Inquiry-Based Learning Definition, Benefits & Strategies. Developed in the 1960s, many teachers see inquiry-based learning as a new pedagogy — meaning they have questions about how to use it and if it’s worthwhile. Like problem-based learning, proponents state that letting students investigate solutions to open questions has a range of advantages. But the pedagogy must be shaped by research-backed approaches to reap these advantages. Along with a definition, below are the benefits of inquiry-based learning and strategies for implementing activities in your classroom.
What Is Inquiry-Based Learning? If you’re familiar with inquiry-based learning, feel free to skip this section. For the many educators who aren’t, it is a learning and teaching method that prioritizes student questions, ideas and analyses. From a student point-of-view, inquiry-based learning focuses on investigating an open question or problem. Using methods such as guided research, document analysis and question-and-answer sessions, you can run inquiry activities in the form of: 1. 2.
11 Ways to be an Inquiry-based Teacher. It’s hard to run an inquiry-based classroom. Don’t go into this teaching style thinking all you do is ask questions and observe answers. You have to listen with all of your senses, pause and respond to what you heard (not what you wanted to hear), keep your eye on the Big Ideas as you facilitate learning, value everyone’s contribution, be aware of the energy of the class and step in when needed, step aside when required.
You aren’t a Teacher, rather a guide. You and the class find your way from question to knowledge together. Because everyone learns differently. You don’t use a textbook. And then there’s the issue of assessment. Let me digress. So how do you create the inquiry-based classroom? Ask open-ended questions and be open-minded about conclusionsprovide hands-on experiencesuse groups to foster learningencourage self-paced learning. In the end, know that inquiry-based teaching is not about learning for the moment. Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. Bringing Inquiry-Based Learning Into Your Class. In the shallow end of the Types of Student Inquiry pool, Structured Inquiry gives the teacher control of the essential question, the starting point—for example, “What defines a culture?” Or “What is the importance of the scientific method?”
These questions are not answered in a single lesson and do not have a single answer, and, in fact, our understanding of an essential question may change over time as we research it. In Structured Inquiry, the teacher also controls specific learning activities, the resources students will use to create understanding, and the summative assessment learners will complete to demonstrate their understanding. In Controlled Inquiry, the teacher provides several essential questions.
How Are the Types of Student Inquiry Helpful? Inquiry is most successful when strongly scaffolded. This structure allows us to successfully address the curriculum and the “must know” content and skills of each discipline, grade level, and course. Second, think big and start small. Inquiry-based Learning: Explanation.
What is inquiry-based learning? An old adage states: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand. " The last part of this statement is the essence of inquiry-based learning, says our workshop author Joe Exline 1. Inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Furthermore, involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct new knowledge. "Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning. " A Context for Inquiry Unfortunately, our traditional educational system has worked in a way that discourages the natural process of inquiry. Some of the discouragement of our natural inquiry process may come from a lack of understanding about the deeper nature of inquiry-based learning. Importance of Inquiry Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world.
The Application of Inquiry. Instructional Design Models and Theories: Inquiry-based Learning Model. 1960s - Joseph Schwab was one of the key founders of the Inquiry-based Learning Model that relies upon the idea that individuals are able to learn by investigating scenarios and problems, and through social experiences. The Inquiry-based Learning Model emerged in the 1960s, during the “discovery learning” movement and relies upon the idea that individuals are able to learn by investigating scenarios and problems, and through social experiences.
Rather than having to memorize information from printed materials, instructors encouraged their students to conduct investigations that would satisfy their curiosity, help them broaden their knowledge base and develop their skills and mental frames. It’s important to remember that inquiry-based learning is not a technique or practice per se, but a process that has the potential to increase the intellectual engagement and deep understanding of learners, urging them to: The 5 steps of inquiry-based learning The principles of inquiry-based learning. 10 Tips For Launching An Inquiry-Based Classroom. Transforming teaching practices is a long, slow road. But increasingly schools and teachers experiencing success are sharing their ideas online and in-person. Science Leadership Academy opened as a public magnet school almost ten years ago in Philadelphia.
The educators that make up the school community have spent nearly half that time sharing best practices through a school-run conference each year and more recently by opening a second school in Philadelphia. Diana Laufenberg was one of the first SLA teachers and has gone on to help foster inquiry at schools around the country, most recently by starting the non-profit Inquiry Schools. It takes time to build up a strong inquiry-based teaching practice, to learn how to direct student questions with other questions, and to get comfortable in a guiding role. But when Laufenberg talks about what it takes, she makes it sound easy.
