Inquiry Learning | educationalresearchtechniques Inquiry learning is form of indirect instruction. Indirect instruction is teaching in which the students are actively involved in their learning by seeking solutions to problems or questions. In inquiry learning, students develop and investigate questions that they may have. The focus in inquiry learning is on what the students want to learn with some support from the teacher about a topic. Below are the steps of inquiry learning. AskInvestigateCreateDiscussReflect Step 1: Ask The teacher begins this process by taking the topic of the lesson and turning it into a question for the students to consider. The student then develop their own questions that should help to answer the main question posed by the teacher. What do the pistils do? This process is the student-initiated phase of the asking stage. Step 2: Investigate After creating questions, students need to determine how to study them. Step 3: Create Step 4: Discuss Here, students share their results. Step 5: Reflect Like this: Related
How to Design a Classroom Built on Inquiry, Openness and Trust Teachers who are interested in shifting their classrooms often don’t know where to start. It can be overwhelming, frightening, and even discouraging, especially when no one else around you seems to think the system is broken. A question I’m asked often is, “Where should a teacher begin?” Many teachers have likely engaged in some type of inquiry or project-based learning, but with frustrating or dismal results. When I start with a new group of students, the design is tight. I’ve also discovered I need to teach the difference between collaboration and cooperation. Start with creating one inquiry unit in one subject. Sometimes you may not understand why certain things aren’t working. If you don’t know how to create an inquiry classroom, ask me. Talk to your students about their learning — a lot. I tell my students that essentially I’m preparing them for jobs that don’t currently exist, that will use technology which hasn’t been invented yet, to fix problems we’re not currently aware of.
The Teacher's Guide To Wikipedia In The Classroom This guide, in the form of 11 questions and answers, helps clarify certain misconceptions about what has come to be one of the most popular and frequently used websites in the world. It also can can be found in its entirety on wikipedia.com. As it is created by Wikipedia–or some arrangement of its volunteer editors–it is undoubtedly biased, but equally informative. Background Concepts such as open source, copyleft, collaborative writing, and volunteer contributions for the public good can be new and unfamiliar ideas to many students. Wikipedia offers an opportunity for educators to explore concepts of public trust that are likely to continue growing in prominence throughout the lives of today’s population of youth. Some common questions that students and educators ask about Wikipedia are answered below based on the status of Wikipedia and on reasonable projections for its immediate future. What does wiki mean? Is Wikipedia accurate and reliable? Can students cite Wikipedia in assignments?
The Challenges and Realities of Inquiry-Based Learning Inquiry Learning Teaching Strategies Getty By Thom Markham Teachers in a rural southeast Michigan high school were recently discussing the odd behavior of the senior class. The teachers’ explanation: Project-based learning. Here’s the back story. Stories like this are about to become more important to educators. This is a steep challenge because it forces education to cross a philosophic divide. Standardizing Valuable Skills To put a new system in place, a first key step is to disseminate and train every teacher on a clear set of performance standards to assess skills required for effective inquiry, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. The challenge: Right now, a standards-based environment forces teachers to straddle the inquiry process. Assessing Collaborative Learning The iconic model of the individual scholar has been replaced by team-based inquiry. Making Depth of Thinking Evident The challenge: In inquiry, process is as critical as the product.
20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning 20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning Recently we took at look at the phases of inquiry-based learning through a framework, and even apps that were conducive to inquiry-based learning on the iPad. During our research for the phases framework, we stumbled across the following breakdown of the inquiry process for learning on 21stcenturyhsie.weebly.com (who offer the references that appear below the graphic). Most helpfully, it offers 20 questions that can guide student research at any stage, including: What do I want to know about this topic? These stages have some overlap with self-directed learning. References Cross, M. (1996). Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L., & Caspari, A. (2007).
