Investigation of Inquiry Behaviors and Learning Achievement in Authentic Contexts with the Ubiquitous-Physics App

Abstract

This study developed a mobile app called Ubiquitous-Physics (U-Physics), which helps students explore inclined plane phenomena in authentic contexts and consolidates their physics learning in everyday contexts. The study investigated inquiry behaviors such as interpreting graphs, applying formulas, drawing conclusions, and peer sharing, and how these influenced learning achievements. The app’s effects on learning perceptions and motivation were also analyzed. The study was conducted at a vocational senior high school and two activities (indoors and outdoors/authentic contexts). The results show that the experimental group using U-Physics significantly outperformed the control group, who used traditional tools such as a stopwatch for the inclined plane experiment in terms of learning achievements. Analysis of the correlations among inquiry behaviors and learning achievement revealed that the number of posts in authentic contexts had the greatest influence on learning achievement, confirming the importance of applying physics concepts in authentic contexts. Additionally, most students reported positive perceptions of the U-Physics app and were highly motivated to use it for future learning. The findings indicate that using U-Physics in authentic contexts is very meaningful and can contribute to physics learning, particularly when using mobile devices with sensors to facilitate inquiry learning in authentic physics scenarios.