When and How Digitally Enhanced Experimentation Promotes Conceptual Change

Abstract Inquiry-based learning has been shown to foster conceptual understanding through cycles of hypothesis generation and testing, making it particularly relevant for conceptual change when prior knowledge conflicts with new concepts. While inquiry-based learning has been extensively applied in science education, its use in mathematics is still developing. For example, it is often connected to exploratory tasks or problem-solving phases prior to instruction (PS-I). The present study aims to address this gap by investigating whether digital inquiry, including explicit cycles of experimentation, can foster conceptual change in the transition from natural to rational numbers. Using the Scientific Discovery as Dual Search (SDDS) model, we designed a digital learning environment that enables students to generate hypotheses, create visual representations with dynamic fraction bars, test their hypotheses through experimentation, and revise their reasoning based on feedback. We examined the impact of prompts that required the use of digital tools for generating and manipulating dynamic fraction bars, as well as providing empirical feedback on students’ understanding of fractions in two contexts: basketball and color mixing. In an experiment with 231 fifth graders, we found a significant indirect effect of prompts to use the digital tools on the post-test, mediated by the quality of an external visual representation generated with dynamic fraction bars and verbal reasoning. Additionally, there was a positive and significant indirect effect of context on the post-test, favoring the basketball context, mediated by the quality of verbal reasoning. However, no effect of empirical feedback was found. The findings of this study suggest that using dynamic fraction bars and familiar contexts leads to more elaborated learning activities and helps students to shift from natural number concepts to understanding fractions.