Mastering Assessment Language: Trusty Tips and Tools The formative assessment rubric is an amazing and revealing tool. They are made all the more effective by carefully considering the language we use. Mastering assessment language is an art form in itself. Proper formative assessment tells us what students have learned. Where Am I? Where Do I Want to Be? How Will I Get There? Formative assessment is first and foremost a partnership with teacher and student. Tips for Mastering Assessment Language When writing a question or developing an assessment, ask yourself: What does this show? Our goal is to have our students performing at the higher end of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Part of mastering assessment language is making sure we are targeting the right skills. That said, there are better modes of assessment that are exemplified in the terms we use. list (remembering)state (remembering)identify (remembering)name (remembering)describe (remembering)comment (understanding)discuss (understanding)explain (understanding)exemplify (understanding)
Do Your Students Know How To Search? The Connected Student Series: There is a new digital divide on the horizon. It is not based around who has devices and who does not, but instead the new digital divide will be based around students who know how to effectively find and curate information and those who do not. Helene Blowers has come up with seven ideas about the new digital divide – four of them, the ones I felt related to searching, are listed below. The New Digital Divide: In an age of information abundance learning to effectively search is one of the most important skills most teachers are NOT teaching. Teachers – especially in the elementary grades -need to develop a shared vocabulary around the skill of searching. Here are some of the searching skills and vocabulary we should be teaching students : Quotation Marks: Students should always use quotes to search for an exact word or set of words. Example: “The Great Chicago Fire” Dashes (or minus sign): Example: Great Chicago Fire -soccer Two Periods: Site Search:
Inquiry Learning Ideas for Math and Science With iPads Digital Tools Laurie Sullivan/Flickr By Sam Gliksman The following is the second of a series of excerpts from Gliksman’s book iPad in Education for Dummies. We tend to split science and humanities as though they were separate branches of life. Today’s interconnected world demands that the doctor, engineer, pharmacist, and scientist increasingly master skills that used to be classified within the domain of the arts. More than any other academic disciplines, science and math draw their meaning by relating to life in the “real” world outside the classroom. Granting students the freedom to inquire and explore makes them the investigators of life’s mysteries. This chapter looks at tools that can be used with the iPad to help you investigate phenomena and collect data. Whether it’s geometry, physics, or chemistry, scientific method starts with research, discussion, and the development of a hypothesis about the phenomenon being examined. Submitted by: Dr. Submitted by: Dr. Related
Reinventing School From the Ground Up For Inquiry Learning By Thom Markham A grave miscalculation exists in the minds of many educators: That inquiry-based learning, project based learning, and 21st century competencies can flourish in industrial model schools. Under this world view, the inquiry goals of the Common Core State Standards are “strategies” to be added to the existing list of classroom techniques, while skills like collaboration, communication, or creativity can be taught despite 43-minute periods, desks in rows, and pacing guides set in stone. In other words, reaching the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy is important, but less so than maintaining regimental order. But what we know—from industry and neuroscience—is that organizational structure, environment, and human performance are deeply intertwined. This redesign issue looms large. But a historical moment has arrived. How to develop this ecosystem? Beyond that, the ecosystem metaphor works. So bravery and imagination might need an ally: Deep inquiry of our own. Related
35 Educational Resources to Encourage Inquiry & Inventive Thinking This is a sponsored post. I’ve scoured the internet, including all of my favourite social media sites, to bring you a fantastic collection of online inquiry and inventive thinking resources that I know will inspire and motivate both you and your students. The collection includes Lego, science, practical activity ideas, engineering, videos, animation, technology and a tonne of fun facts – so there is sure to be something for everyone! Sean Kenney Lego Certified Master Builder’s YouTube Channel: Best-selling author and artist, Sean Kenney, uses LEGO toys to build anything and everything you can imagine. CSIRO Crest: CREativity in Science and Technology (CREST) is an Australian non-competitive awards program supporting students to design and carry out their own open-ended science investigation or technology project. Pinterest is a veritable smorgasbord of great ideas across all grades and subject areas. What are your favourite online resources for inspiring kids to think? You may also like: