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Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65-83). The purpose of this large-scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.

The cram school in Taiwan offers additional after-school instruction to enhance students' academic performance, and it provides a unique educational context to investigate students' perspectives toward learning. The purpose of this study was to explore 45 cram school students' (around 14 years old) conceptions of learning and learning science. The research data were gathered from interviews with each of the students, and the interview responses were further analyzed by a phenomenographic method. It was found that most of these students conceptualized learning or learning science as memorizing school knowledge, preparing for tests, or practicing tutorial problems and processing calculations. This study also revealed that about 76% of the students expressed coherent views between conceptions of learning in general, and those of learning science in particular. Further analyses of student interview responses suggested that the students held a quantitative view of learning (science) and they tended to atomize school knowledge while learning (science). Their motivation for learning was mainly driven by external factors, such as examination scores, and they probably employed a surface approach to learning. Moreover, their conceptions of learning or learning science might imply a dualist epistemology for the nature of knowing and knowledge. This study also showed some evidence that the special educational context of cram schools might guide students develop certain conceptions of learning, thus leading to particular study and motivational approaches. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)