To a scientist, inquiry refers to an intellectual
process that humans have practiced for
thousands of years. However, the history of
inquiry in American science education is much
briefer. Until about 1900, science education
was regarded as getting students to memorize
a collection of facts. In fact, many of today’s
teachers and students can confirm that this
approach is still with us. In 1910, John Dewey
criticized this state of affairs in science
education.11 He argued that science should be
taught as a way of thinking. According to this
view, science should be taught as a process.
During the 1950s and 1960s, educator Joseph
Schwab observed that science was being driven
by a new vision of scientific inquiry.12 In
Schwab’s view, science was no longer a process
for revealing stable truths about the world, but
instead it reflected a flexible process of inquiry.
He characterized inquiry as either “stable” or
“fluid.” Stable inquiry involved using current
understandings to “fill a … blank space in a
growing body of knowledge.” Fluid inquiry
involved the creation of new concepts that
revolutionize science.