ARONI is a research consortium of teams in three universities (Tampere, Jyväskylä, Helsinki, see Participants) funded by the Academy of Finland for years 2015-2019. The consortium aims to make a pedagogical breakthrough by developing a new instructional model for teaching online inquiry competences (OICs). To achieve this goal, the consortium will develop research instruments to assess students’ OICs and teachers’ pedagogical practices in the classroom. The research instruments are used to explore pedagogical gaps empirically both from students’ and teachers’ perspectives. The findings inform the development of the instructional model within the theoretical frameworks to which the multidisciplinary consortium is engaged. The instructional model is exposed to a rigorously designed evaluation.

Argumentative online inquiry assessment (AOIA) test is developed and together with other survey instruments used to evaluate students’ OICs and how these relate to students’ everyday information practices and inquiry orientations. The method developed for the assessment of pedagogical practices is applied in three case studies in Finland and in the USA. Empirical findings are exploited in designing the instructional model for OICs.

The instructional model is evaluated in a quasi-experimental teaching intervention study. A group of nine teachers is recruited to plan, implement and evaluate of the intervention. Diverse methods are used to collect data about the process and its outcomes. This includes pre- and post-tests of students’ learning outcomes in OICs; teachers’ interviews; observation memos; survey data on students’ information practices as well as experiences of used pedagogical practices.

The overall flow of planned research is outlined below as a flowchart. Each sub-study is briefly illustrated on the page of the coordinating team (HU team, JYU team, and UTA team).

ARONI logo was designed by Katja Kautto.