Objective: This investigation focuses on the impact of classroom practices that may influence a student’s ability to conduct research and thus affect their ability to demonstrate increases in content knowledge through inquiry. Methods: Data for this study was selected from The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). The NAEP Data Explorer was used for data analysis. Overall science scale scores from the 2019 eighth-grade science assessment for specific questions related to instructional methods for scientific research are examined. Because more than one variable is examined, the NDE is used to create descriptive cross-tabulated tables, and t-tests are run to determine significance. Results: The findings include: (1) The frequency with which students used technology in the classroom has no effect on science achievement scores. (2) Intermittent use of scientific inquiry shows bigger gains in science achievement than consistent use. (3) A high frequency of opportunities to combine information from multiple sources has no significant impact on science achievement. Conclusion: High frequency use of technology, inquiry methods, or online searches does not correlate with high gains in science achievement. Adequate prior knowledge, instruction in query development, and appropriate scaffolding are necessary to ensure that students can construct meaning and build knowledge while using technology for online tasks.