We’ve broken her advice down into digestible tips for anyone ready to jump in and try for themselves. 1. 2. 3. Feature Article - Inquiry Learning, Summer 2009- Teaching with Primary Sources. Why is inquiry important for student learning? Inquiry is a process of active learning that is driven by questioning and critical thinking. The understandings that students develop through inquiry are deeper and longer lasting than any pre-packaged knowledge delivered by teachers to students. Inquiry-based learning follows a process that progresses through phases, but is recursive and reflective throughout. The six phases and their thought processes are detailed in the following diagram. Stripling Model of Inquiry pdf version of Stripling Model of Inquiry (247 KB) Why should primary sources be used for inquiry? By their very nature, primary sources engage students in inquiry.
Second, primary sources engage students both emotionally and personally because the sources represent authentic voices and images. Finally, the conflicting nature of primary sources helps students see the complexity of issues and recognize the importance of context for credible interpretation. Top. The Right Way To Implement Essential Questions. We had a delightful visit to The School of the Future in New York City the other day. Lots of engaged kids, a great blend of instruction and constructivist work, and an obvious intellectual culture. And as the picture illustrates, everywhere we went we also saw helpful visual reminders of the big ideas and essential questions framing the work we were watching: School of the Future staff have long been users of UbD tools and ideas.
But far too often over the years I have seen plenty of good stuff posted like this – but no deep embedding of the EQ into the unit design and lessons that make it up. Merely posting the EQs and occasionally reminding kids of it is pointless: the aim is to use the question to frame specific activities, to provide perspective and focus, to prioritize the course, and to signal to students that, eventually, THEY must – on their own – pose this and other key questions. Let’s start with a simple example from my own teaching. Same thing. What is the unknown? Feature Article - Inquiry Learning, Summer 2009- Teaching with Primary Sources. Creating a Culture of Inquiry. Inquiry is powerful. It can create student ownership in the classroom.
It can validate the passions and interests of our students. However, creating a culture of inquiry takes constant work. Teachers need to establish it from the first day in the classroom, and work to keep it vital throughout the year. Here are some important things to know about creating that culture, and some ideas that you might consider. Culture vs. We need to be honest at the forefront.
Welcome If students don’t feel welcome in your classroom, they won't ask questions or engage in the learning. Scaffold and Value Questioning I know that with some younger students, when you ask them if they have a question, you get story instead. Essential Questions One great tool for building a culture of inquiry is essential questions that drive learning. Effective Assignments and Assessments Related to one of the tenets of creating essential questions, we have to make sure that our assignments also mirror and honor inquiry.
Creating a Culture of Inquiry | Edutopia. How Inquiry Can Enable Students to Become Modern Day de Tocquevilles. Some teachers are skeptical about “student-driven learning,” suspecting that it’s really just another chance for unfocused social time. It can often be hard to see behind the jargon the careful planning and teacher support necessary to ensure that students not only stay focused, but also produce high-level work. Educators often wonder how students can all be working on different projects but acquiring the same skills. It may seem challenging to keep track of 30 kids investigating 30 different issues, but when inquiry-based teaching is done well, that chaotic swirl of ideas and needs is based on a strong foundation of planning.
Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia is known for its dedication to inquiry, practiced through project-based learning with public school students. As a magnet school, SLA does have an application process, but many students are not coming from schools where they experienced inquiry learning before. Democracy and Education from Amani Bey on Vimeo. What Is Inquiry All About Anyway? - Heinemann. In the new and revised edition of Comprehension and Collaboration, Stephanie Harvey and Harvey "Smokey" Daniels invite you to see inquiry not as a project-based mode of learning but as something that happens all the time in every classroom.
Comprehension and Collaboration, Revised Edition ships in late June. In today's blog, coauthor Stephanie Harvey describes inquiry as a way of living and learning inside of school. When we commit to helping kids develop and use knowledge, we carefully set the scene. We create a culture where everyone can think and investigate well together. As we know, any culture is made up of beliefs, attitudes, habits, routines, rituals, systems, processes, materials, and artifacts. Ten key elements are important when we work with kids. We consistently see these same elements being skillfully addressed in the classrooms of veteran inquiry teachers like the ones who have contributed to this book. Comprehension and Collaboration, Revised Edition ships in late June. Inquiry in the Classroom: 7 Simple Tools To Get You Started. We know certain characteristics can be encouraged, but not taught, like curiosity.
