Monday, July 29, 2013

Inquiry Learning



It is human nature to need and desire information about the world we live in, especially children. From birth, people strive to construct meaning from everything they encounter through touch, smell, taste, sight and sound. It is also natural that we experience many feelings on this journey as well, from uncertainty through to satisfaction. This exploration is usually accompanied by a series of questions, sometimes never-ending. Research shows that students tend to construct meaning from topics they are interested in and therefore are more motivated to research them more deeply. 

There is a growing concern in the education sector that although students are being taught content knowledge and skills, they are “not able to demonstrate the depth of understanding that they need for the real-world” (Harada & Yoshina, 2004).  Murdoch & Wilson (2004) observe that students need to be adaptable, flexible and resilient; have the capacity to learn and relearn; and the ability to communicate ideas in multimodal ways. Every educator has a theory of learning that forms the basis of the instruction and the learning environment he or she provides for students. There are two general approaches to learning – transmission or constructivist. Research reported by Harada & Yoshina (2004) concur that schools which produce stimulating learning communities offer learning experiences that blend knowledge, skills and thinking processes. Schools need to change their pedagogy, and focus, to engage students in their learning. Kulthau (2010) puts forward that “the 21st century calls for new skills, knowledge and ways of learning to prepare students with abilities and competencies to address the challenges of an uncertain, changing world”. Inquiry learning is based on the concept of information as “working capital” for constructing understanding and knowledge for each learner (Kulthau). An inquiry approach to learning is built on the premise that learning is most effective when it emerges from student initiated questions or questions posed by teachers to arouse student curiosity and motivation (Ditchburn & Hattensen, 2012). The inquiry approach to learning allows students to explore a topic in depth. It is essentially a student-centred learning approach, in which the learner is actively involved in the learning process (Wilson & Wing Jan, 2009). Diffily and Sassman (2002) identified the following characteristics as essential for a project:
  • student directed
  • connected to the real world
  • research based
  • informed by multiple resources
  • embedded with knowledge and skills
  • conducted over time
  • concluded with an end product.
Within an inquiry based project, the unit is framed by an essential or ”big” question, however the students are given opportunities to create more specific questions about the topic and encouraged to generate more questions that result in a deeper understanding also. Although the learning experience involves some direct teaching, the teacher mainly acts as a facilitator, providing guidance for the students.

MacDonnell(2007) suggests that inquiry learning exhibits both social and intellectual dispositions. These can be seen in the table below.
SOCIAL DISPOSITIONS:
Listening to other speak
Waiting your turn to speak
Working as a team
Helping other who are having difficulty
Recognising each person’s unique contribution
Appreciating the work of others
Showing concern when others are upset or having difficulty
Asking permissions from others
Sharing
INTELLECTUAL DISPOSTIONS
Curiosity
Desire to find answers
Perseverance when faced with a challenging problem
Creativity
Initiative
Desire to make predictions and check predictions
Desire to synthesise information
Desire to be accurate

Inquiry based learning allows students to develop and use the skills and dispositions required for problem solving. It encourages students to ask questions; seek out information; interpret information that they see, hear or read; record their findings with the help of the teacher or teacher librarian; plan, debate, discuss and make decisions; represent their new understandings through drawings, charts, models, video or text; work on informational displays and constructions; share their knowledge with others; cooperate to achieve a common goal; recognise that everyone brings his or her own particular skills to a project; and display all of the important intellectual and social dispositions required to solve real world problems.

Inquiry is a dynamic process and can look different at different times. It may be labeled differently in different contexts and described differently in different disciplines. With implementation of the Australian Curriculum, inquiry learning is a major focus, particularly in the areas of science, history and geography. This has led to many schools discussing the best approach to implementing inquiry learning. 

  1. Is it important for every class in a school to follow the same inquiry process, for example Big 6, 5Es, Inquiry Cycle?
  2. .How do we ensure we meet the curriculum requirements with inquiry learning?
  3. How do we move from guided to open inquiry with curriculum and time constraints?

Inquiry learning is not a new process, as it is something we have engaged in everyday since being born, knowingly or not. The “WOW” factor of inquiry learning sometimes seems to diminish as we get older, but we still tend to investigate more enthusiastically the topics and questions that interest us. Even the most teacher-directed lessons can provoke discussion and interest outside the classroom; however this is rarely seen by that teacher. Guided inquiry has been the main form of inquiry learning I have experienced and employed as a teacher. Early in my career the students, as a whole class, had the choice of the topic/theme to study. The students contributed, by brainstorming ideas for a topic and then suggesting possible activities for the topic. They were then guided, mainly though teacher direction, with their learning. The enthusiasm and pride, by the majority, was evident because they felt ownership of the topic. We found that we were still able to cover all the curriculum requirements, sometimes a little teacher guidance was necessary. Inquiry learning is not about throwing the students in at the deep end and saying, “Start swimming”. It is about giving them skills so that they can move from the teacher directed, combined teacher-student directed (guided learning) through to student- directed or open learning.

REFERENCES
  1. Diffily, D. & Sassman, C. (2002). Project-Based Learning with Young Children. Portsmouth. Heinemann.
  2. Ditchburn, G & Hattensen, S 2012, Connecting with History: strategies for an inquiry classroom, Educational Services Australia Limited, Carlton.
  3. Gordon, K. Inquiry Approaches in Primary Studies of Society and Environment Key Learning Area. Queensland School Curriculum Council.
  4. Harada, Violet H., and Joan M. Yoshina. Inquiry Learning Through Librarian-Teacher Partnerships. Linworth, 2004.
  5. Kulthau, C. (2010). Guided Inquiry: School Libraries in the 21st Century. School Libraries Worldwide. January 2010, Volume 16, Number 1, 1-12
  6. Murdoch, K & Wilson, J 2004, Learning Links: Strategic teaching for the learner-centred classroom, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton.
  7. Wilson, J & Wing Jan, L 2009, Focus on Inquiry: a practical approach to curriculum planning, 2nd ed., Curriculum Corporation, Carlton.

 
 

Learning



 Tell me and I forget;
Show me and I remember;
Involve me and I understand!