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look at inquiry. The science education community felt that the original
elements implied a single scientific method with lock-step components. In
reality, scientists employ many pathways through inquiry in the quest for
evidence to support their reasoning.
Science and Students with Visual Impairment
Students with visual impairments have considered science a difficult
subject, due to the overreliance on visual instruction techniques (Jones,
Minogue, Oppewal, Cook, & Broadwell, 2006; Penrod, Haley, & Matheson,
2005; Sahin & Yorek, 2009). However, a growing number of studies indicate
that inquiry-based science lessons improve the knowledge and skills of
students with disabilities (Lynch et al, 2007; Mastropieri , Scruggs, Boon, and
Butcher Carter, 2001). Other researchers have reported that science
teachers utilized inquiry-based methodologies in 61.11% of the classrooms
(Wild & Paul, 2012). Wild &Trundle (2010a, 2010b) documented that inquiry-
based instruction was beneficial in developing conceptual understanding
about conservation and seasonal change for students with visual
impairments. Conceptual understandings of sound were investigated and
student gains were reported by Wild, Hilson, & Hobson (2013b). Wild, Hilson,
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