Learning-for-use: A framework for the design of technology-supported inquiry activities

Meeting ambitious content and process (inquiry) standards is an important challenge for science education reform particularly because educators have traditionally seen content and process as competing priorities. However, integrating content and process together in the design of learning activities offers the opportunity to increase students' experience with authentic activities while also achieving deeper content understanding. In this article, I explore technology-supported inquiry learning as an opportunity for integrating content and process learning, using a design framework called the Learning-for-Use model. The Learning-for-Use model is a description of the learning process that can be used to support the design of content-intensive, inquiry-based science learning activities. As an example of a technology-supported inquiry unit designed with the Learning-for-Use model, I describe a curriculum called the Create-a-World Project, in which students engage in open-ended Earth science investigations using WorldWatcher, a geographic visualization and data analysis environment for learners. Drawing on the Learning-for-Use model and the example, I present general guidelines for the design of inquiry activities that support content learning, highlighting opportunities to take advantage of computing technologies. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 355–385, 2001