K-12 years. For example, the enactment of the Physics by
Inquiry curriculum does not involve any lecturing, tutoring, or
traditional textbook. In contrast, students are seen as respon-
sible for their own learning and are expected to collaboratively
construct knowledge and develop their understanding of
physics concepts through the conduction of a carefully
designed, structured sequence of inquiry-based experiments.
Moreover, the role of the instructors in the Physics by
Inquiry curriculum is quite different from that in a traditional
instruction. It is supportive in nature and requires instructors’
engagement in dialogues with the students of a subgroup at
particular points of the activity sequence, as specified by the
Physics by Inquiry curriculum. Through these dialogues, the
instructors aim to encourage reflection across the inquiry
processes and practices involved in the activities of the Physics
by Inquiry curriculum and not to lecture or provide ready-
made answers/solutions. For consistency in the instructors
e
students interactions and dialogues, all instructors have
meetings on a weekly basis that focus on reviewing the
material/activities before these are encountered in class and
possible issues or prompts that should be discussed or used,
respectively, during the dialogues with the students. For the
purposes of this experiment, EG1 and EG2 students shared the
same seven instructors (consisted of one academic and six
doctoral students) throughout the instructional intervention,
whereas, EG3 and EG4 students shared the same five
instructors (same academic as in the other two EG and four out
of the six doctoral students that were used in the other two
EG). All instructors were previously trained in implementing
the Physics by Inquiry curriculum and had experienced its
implementation at least for two years. The instructor, in the
case of CG, was the same academic who was involved in the
EG conditions