Web-Based Science Inquiry Learning

This long-running project explores how students engage with science inquiry in web-based learning environments, with a particular focus on the roles of motivation, behavioral engagement, and instructional feedback. Using the WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment) platform, the research tracks how students navigate inquiry tasks and how different forms of feedback — especially social-affective support feedback — influence their learning processes and outcomes.

The project has produced insights into how students' perceptions of teacher feedback shape their self-regulated learning through the mediating effects of self-efficacy and goal orientation, as well as new methods for measuring fine-grained behavioral engagement in online science learning contexts.

Published Papers:

• He, J., Liu, Y., Zhao, W., Xie, K., & Zhang, D. (2026). The Impact of Social-Affective Support Feedback on Students' Science Inquiry Learning. Learning and Motivation.
• He, J., Liu, Y., Ran, T., & Zhang, D. (2022). How students' perception of feedback influences self-regulated learning: the mediating role of self-efficacy and goal orientation. European Journal of Psychology of Education.
• He, J., Jin, B., Xu, Z., & Zhang, D. (2022). Measuring elementary students' behavioral engagement in web-based science inquiry learning. Journal of Online Learning Research.