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. 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 Abrami, P.C., Bernard, R.M., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Surkes, M.A., Tamim, R., & Zhaing, D. (2008). Brew, A. (2003).
MindShift MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions. We examine how learning is being impacted by technology, discoveries about how the brain works, poverty and inequities, social and emotional practices, assessments, digital games, design thinking and music, among many other topics. We look at how learning is evolving in the classroom and beyond.We also revisit old ideas that have come full circle in the era of the over scheduled child, such as unschooling, tinkering, playing in the woods, mindfulness, inquiry-based learning and student motivation. We report on shifts in how educators practice their craft as they apply innovative ideas to help students learn, while meeting the rigorous demands of their standards and curriculum. MindShift has a unique audience of educators, tinkerers, policy makers and life-long learners who engage in meaningful dialogue with one another on our sites. Contact the us by email.
Kohti oppimislähtöistä koulutusta Viime aikoina on bloggaajien keskuudessa puhuttu paljon koulun muutoksen tarpeesta. Enää ei pitäisi keskittyä yksittäisten opettamisen mallien soveltamiseen sellaisinaan, vaan oppimisen kehittämistä tulisi tarkastella laajemmin kokonaisvaltaisena ideologiana. Yhteiskunta ja etenkin toiminta työelämässä on muuttumassa yhä kompleksimmaksi. Tähän kompleksiuteen ja toisaalta yhä vaikeammin ennakoitavaan tulevaisuuten ei kyetä välttämättä vastaamaan nykyisen kaltaisella järjestelmällä, joka kyllä tukee hyvin sitä yhteiskuntamallia, jota varten se on joskus suunniteltu. Koulun perimmäinen tavoite on kasvattaa taitavia oppijoita, eli tukea oppimaan oppimista. Suorituskeskeinen opiskelu, jonka päätavoitteena on kuitenkin turhan usein ylioppilaskirjoituksissa – siis yksittäisessä testissä – pärjääminen, ei välttämättä kykene tukemaan optimaalisella tavalla todellista oppimista. Oppiminen on sosiaalista toimintaa. Luovuuden tukeminen ja luovaksi kasvattaminen ovat elintärkeitä.
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. Inquiry rarely proceeds in a simple, linear fashion. Ask Ask reminds us that inquiry develops from a question or problem arising out of experience. Create
Visible Thinking Purpose and Goals Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based approach to integrating the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters. An extensive and adaptable collection of practices, Visible Thinking has a double goal: on the one hand, to cultivate students' thinking skills and dispositions, and, on the other, to deepen content learning. By thinking dispositions, we mean curiosity, concern for truth and understanding, a creative mindset, not just being skilled but also alert to thinking and learning opportunities and eager to take them Who is it for? Visible Thinking is for teachers, school leaders and administrators in K - 12 schools who want to encourage the development of a culture of thinking in their classrooms and schools. Key Features and Practices At the core of Visible Thinking are practices that help make thinking visible: Thinking Routines loosely guide learners' thought processes and encourage active processing. License
Using Social Media In The Classroom For Real-World Learning Engaging Students Through Social Media by Rob James first appeared on gettingsmart.com; Using Social Media In The Classroom For Real-World Learning Social media has become an essential part of most people’s everyday lives, from checking Facebook and Twitter to posting blogs, Pinterest listings, and uploading YouTube videos. However, and with smartphones making it easier than ever to spend time on social media networks, in what ways can these networks be leveraged to engage and build a foundation for future student learning? While the potential of distraction is there, the right social media teaching strategies can lead to creative learning, and a productive approach to making social media part of ongoing professional development. For students, social networks arguably provide a mix of creative expression and group work through tasks like contributing to a blog, designing websites, uploading video presentations, and creating Facebook pages for class projects. References and Further Reading
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. Stimulating scientific discussion through talk can take place at any point in the cycle shown below. 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
Inquiry-Questions - home Connect the Learning to Their World #30GoalsEdu Posted by Shelly Terrell on Monday, December 17th 2012 Goal 25: Connect the Learning to Their World of The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators! Click the link to find out more about the 30 Goals Challenge for Educators! “When you teach a child something you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself.” ~ Jean Piaget One of my first teaching internships was at a hands-on science museum. My job entailed designing tasks, lesson plans, and activities that would help individuals tie the difficult science concepts into their real world experiences. There are various ways I could have taught these difficult concepts. Goal Short-term- Take one lesson that is primarily taught using the textbook or by lecturing and have your students instead do tasks in which they connect the learning to their real-world experiences. Long-term- Throughout the year, begin to find more ways of getting your students to participate in real-world learning. Resources Important News Challenge:
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.” 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. Whaddaya think?
Steps to Inquiry voicEd.ca has invited Canadian bloggers writing about education to post their “best” entry of 2012. This may a piece of writing to which they feel particularly attached, something that received some good response, or an entry that got others thinking in a different way. We’ll be featuring these pieces in this space over the next couple of weeks with the hopes that readers might find them to be a good review of where our thinking has taken us over the past year. Feel free to join in the conversation, or submit your own entry for posting! The following blog entry is from Louise Robitaille who blogs at Inquiry-based Learning. Step 1: Teachers gather and collect as much information as possible on the subject, to help students with research, investigations and inquiries. Step 2: Teachers help to develop background knowledge for students. Step 3: Teachers share mentor texts and model lessons. Step 4: Teachers give students a choice of what they would like to learn more about.
Children learning by themselves and progressive inquiry A couple of weeks ago — actually it was the May Day — I gave a talk in a conference in Ankara Turkey. Here are the slides from my talk: One reason to accept the invitation (in Finland the May Day is an important festival of academia) was, that among the invited speakers there was Professor Sugata Mitra. I consider Sugata Mitra to be one of the most important researcher in my field. Sugata Mitra’s main argument — as I see it — is, that children learn many things when involved in to study things in small groups in front of a computer with an Internet connection. Mitra has made a considerable amount of empirical research to prove his argument. When doing the experiments Mitra is giving students an assignment. Another Mitra’s interesting insight is that children learn even better if they have a “granny figure” supporting them. Again we can see that a good teachers is a bit like a granny: supports students, is interesting in their work and praise them.
How science works: The flowchart This flowchart represents the process of scientific inquiry, through which we build reliable knowledge of the natural world. You can use it to trace the development of different scientific ideas and/or the research efforts of individual scientists. Most ideas take a circuitous path through the process, shaped by unique people and events. Move your mouse pointer over the flowchart to reveal an additional level of detail.