Learning primary science by inquiry: What does a technology-enabled curriculum look like?

Many science reform efforts have emphasized the learning of science using inquiry-based methods. With advancements made in mobile technology, increasing emphasis has been paid to how to leverage the affordances of mobile technology to empower science inquiry in schools. Building on the research literature, we focus on articulating a holistic science curriculum, namely the Mobilized 5E Science Curriculum (M5ESC), which harnesses the affordances of mobile technology to support anywhere, anytime learning in and out of the classroom. This curriculum is the outcome of a 6-year longitudinal design-based research study in a Singapore school, in which a science curriculum was co-designed, enacted and refined through iterative design cycles by science teachers working with university researchers. We describe the curriculum development theory, the learning design principles, the inquiry-based instructional principles, and the notion of seamless learning, which are the key aspects of the curriculum. Our discussion does not portray a static image or snapshot of a curriculum innovation but also presents the design processes that affect the curriculum development and thereby inform the research and practice of the technology-supported curricula. Copyright © 2018 selection and editorial matter, Kerry J. Kennedy and John Chi-Kin Lee; individual chapters, the contributors.