquiry tasks by visualizing the main cognitive aspects (including searching information and data, identifying relevant knowledge, and hypothesizing and reasoning) and integrating them in a single image. Concept mapping, with a focus on representing conceptual understanding of domain knowledge, has its limit in helping learners capture multiple aspects of the complex inquiry processes. By representing the cognitive processes in a holistic way, the proposed 3DCM approach has shown its promising effects on improving task performance and student knowledge achievement in inquiry-based learning.