Enhancing Students’ Motivation towards School Science with an Inquiry-Based Site Visit Teaching Sequence: A Design-Based Research Approach

An inquiry-based site visit teaching sequence for school science was designed in co-operation with researchers and science teachers, according to the principles of Design Based Research (DBR). Outof-school industry site visits were central in the design. Theory-based conjectures arising from the literature on motivation, interest and inquiry-based science teaching (IBST) were embodied in the design solution, and these embodied conjectures were researched in order to uncover the aspects of the design related to students' motivation and interest. The aim of the research was to clarify which particular aspects of the design appealed particular students and enhanced their motivation and interest, and what scientific content students learnt within the project.