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"You can't teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they
can find what they need to know when they need to know it." - Seymour Papert
www.skagitwatershed.org
The theory is closely related to work by Jean Piaget and Seymour Papert.
www.learning-theories.com
Nothing is gained by keeping students guessing about what it is they are supposed
to learn. In all or nearly all of the education programs in which the majority of
students can be demonstrated to be highly successful in learning the facts and skills
they need, these facts and skills are taught directly rather than indirectly. That is
the teacher is in control of instruction, not the student, and information is given to
students (2002).
It must be noted, however, that few studies focus on the long-term results for direct instruction.
Long-term studies may find that direct instruction is not superior to other instructional methods.
For instance, a study found that in a group of fourth graders that were instructed for 10 weeks
and measured for 17 weeks direct instruction did not lead to any stronger results in the long term
than did practice alone (Dean & Kuhn, 2006). Other researchers note that there is promising
work being done in the field to incorporate constructivism and cooperative grouping so that
curriculum and pedagogy can meet the needs of diverse learners in an inclusion setting
(Brantlinger, 1997). However, it is questionable how successful these developed strategies are
for student outcomes both initially and in the long term.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Inquiry-Based Teaching Strategies
Denise Jarrett, writer and researcher for Inquiry Strategies for Science and
Mathematics Learning, indicates that inquiry-based instruction improves
student attitude and achievement, facilitates student understanding, fosters
critical thinking skills, and facilitates mathematical discovery. She provides
guidelines for creating an inquiry-based classroom that provide students with
the time, space, resources, and safety necessary for learning. These include:
Inquiry-Based Learning
Illustration
developed
by Joe
Exline
What
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inqui
What is Inquiry-Based Learning?
ry-
base Based on John Dewey’s philosophy that education begins with the curiosity of
d the learner, one of the most important teaching practices used today is the
learn use of inquiry in the classroom. With the inquiry method of instruction,
ing? students arrive at an understanding of concepts by themselves and the
responsibility for learning rests with them.
An old
adage At McMaster University in Hamilton, Inquiry-Based Courses are offered to all
states: first year students. The following is how this institution defines Inquiry-Based
"Tell Learning.
me and
I forget, Inquiry is a form of Self-Directed Learning and follows the four basic stages
show defining self-directed learning. Students take more responsibility for:
me and
I • Determining what they need to learn
rememb • Identifying resources and how best to learn from them
er, • Using resources and reporting their learning
involve • Assessing their progress in learning
me and
I A comprehensive senior inquiry course will have all four of these elements.
underst Students will take the initiative and be largely responsible for seeing they
and." successfully complete their learning in a given area. Generally, students
The last draft a “learning contract” and then execute it – the instructor submits a
part of grade on completion of the contract.
this
stateme Why Teach Inquiry?
nt is the
essence Encouraging learners to be self-directed is a critical skill that students need to acquire in order to
of be successful in post-secondary education. This method encourages students through supports to
inquiry- build research skills that can be used throughout their educational experiences. In addition,
based students determine their own learning needs through a learning contract.
learning
, says "Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by
our questioning." Individuals carry on the process of inquiry from the time they are born until they
worksh die. This is true even though they might not reflect upon the process. Infants begin to make sense
op of the world by inquiring. From birth, babies observe faces that come near, they grasp objects,
author they put things in their mouths, and they turn toward voices. The process of inquiring begins
Joe with gathering information and data through applying the human senses -- seeing, hearing,
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involve learning process. The
ment Unfortunately, our traditional educational system teacherhasalsoworked in a way that discourages the
that natural process of inquiry. Students
Tim O'Keefe becomebecomes
of the less pronea learner
to ask questions as they move through the
leads to Center for Inquiry by finding out more
grade levels. In traditional schools,
Elementary Schoolstudents
in learn not to ask too many questions, instead to listen
about the learner
underst Columbia, South
and the process of
Carolina, argues that
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more, Springfield, Oregon, has an curiousity through Lisa Nyberg, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at Brattain Elementary School in
involve idea that takes an inquiry in a methods like inquiry. Springfield, Oregon, talks about how she sometimes adjusts inquiry lessons based on
new direction. student feedback.
and repeat the expected answers.
Some of the discouragement of our natural inquiry process may come from a lack of
understanding about the deeper nature of inquiry-based learning. There is even a tendency to
view it as "fluff" learning. Effective inquiry is more than just asking questions. A complex
process is involved when individuals attempt to convert information and data into useful
knowledge. Useful application of inquiry learning involves several factors: a context for
questions, a framework for questions, a focus for questions, and different levels of questions.
Well-designed inquiry learning produces knowledge formation that can be widely applied.
Importance of Inquiry
Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world. Facts change,
and information is readily available -- what's needed is an understanding of how to get and make
sense of the mass of data.
Educators must understand that schools need to go beyond data and information accumulation
and move toward the generation of useful and applicable knowledge . . . a process supported by
inquiry learning. In the past, our country's success depended on our supply of natural resources.
Today, it depends upon a workforce that "works smarter."
Through the process of inquiry, individuals construct much of their understanding of the natural
and human-designed worlds. Inquiry implies a "need or want to know" premise. Inquiry is not so
much seeking the right answer -- because often there is none -- but rather seeking appropriate
resolutions to questions and issues. For educators, inquiry implies emphasis on the development
of inquiry skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes or habits of mind that will enable
individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout life.
Content of disciplines is very important, but as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. The
knowledge base for disciplines is constantly expanding and changing. No one can ever learn
everything, but everyone can better develop their skills and nurture the inquiring attitudes
necessary to continue the generation and examination of knowledge throughout their lives. For
modern education, the skills and the ability to continue learning should be the most important
outcomes. The rationale for why this is necessary is explained in the following diagrams.
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Experts' knowledge is not just a set of facts -- it is structured to be accessible, transferable, and
applicable to a variety of situations. . Experts can easily retrieve their knowledge and learn new
information in their fields with little effort.
(The list above was adapted from "How People Learn," published by the National Research Council in 1999.)
This figure illustrates the attributes necessary for both generating and effectively transmitting the
fund of knowledge.
We propose that the attributes experts use to generate new knowledge are very similar to the
attributes essential for the effective transmission of knowledge within the learner's environment
-- the essentials of effective inquiry learning.
Inquiry is important in the generation and transmission of knowledge. It is also an essential for
education, because the fund of knowledge is constantly increasing. The figure below illustrates
why trying to transmit "what we know," even if it were possible, is counterproductive in the long
run. This is why schools must change from a focus on "what we know" to an emphasis on "how
we come to know."
This chart illustrates that while knowledge is constantly increasing, so is the boundary of the
unknown. An effective and well-rounded education gives individuals very different but
interrelated views of the world. All disciplines have important relationships that provide a natural
and effective framework for the organization of the school curriculum, as shown in the chart
below. The subject matter of disciplines can be set in the larger context of a conceptual
framework . This framework is crucial for understanding change and also for the organization
3
of the discipline and its application to the natural and human-designed worlds.
3.