Mobile learning as instruction prompt guidance to support the inquiry-based learning process: an experimental study on primary school students.

Abstract

The effect of guidance for supporting student inquiry-based learning in a computer learning environment has been investigated. However, the effect of mobile learning guidance tools during an inquiry-based learning session in a non-virtual learning environment has rarely been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of mobile learning guidance tools specifically on the learning experience and learning outcomes of primary students involved in an inquiry physical (non-virtual learning) science training session. A control group was involved in a conventional learning inquiry-based learning and an experimental group used mobile learning guidance for studying astronomy during an inquiry-based learning session. The findings showed that the mobile learning approach improves the learning experience of primary students, regardless of their initial knowledge of the subject studied. The mobile learning and the conventional approaches significantly improved primary students’ learning outcomes with no clear benefit for either condition.