The idea manager: A tool to scaffold students in documenting, sorting, and distinguishing ideas during science inquiry

Abstract

The Idea Manager is a tool integrated into the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment to help students collect and organize their ideas before writing explanations. Findings from its implementation in high school science classrooms show how the Idea Manager supported students in articulating and documenting their developing ideas, and helped identify impacts of curriculum materials on students' learning. We describe our design rationale and our planned refinements to the tool, and discuss areas for further research. © ISLS.