Inquiry-Teaching

and High Level

Thinking

Prepared by:
Adora, Clifford Jake
Dalen, Marvelene
Malecdan, Jasmine
Pio, Leslie Ann
 Inquiry teaching
define as a teaching method which is
“modeled after the investigative
processes of scientist”.
- Kuslan and Stone (1985)
aims to help students seek answers to
their own questions, gather
pieces of evidence, and draw own
conclusions and generalizations.
 Inquiry teaching
Students learn by inquiring about
something, weighing and sorting out
information and building their own
meaning.
Instructional Characteristics
The following instructional characteristics
are observed in inquiry teaching:
1)The scientific processes
2)The answers sought are not known in
advance to the students.
3)The students are genuinely
interested and highly motivated to
work either independently or in
small groups.
4) During the investigations, such questions
as how, why, prove, justify and others persist
which drive them to continue pursuing a
conclusion or a solution.
5) Suspense and excitement could be felt in
a highly charged classroom atmosphere.
Role of the Teacher
The teacher:
 Helps students learn how to ask
questions.
 Allows to a great extent flexibility in the
student’s ways of doing things.
 Refrain from restricting the students to
the traditional step-by-step
procedures, rather they must be
involved in planning their own ways of
gathering data to test their own
hypothesis.
 Must be fully aware of her changed
role that of a guide, facilitator and
councilor than the usual authority.
 Must provide teaching strategies that
enable the students to analyze,
evaluate and reach conclusions
based on sound interference and
judgements.
 Serves as a guide and refrain from
ordering the students to what they
need to do.
Steps on How to Facilitate
Inquiry Teaching
1.Arrange for an ideal room setting.
2.Choose tools and equipment that can
easily manipulate.
3.The materials to be used or examined
must lend easily to processes to be
employed and the end product
desired.
4. Questions and problems to be
answered should originate from the
students, followed by the formulation of
hypothesis.
5. Procedures should likewise be
planned by the students (gather data,
observations, experimentation, field trip,
etc.)
6. At the completion of the activity,
require an evaluation of the steps
undertaken as to its effectiveness and
the clarity of the results. A feeling of
confidence enhanced the realization of
the day’s accomplishments. The
evaluation record can serve as
feedback for the future investigations.
Characteristics of Inquiry
Learning
(Guide for the students)
 Creating question of their own.
 Obtaining supporting evidence to
answer the question(s)
 Explaining the evidence collected
 Connecting the explanation to the
knowledge obtained from the
investigative process.
 Creating an argument and justification
for the explanation.
 Levels of Inquiry
The Many Levels of inquiry by Heather
Banchi and Randy Bell (2008) clearly
outlined in four levels:
 Level 1: Confirmation Inquiry
- The teacher has taught a particular science
theme or topic. The teacher then develops
questions and procedures that guide
students through an activity where the
results are already known. This method is
great to reinforce concepts taught and to
introduce students into learning to follow
procedures, collect and record data
correctly and to confirm, and deepen
understanding.
 Level 2: Structured Inquiry
- The teacher provides the initial
questions and an outline procedure.
Students are to formulate explanations
of their findings through evaluating
and analyzing the data that they
collect.
 Level 3: Guided Inquiry
- The teacher provides only research
questions for the students. The learners
are responsible for designing ang
following their own procedures to test
that question and then communicate
their result and findings.
 Level 4: Open/True Inquiry
- Students formulate their own research
question(s), design and follow through
with a developed procedure, and
communicate their findings and results.
This type of inquiry is often seen un
science fair contexts where students
drive their own investigative
questions.
 Advantages of Inquiry
Teaching
 Flexible and adaptable for a variety of
projects.
 Helps to build self-esteem
 Reinforce and builds several skills of
students in the areas of physical,
emotional, and cognitive.
 It can work with any age group.
“Kids are naturally very inquisitive.
Teachers often train them out of it. I
think our first learning is inquiry based.”
(Anonymous, 2007)
 Disadvantages of Inquiry
Teaching
 Doesn’t work for all science topics.
 Requires more planning, preparation,
and responsiveness for the teachers.
 Teachers must be skilled in helping
students learn the art of asking good
question.
 Requires more class time.
 May be less able to meet goals of
standardized testing.

