Nudging Toward Inquiry (AASL 2009)

Great Research A really great research project will demand original thought. Mere scooping and collection of information will not suffice. The project must be built around a question or an issue whose answer does not lie waiting on a Web page. Photo from iStock.com Students must make answers. Students as Infotectives The first step toward a sound research program is to think of students as infotectives. What is an infotective? An infotective solves information puzzles with a combination of inference skills and new technologies. Infotective is a term designed for education in an Age of Information. These same skills produce high performance on the increasingly challenging state tests of reading comprehension and problem solving. For decades, schools showed students basic problem patterns and asked them to memorize solutions. Infotectives perform well on demanding comprehension tests, but they also make the kind of workers and family members we need to face the challenges of the next decade and beyond.

Chapter Four - Curiosity Order McKenzie books online with a credit card Bring Jamie to your school or district for a great workshop. Vol 25|No 1|September 2015 Chapter Four - Curiosity (about author) This is a sample chapter from Jamie's new book, The Great Report. The Great Report will start shipping in December of 2015. Order through the mail with a check, click here for the order form. From Now On is published by FNO Press mckenzie@fno.org 1121 N. FNO Press Bookstore

Question Families Connecting the Dots In 2009 I outlined this approach in "Connecting the Dots," an article that first appeared in Knowledge Quest, a publication of the American Association of School Librarians. A class exploring the question of what they should do about floods starts with a simple diagram like the one below. But it soon becomes much more complex. Questions are grouped and organized to emphasize causes and effects as well as past efforts and planning issues. Going Beyond Brainstorming Simple listing generates seemingly unrelated questions. All too often students are asked to learn about important people from the past in ways that encourage scooping. This image is used with permission from Paul Foreman. Dynamic Mind Mapping This approach to planning research thrives on group mind-mapping with appropriate software projecting onto a screen or white board that can be viewed by the whole class. Few teachers have enjoyed a 2-3 day workshop showing them how to conduct such a planning session.

What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning? Inquiry-based learning is more than asking a student what he or she wants to know. It’s about triggering curiosity. And activating a student’s curiosity is, I would argue, a far more important and complex goal than mere information delivery. Despite its complexity, inquiry-based learning can be easier on teachers, partly because it transfers some responsibilities from teachers to students, but mostly because releasing authority engages students. Teachers who use inquiry-based learning combat the “dunno”—a chronic problem in student engagement. When you ask a student something like, “What do you want to know about _____?” What inquiry-based teachers do isn’t easy at all; it’s just hidden, and some people confuse the two. Learning Something New Triggering inquiry is about learning something new, and triggering curiosity is no small feat. Let’s say you’re clicking through your Twitter or Facebook feed and you stumble on a link in your content area. You have to bring that “whaaa?!” 1. 2. 3.

Questioning Toolkit Essential Questions These are questions which touch our hearts and souls. They are central to our lives. They help to define what it means to be human. Most important thought during our lives will center on such essential questions. What does it mean to be a good friend? If we were to draw a cluster diagram of the Questioning Toolkit, Essential Questions would be at the center of all the other types of questions. All the other questions and questioning skills serve the purpose of "casting light upon" or illuminating Essential Questions. Most Essential Questions are interdisciplinary in nature. Essential Questions probe the deepest issues confronting us . . . complex and baffling matters which elude simple answers: Life - Death - Marriage - Identity - Purpose - Betrayal - Honor - Integrity - Courage - Temptation - Faith - Leadership - Addiction - Invention - Inspiration. Essential Questions are at the heart of the search for Truth. Essential Questions offer the organizing focus for a unit.

The importance of surprise There should be surprise, delight or even discomfort as one explores. True inquiry involves discovery. The task at hand should awaken curiosity and take the student on an adventure. The following checklist was designed to help teachers determine whether their research assignments are likely to produce surprise, awaken curiosity and challenge students at the highest possible levels. to read the full explanation. Image courtesy of Fighting-Wolf-Fist on Deviant Art 1. Paul Simon said it so well when he sang in Kodachrome: When I think back On all the crap I learned in high school It's a wonder I can think at all Students deserve a chance to explore questions and issues that matter, that cast light upon their lives, their society and their futures - what I love to call "Questions of Import." Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew would win little attention or audience if the solutions to their mysteries were lying in plain sight. The teacher should only allow projects that require such digging. 4. 5.

edutopia Begin With Guided Inquiry Teacher-guided inquiry can build background knowledge of the topic before letting students take the reins in developing their own inquiry. With guided inquiry: Teachers start with an overall guiding question. Teachers know what they want their students to understand beforehand. "Guided inquiry is like a typical science lesson," explains Anne DiCola, Ralston Elementary's instructional coach. Ralston teachers build toward student-driven inquiry throughout the course of the unit. Teach Students How to Question Explore and Model Different Types of Deeper-Level Questions An important aspect of inquiry-based learning is teaching students how to ask deeper questions. According to Principal Dawn Odean, the following two tips helped Ralston teachers: Across grade levels, reflect on how you model questioning from kindergarten and up. "We’re really looking at students being creative problem solvers," explains Odean. Example Questions D.J. An Example Problem 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Replacing Faux Inquiry with the Real Thing Why should teachers nurture potent questioning skills and behaviors? As a practical matter, students need to be able to read between the lines, infer meaning, draw conclusions from disparate clues and avoid the traps of presumptive intelligence, bias and predisposition. They need these thinking skills to score well on increasingly tough school tests, but more importantly, they need these skills to score well on the increasingly baffling tests of life . . . how to vote? how to work? how to love? how to honor? Drill and practice combined with highly scripted lessons stressing patterns and prescriptions amount to mental robbery - setting low standards for disadvantaged students so they end up incapable of thought or success on demanding tests. This approach contributes to high dropout and attrition rates - early school departures and millions of children left behind.

Harvard Education Publishing Group Students in Hayley Dupuy’s sixth-grade science class at the Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in Palo Alto, Calif., are beginning a unit on plate tectonics. In small groups, they are producing their own questions, quickly, one after another: What are plate tectonics? How fast do plates move? Why do plates move? Do plates affect temperature? What animals can sense the plates moving? Far from Palo Alto, in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Mass., Sharif Muhammad’s students at the Boston Day and Evening Academy (BDEA) have a strikingly similar experience. These two students—one in Palo Alto, the other in Roxbury—are discovering something that may seem obvious: When students know how to ask their own questions, they take greater ownership of their learning, deepen comprehension, and make new connections and discoveries on their own. The origins of the QFT can be traced back 20 years to a dropout prevention program for the city of Lawrence, Mass., that was funded by the Annie E.

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. 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. 1. Every teacher has a “bucket” of stuff she is responsible for teaching her students, known as standards. “The brain is so primed for questions,” said Laufenberg, managing director of Inquiry Schools and a former 11th and 12th grade history teacher at SLA. 2. 3. Especially with AP classes, students are motivated or else they wouldn’t be there. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.