Empathy in inquiry: Supporting middle school science students in developing empathy through group reflections during guided inquiry

Most recent research on science education finds that inquiry-based learning in the middle-school science classroom is the most effective method in preparing students to think critically about scientific concepts. While research has demonstrated the beneficial effects on conceptual understanding for students who learn through inquiry-based methods of instruction at the middle school level, not much research has been done on how inquiry-based learning affects students' empathy, or students' ability to identify with and understand the situation, feelings, and motives of their peers. This research investigates how inquiry based learning can be used to increase students' understanding of what their peers think, why their peers have the views that they do and how these understandings contribute to science learning. The students participating in this study took part in a curriculum entitled What's Your Idea? where they reflected on group processes during a guided inquiry investigation. Participating students generally increased their empathy towards their peers and were likely to use the ideas of their peers during the investigation. This finding implies that inquiry-based learning provides benefits other than conceptual understandings for middle school students.