Introduction 1. Students learn isolated skills and knowledge, starting with the simple building blocks of a particular topic and then building to more complex ideas. While this appeals to common sense (think of the efficiency of a automobile assembly line), the problem with this approach is the removal of any context to the learning, making deep understanding of the content less likely. Perkins calls this approach elementitis, where learning is structured exclusively around disconnected skills and fragmented pieces of information. 2. Students learn about a particular topic. The solution that Perkins offers to the typical classroom experience is what he calls learning by wholes, structuring learning around opportunities to experience or engage in the topic as it would exist outside of school. An example of ‘learning by wholes’ can be found in my own Cigar Box Project, a year-long, grade 7 study where students explored 5 themes in Canadian history. Inquiry as “Play” Moving From Theory to Practice
untitled How to Make Your Classroom a Thinking Space Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from Thinking Through Project-Based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss. It was published this month by Corwin. Take a moment and imagine a creative work environment. Was your mental picture anything like either of the workspaces shown in these photos? Photo of High Tech High in San Diego. Photo credit: High Tech High Think back to your mental image of a creative workplace. Fine-Tune the Physical Environment for PBL Birkdale Intermediate School in New Zealand has a long tradition of teaching through inquiry projects. This school has intentionally developed a climate and curriculum to encourage deep thinking, which is reflected by the physical environment. Many schools don't have budgets for this kind of wholesale remodeling. Small adjustments in the learning environment will better accommodate the various tools and patterns of interaction that come into play during projects. Independent work. Student presentations.
Teacher to Teacher Learning by questioning, exploration and discovery as opposed to memorization and drill. Inquiry learning is driven by student questions Inquiry learning encompasses a range of instructional practices that focus on students learning through generating questions and exploring material within the framework of course curriculum with guidance from instructors (Lee, Greene, Odom, Schechter, & Slatta, 2004). This is an approach to learning that is applicable across academic departments, from education to science majors (Wyatt, 2005) and can prepare students to become life-long learners. Justice et al. (2007) described the process of inquiry as a cycle, illustrated as follows: Teaching for inquiry is immersion learning Abrami et al. (2008) distinguished between courses that infuse critical thinking skills into content-focused instruction, as opposed to immersing students in critical thinking by making the course itself about critical thinking. References Brew, A. (2003).
untitled Project Based Failing: The Goal is NOT Student-Centered Over the past five years, I have spent a great deal of time shifting 20% of my class from being teacher-centered to student-centered. That was a fail. I’ve written a fair amount about the 20% Project and why I believed that it was important to have class time when the teacher is off center stage while shifting emphasis on the students. This model energized and liberated many of my students, while it confused and terrified others. The problem, though, is that a 20% Project should NOT be a student-centered project. However human-centered is a specific term that comes from the design-thinking framework that Molly Wilson introduced to our entire school last week. A student-centered project is one that focuses on the creator’s needs and desires, where an audience-centered or user-centered project focuses on the actual person who would use the project. Next year during the 20% Project, I would like to see empathy be a more structured component of the project.
The inquiry cycle « Chip’s journey Inquiry cycle Drawing from Dewey’s four impulses of the learner in The School and Society; the stages of reflective action from How We Think, and the fundamental idea that learning begins with the curiosity of the learner, we can envision a spiral path of inquiry: asking questions, investigating solutions, creating, discussing our discoveries and experiences, and reflecting on our new-found knowledge, and asking new questions (Bruce & Bishop, 2002). Each step in this process naturally leads to the next: inspiring new questions, investigations, and opportunities for authentic “teachable moments.” Each question leads to an exploration, which in turn leads to more questions to investigate (Bruce & Davidson, 1996). We need to interpret the cycle as suggestive, neither the sole, nor the complete, characterization of inquiry-based learning. Despite these complexities, the steps and cycle outlined can be helpful in highlighting aspects of an otherwise opaque process.. Ask Investigate Create Notes:
untitled Project Based Learning (image from education-world.com) Project Based Learning (PBL) is a great way to teach students content, 21st century skills, and engage them in something fun and educational. I spoke more about PBL in an earlier blog ( and we had some great reader comments (Tech&Learning, May 2009, page 14). First of all, PBL can be used in any classroom, in any subject, at any grade level. PBL does take planning. For instance, I teach physics and developed a project for my classes on structures and stress and strain. Another example of PBL is having the students research a topic and present it to the rest of the class through a multimedia presentation, website, or poster. Start small. Another idea for projects is to look at your school or community and see what they need. An idea I got from my wife (a Biology Education student) is to have students create a lesson for other students about a topic. Some web resources to get you started:
AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust - Discussions in Primary Science (DiPS) Talking about science investigations Traditionally, science investigations have followed the structure of a planning, doing, evaluating cycle. Teachers have found that it is often better not to cover a ‘full’ investigation in every practical lesson, but to focus on just one or two enquiry skills in each science lesson. Make this explicit in your planning and share that you will do this with the children. Click on the active titles in the diagram for examples used in DiPS. Real-life contexts Investigations based on real-life contexts help children to apply and develop knowledge and skills. The examples of contexts are taken from the Children Challenging Industry and Primary Science Enhancement Programme (PSEP) materials produced by the Chemical Industry Education Centre. Back to Activities
untitled Free Project Based Learning Resources from Edutopia Edutopia, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, is an excellent resource for educators. Their site has a huge variety of resources, tips, and research on education and is accessible for free. They are a big proponent of Project Based Learning (PBL) and also have a lot of resources on best practices in education. Resources include lists of reading materials on PBL, links to schools that are using PBL, Resources from Edutopia on PBL, Resources from Maine on PBL including examples of PBL, lesson plans, assessments for PBL, planning guides for teachers and schools, professional development resources, resources for parents, and links to organizations and other resources on PBL. (Resources are in PDF form). This is an excellent collection of resources about PBL and how to implement it in your school and classroom. Related: Free Classroom Guides and Downloads for 2011 from Edutopia More free classroom guides for educators from Edutopia Project Based Learning Resources for Educators
inquiry wheel « The Scientific Teacher Call it whatever you want: scientific inquiry skills, practices of scientists, the scientific method- all science teachers are aware of the value of teaching skills as well as content knowledge. But I would go a step further and say that scientific skills are the most important thing our students can learn. Even if my students remember none of the scientific facts or concepts they learned in school, if as adults they are able to think critically like a scientist, then I think this world will be alright. As Carl Sagan puts it so eloquently in his brilliant manifesto about the importance of scientific literacy: “The method of science, as stodgy and grumpy as it may seem, is far more important than the findings of science.” (pg. 22) It used to be a simple matter teaching scientific skills, back when they were all packaged up neatly in the “Scientific Method”. For all of its flaws, I believe the scientific method successfully models one approach to doing science for students.