Inquiry Based Learning Method [Image]. (2013). Retrieved from http://iblinstitute.com
Inquiry-based learning or
discipline-based inquiry really caught my attention when looking through the
textbook Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment by Drake, Reid, and
Kolohon. It caught my attention because it talks about how these methods of
inquiry-based learning can promote creativity within students and help problem
solving (Drake et al., 2014). I loved this idea of allowing students to ask
questions and be active in their own learning rather than teachers simply
relaying information to the students.
Here
is a short video explaining inquiry-based learning to start off my post so that
you have a clear understanding of the topic:
This time of learning often incorporates discipline-based inquiry projects that engage students in exploring topics that they want to learn more about with an added level of authenticity and accountability (Drake et al., 2014). I have realized through many classes that inquiry-based learning and learning through projects can help with critical thinking. In my own experiences I find myself having more trouble critically thinking, most likely due to a more fixed mindset instead of growth, because I never experienced lessons where I was given an active role. It is important that we instil the ability to think critically in our students and I believe inquiry-based learning is a great tool to do so as it allows for deeper and richer learning (Drake et al., 2014).
In an
article by Server and Guven (2014) they explored how inquiry-based learning can
help students who are disengaged in science courses. I found this very
interesting to me personally because I often found myself disengaged in science
class because I was never able to understand the concepts. Server and Guven
(2014) were able to conduct research that showed inquiry-based learning to help
lessen resistant behaviour in science classes because students were engaged in
the subject matter. Studnets in the study were allowed to be creative, ask
questions and do their own research, which made the topics more relatable
(Server & Guven, 2014). In a similar article by Walan and Chang Rundgren
(2015) they found that there was an effective three step model that helped
increase interest in science among students. The researchers explain that by
contextualisation, de-contextualisation, and re-contextualisation students are
able to first learn about a topic, inquire and ask questions about it, and then
reconstruct their ideas of that topic (Walan & Chang Rundgren, 2015). By
doing these steps students are not just taking the new information for its
surface meaning, but inquiring about it to understand what the topic means in
their own terms. The purpose of inquiry-based learning in science is to fill
the gaps of what students learn in school and their real life (Walan & Chang
Rundgren, 2015). I feel like this is important because often in science I was
confused because the concepts were just being told to me, but if I had the
chance to relate it to real life and reconstruct meanings for myself I believe
I would have been more engaged and understood much more.
David Scott: Introduction to Discipline-based Inquiry [Video]. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVhKTMFCgq0
In the video above it shows a grade 2 teacher in Alberta named Amy Park who instilled discipline-based inquiry into her own classroom with a project on Inuit peoples. Park explains how before she would use traditional methods of teaching by simply lecturing to her class, but she found them to be disengaged. To change this she began incorporating discipline-based inquiry as a way to actively involve her students in their own learning. I love how Park explains discipline-based inquiry because she really embraces it in her own classroom and shows that even if we as teachers don't fully understand something we can learn from our students. She explains that she didn't know much about the technology she wanted to use for the Inuit project, but the children were innovative enough to take it farther then she had ever imagined. This shows that any teacher can incorporate discipline-based inquiry and it allows students to explore subject matter for themselves.
This video on Amy Park reminded me of a
grade 1, 2 split that I had the opportunity to observe last year. The class had
individual I Pad’s for the students and the teaching incorporated an easy and
interesting inquiry-based learning activity. The teacher would have a project
called “I wonder” where the students would pick any topic they want and would
research it on their I Pad’s and then later present what they had learned to
the rest of the class. By doing this I could see how involved and interested
the students were to learn. It allowed me to see how powerful it can be in a
classroom to give students a little bit of agency in their learning because
they become much more engaged and passionate.
As a future teacher I hope to instil this
same inquiry-based learning approaches in my own class because I see it as a
way to allow students to build on their own knowledge and to actively learn. It
also allows students to show their intelligence in multiple ways as well as
creatively by having these projects instead of just having tests or
presentations. Not all students will achieve in tests or presentations and by
using inquiry-based learning it allows them to express themselves in different
ways. A quote about inquiry-based learning is “involve me and I will understand”
and I think that perfectly describes how these methods help children actively
learn.
References
Drake, S. M.,
Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom
Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON:
Oxford University Press.