“There are many good teachers who

have no handle on how to teach using
inquiry-based lessons.” (Anonymous,
2007)
 Thinking skills
Thinking
define as any action using one’s mind.
is a process involving such mental
operations as induction, deduction,
classification and reasoning.
Classification of thinking skills
1.Basic Thinking Skills / Lower-Order
Thinking Skills
2.Higher-Order Thinking Skills
• Lower-Order Thinking Skills
 It includes
remembering,
understanding, and
applying.
 In order to reach the
higher level of thinking
skills, the lower-order thinking skills
must be achieved first.
 If a person is unable to achieve all
lower-order thinking skills and move up
to higher-order thinking, then this
person will not be prepared for real life
situations.
Example of lower-order thinking skills:
- Acquisition of knowledge
- Comprehension of material
 Higher Level Thinking
Also known as
Higher-Order
Thinking Skills.
It includes analyzing,
evaluating, and
creating.
Consist of complex thinking that
achieves more than the basic recall of
facts.
Enables the student to refrain in
formation learned, and apply
problem-solving solutions to real world
problems.
 It is more valued than lower-order
thinking skills.
Classification of Higher-Order
Thinking Skills
A.Inferential Thinking
- It refers to the ability to form an idea,
opinion or a conclusion after a series of
reasoning and speculating outcomes
of a situation.
1.Formulating Inferences
- Inference is defined as an idea which
is based on observations. To infer
means to deduce or presume.
How can we develop this skill?
Plan lessons that require students to
observe many things in the
environment.
2. Observing Relationships
- the ability to observe similarities and
difference in objects, events, and
conditions in the environment in sorting
out information.
• How can we develop this skill?
Start activities that call for
comparisons.
3. Drawing Conclusions and
Generalizations
- Conclusion is a statement arrived at
based on sufficient observations or
evidences. A number of related or
similar conclusions may serve as the
basis in formulation a generalization.
How can we develop this skill?
Provide lessons that are activity-
centered that always end with a
summary statement that expresses
what they have learned.
B. Critical Thinking
the process of mentally acting on
something by analyzing, interpreting,
and evaluating any observable
property, state or behaving
the ability to separate the
components, examine closely and
search for reliable information
Can be developed through the
processes of analysis and
evaluation
1.Analysis
- An analytic mind is continuously
examining, investigating, and judging
events, people and nature. It does not
stop in inquiring and searching for
reliable information. One who is
capable of analyzing observations
and arriving at own interpretation can
easily make safe decisions.
How can we develop this skill?
Confront the students during their daily
lessons with problems. The problem
must be simple and within their ability
to solve. As they offer solutions,
continue to ask questions of the “why”
and “how” type.
2. Evaluation
- As a higher-order skill it involves
judgement.
- The act of collecting and sorting out
observations is merely assessing the
situation or event. In order for us to call
it as an evaluation we need to subject
the information to some appraisal
techniques.
How can we develop this skill?
Plan lessons which will create situations
or problems wherein the students will
have to judge which is the best choice
among a number of probable
answers.
C. Creative Thinking
- It involves the use of one’s imagination
- Creative thinkers are capable of
coming up with original ways of doing
things.
- the ability to synthesize a number of
separate parts into a productive
whole.
1.Synthesis
- It means putting together the parts to
make it whole.
- Creative thinking works well in
combining simple ideas or elements
into larger concepts and
generalization.
How can we develop this skill?
Present a problem where they will be
led to solve
Motivate them to invent a favorite
game and how it can be won.
Improvise laboratory tools for simple
experiments.
Recycle from discards.
Present an equipment that fails to
function.
2. Originality
- Is the skill to make unequaled or
singular reaction.
3. Flexibility
- It is the ability to generate many
alternatives rather than being tied to
old ways of doing things.
- A flexible mind is ready to adopt
new ways of the traditional
methodologies fail.
How can we develop this skill?
In daily lessons, always ask “How else
can we do it?” Pupils will be interested
to suggest their own techniques and
procedures.
4. Imagination
- Allows one to conceive a mental
picture of a situation of a situation or
an object that is not existing at a
present time.
D. Combination of Thinking Skills
- At the apex of thinking skills are
problem solving and decision making,
The preceding skills discussed are vital
to the development of the skill in
finding solutions to daily problems.
1.Problem Solving
- A problem that needs an answer or a
solution.
Steps:
a.Identifying a problem
b.Collecting data
c.Formulation hypothesis
d.Testing the hypothesis
e.Analyzing the observations gathered
and other recorded data.
f. Formulating a conclusion or a
solution.
2. Decision Making
-A thorough analysis and evaluation of
recorded observation and data can
sere as the solid basis for a decision.
Steps:
a.Identifying a goal
b.Collecting relevant data
c.Formulating alternatives
d.Analyzing the alternatives
e.Choosing the best alternative
Strategies in enhancing Higher Level
Thinking of the Students
1.Encourage questioning
2.Connect Concepts
3.Teach students to infer
4.Use graphic organizers
5.Teach problem solving strategies
6.Encourage creative thinking
7.Teach students to elaborate their answers
8.Teach QARs (Question-Answer Relationship)
Thank you for Listening! 
Let’s have a quiz.