This book shares the lessons learned by a large community of educational researchers and science teachers as they designed, developed, and investigated a new technology-enhanced learning environment known as WISE: The Web-based Inquiry Science Environment. WISE offers a collection of free, customizable curriculum projects on topics central to the science standards as well as guidance for teachers on how these Internet-based projects can be used to improve learning and instruction in their science classrooms (grades 6-12). Hundreds of teachers and over 100,000 students have learned from WISE projects taught in English, Norwegian, Dutch, German, Hebrew, Chinese, and Korean. Highlights of WISE include:
* A wealth of findings about the WISE curriculum and assessments from 10 years of research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
* A collection of classroom-tested, inquiry-based curriculum projects that are available to every classroom via the Internet, free of charge.
* An accumulation of successful practices, patterns, and principles to guide classroom teachers and curriculum designers.
* Effective models of professional development and school partnerships that support teachers in integrating inquiry-based methods in their own curriculum.
* Key strategies and recommendations for policymakers.