Sever, D., &
Guven, M. (2014). Effect of inquiry-based learning approach on student
resistance in a science and technology course. Educational Sciences: Theory
& Practice, 14(4), 1601-1605.
Walan, S., &
Chang Rundgren, S. (2015). Student responses to a context- and inquiry-based
three-step teaching model. Teaching Science, 61(2), 33-39.
Kaylene, this was a very powerful blog post and I enjoyed reading it. I strongly agree with you that there needs to be more inquiry-based learning implemented into classrooms rather than having the teachers always relay the information. Inquiry-based learning would not only promote creativity and help build problem solving skills, but it would create a more meaningful learning experience for the students where they are fully engaged and have the chance to really understand the material on a deeper level. Like you mentioned, I also have trouble with critical thinking because when I was younger, we were not given an active role in the classroom. I believe that if our classroom instruction also incorporated inquiry-based learning we would be able to think creatively and ask provocative questions that would increase our interest and knowledge of the subject matter. It was very interesting to watch the video where the teacher incorporated inquiry-based learning into her second grade classroom. Furthermore, I enjoyed learning about the three step model to increase student interest, knowledge and understanding of science topics where students learn about the topic, are given the chance to ask questions, and then reconstruct their own ideas of that topic. I think this would be extremely beneficial in promoting deeper understanding while actively engaging students in a rich, meaningful way. Overall, I found your blog post to be very informative and interesting to read and you chose excellent videos and pictures to highlight the importance of this topic. Well done!
ReplyDeleteKaylene,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I really liked that you added the video close to the beginning so that I could fully understand the concept of inquiry-based learning. When reading your post, I thought about how much an approach like this would change the dynamics of the classroom. Instead of the teachers being seen as the source of all knowledge, students now get to create their own knowledge and learning through exploration and inquiry. I was in exactly the same predicament as you when I came into university and was consistently asked to critically think. Though I have gotten much better at it during my time at Brock, in first year I remember not fully understanding how to critically think and not knowing what professors wanted when they asked that of us. This was because, just like you, I had very little opportunity to learn how to critically think in my previous schooling. By teaching students critical thinking early in their education, they can be successful in it early on. I agree that an inquiry-based approach is a great way to do this. Additionally, I liked how you talked about science as a place to start using an inquiry-based approach as I feel it could be one of the easiest subjects in which to incorporate it. Students can learn more about concepts in science by exploring so that the knowledge becomes relevant to them. Through inquiry, they can also hypothesize and answer the questions that they have through experimentation. Amy Park seems like a fantastic example of a teacher who reflected on her teaching practices and how her students were reacting and changed her instruction so that students became more engaged. I plan on being a teacher who is continually learning and reflecting. If I realize that my students are disengaged while learning about a certain topic or subject, I hope to be able to reflect on this and change to improve my teaching practices so that they are more motivated to learn. Finally, I loved your title and how it matched the quote at the end. By having the quote in the title, you really caught my attention and interest. I love the idea that if students are involved in their own learning, they will understand what they are learning more than they would using any other approach.
This was a very interesting blog entry you wrote this week! I think inquiry based learning would be very beneficial for science classes but also for almost any subject matter! Specifically I think of mathematics and even geography. This approach really has the power to transform the experiences students have in many classes that are typically conceived as dull, dry and boring within the traditional framework. I had a very similar experience in a class I observed for a placement this year that you recounted in your placement last year! I completed a placement at an elementary school where I observed a grade 2 classroom that was putting these ideas to work. The teacher, in response to the interests of her students, created a “wonder corner”. This corner had several nonfiction books on a variety of different topics that the students would voluntarily pick out to read and “research”. They would find a topic in the book that interested them and wrote it down to read to the class. The corner also had a board with sticky notes entailing all the things her students were “wondering” about. The teacher explained to me that this was all based on their own wants and desires, they truly enjoyed it! I could see this to be true as throughout the day when students would complete their work early enough to get some free time, they would always ask if they could go and do some research! This also reminded me of the idea of getting students to contextualize, de-contextualize and re-contextualize concepts and ideas you mentioned that Walan and Chang Rundgren discuss. You could utilize a “wonder corner” to work through these exercises with your students. Overall this concept was awesome to see and you could certainly incorporate the ideas generated here for actual lessons and activities! Would you ever consider doing something like this within your classroom someday or would you approach it differently? Do you think that you could apply this in other subjects as well?
ReplyDelete