inquiry in the classroom places the responsibility for learning on the students and encourages them to arrive at an understanding of concepts by themselves
quuensu.ca
Introduction
I have never heard the word “inquiry” so many times in my entire 22 years on this earth as I have within the education program at UVic! In fact I actually took a required course called EDCI 490 Transformative Inquiry. This was an interesting course where we learned a lot about ourselves as learners. It truly represents what inquiry-based learning is because as our prof Jason Price said “what you put in, you get out”. So what is the hype? Well from what I have learned, inquiry-based learning is an example of a “learner-centre” approach to instruction. It’s personalized to the individual and it allows the learner to have control of their learning and ultimately complete the work to the best of their ability.
In the pdf linked above they touch on the importance of life-long learning and using inquiry-based instruction as a way to create life-long learners.
How do you “teach” inquiry?
You might be wondering how you can teach with an inquiry approach and what this looks like as an educator point of view. To answer your question, it looks like “engaging students in the research process with instructors supporting and coaching students at a level appropriate to their starting skills.” (Queens University, 2022). First you need to create the gradual release of responsibility by first demonstrating what inquiry processes look like. You might next to choose a guided-inquiry approach where you begin coaching your students how to go through the inquiry process. Another idea is to have a small group inquiry assignment or task before asking students to independently complete inquiry-based work.
Alignment with chosen topic
The topic my group chose to focus our assignments on is “stress”. The way we designed our course on stress does not involve a lot of inquiry-based learning. Our approach is learner-centred but to connect their learning to their own personal life. Our tasks do not include doing further research but this could be an extension to the course for any keeners or high-achievers.
Response to Kylie’s blog post:
This week I was looking for other people who wrote about inquiry-based learning. I appreciate how Kylie writes that inquiry-based learning begins with an “open question” or problem. I remember when we were first introduced to inquiry in the education program and we had to come up with a question. I remember feeling like it was so complicated to begin this process and wondering whether or not my question was “good” enough. They told us that a “good” inquiry question cannot be and answered by a simple Google search. It also should not be too broad or big or you will go down a rabbit hole. I am wondering if you have read all 3 of the inquiry books you linked in your post? I am interested in reading Inquiry Mindset by Trevor MacKenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt (2018) as I have heard many good things about it from people in the education program. I did not know that the book includes diagrams for visual aid so thank you for sharing that!
Response to Kyra’s blog post:
While looking for others who wrote about inquiry-based learning I came across Kyra’s blog post and noticed that she started her post in a similar way to mine. She also shared how frequent we hear about inquiry-based learning in the education program. Kyra shares that this learning design really works for her. I appreciate her sharing her personal experience and view of inquiry-based learning. On the other end of the spectrum I found that I did not know where to begin when given an inquiry project. I am the type of learner who needs structure and guidance. It is important to scaffold inquiry-based learning instead of throwing us into the deep end.
References:
OECD (n.d.) The Nature of Learning. https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:6e4790a0-83da-374a-a05c-b000f982a7f5
Queens University. 2022. Inquiry-Based Learning | Centre for Teaching and Learning. [online] Available at: <https://www.queensu.ca/ctl/resources/instructional-strategies/inquiry-based-learning> [Accessed 29 May 2022].
Leave a Reply