But teachers who use an inquiry based approach can provide techniques that help students learn the questions to ask that may spark a natural interest. Image from Flickr via David Woo Why Use the Inquiry Cycle? Often used by science professionals to work through problems and research, an inquiry-based approach, or inquiry cycle, is also used in classrooms for scientific and non-scientific topics to encourage students during the learning process. The Center for Inspired Teaching, an organization that provides teacher training, explains that in an inquiry-based approach, teachers help students generate their own appropriate questions and guide the investigation. The Center for Inspired Teaching says this approach helps create life-long learners by: Steps of the Inquiry Cycle Technology to Help Students with Inquiry Cycle Step 1: Assessing what is already known. Step 2: Knowing what questions to ask. In Short. Inquiry Based Learning. Inquiry.
How Inquiry Can Enable Students to Become Modern Day de Tocquevilles. Boards by Jeff K. - Video Integration. Augmented Reality on Pinterest | 60 Pins. IBL.pdf. The inquiry process. 4 Phases of Inquiry-Based Learning: A Guide For Teachers. According to Indiana University Bloomington, Inquiry-based learning is an “instructional model that centers learning on a solving a particular problem or answering a central question. There are several different inquiry-based learning models, but most have several general elements in common: Learning focuses around a meaningful, ill-structured problem that demands consideration of diverse perspectivesAcademic content-learning occurs as a natural part of the process as students work towards finding solutionsLearners, working collaboratively, assume an active role in the learning processTeachers provide learners with learning supports and rich multiple media sources of information to assist students in successfully finding solutionsLearners share and defend solutions publicly in some manner” The process itself can be broken down into stages, or phases, that help teachers frame instruction. 4 Phases of Inquiry-Based Learning: A Guide For Teachers 1.
Student-to-material. 2. 3. 4. Inquiry. What is Inquiry? Inquiry learning provides opportunities for students to experience and acquire processes through which they can gather information about the world. This requires a high level of interaction among the learner, the teacher, the area of study, available resources, and the learning environment. Students become actively involved in the learning process as they: act upon their curiosity and interests; develop questions; think their way through controversies or dilemmas; look at problems analytically; inquire into their preconceptions and what they already know; develop, clarify, and test hypotheses; and, draw inferences and generate possible solutions.
Questioning is the heart of inquiry learning. Students must ask relevant questions and develop ways to search for answers and generate explanations. Divergent thinking is encouraged and nurtured as students recognize that questions often have more than one "good" or "correct" answer. Deductive Inquiry Inductive Inquiry. What is Inquiry Based Learning? How to Study Help students learn to study well. We offer a number of great resources. View Study Skills Graphic Organizers Great printable graphic organizers for all subjects and grade levels! View Organizers What is Inquiry Based Learning? Inquiry based learning is mainly involving the learner and leading him to understand.
Dictionary meaning of Inquiry is seeking knowledge, information, or truth through questioning. Very sadly, our traditional ways of teaching discourage the process of inquiry. Much mesmerizing information and facts are readily available, which needs an understanding of how to make sense out of it and turn it into useful knowledge. Inquiry based learning can be applied on all disciplines which has been confirmed through different researches. The teachers must organize their lesson plans according to the changing, interrelating, and communicating of knowledge. Go Deeper Into Our Inquiry-Based Learning Categories Equity in Education Basics. The Cycle of Inquiry and Action: Essential Learning Communities.
Inquiry-Info-Leaflet-for-Parents. What is inquiry learning? | inquiry learning & information literacy. Inquiry into learning… Intro to Inquiry Learning | YouthLearn. Feature Article - Inquiry Learning, Summer 2009- Teaching with Primary Sources | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. What is Inquiry? What is Inquiry-based Learning? FM_30_2012. Teachingresources - Instructional Strategies. Passion for inquiry learning | This is the ClassroomThis is the Classroom. School Libraries in Saskatchewan | Inquiry. Inquiry Learning « Heritage Saskatchewan. 20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning. 20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning. Why Inquiry Learning is Worth the Trouble.