Another week of
eye-opening information about Inquiry Based learning! Literally eye opening as we had the
opportunity to view an Annenberg Learner video titled the “Physics of Optics.” The video showed a very skilled teacher as he
guided his high school students through an inquiry lesson on “light, lenses,
and the human eye.” We also had the
opportunity to read and analyze three different case studies describing different
levels of inquiry learning. The case
studies were described as “Secondary Classroom Case Studies,” but at least one
of the classroom examples seemed to be more of an elementary classroom.
The examples
helped me to see that inquiry can occur anywhere on the continuum from totally
teacher directed to totally student directed.
Because of this new revelation, I am viewing inquiry learning in a
broader context. Prior to this week, I
viewed inquiry more as what our notes describe as open inquiry, or totally
student centered. It seems that inquiry
is defined less by who is directing the learning and more by whether or not a
lesson has any of the 5 Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry:
The learner engages in questions that can be investigated.
The learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions.
The learner formulates explanations from evidence.
The learner connects explanations to knowledge.
The learner communicates and justifies explanations.
The learner engages in questions that can be investigated.
The learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions.
The learner formulates explanations from evidence.
The learner connects explanations to knowledge.
The learner communicates and justifies explanations.
Based on these
Essential Elements, I believe that I have been teetering on the threshold of
inquiry in my classroom for a while. I
just tend to teeter more toward the structured end of the continuum with the
intention of working toward more guided inquiry where the students can begin to
take responsibility and be more actively engaged in their learning.
One thing that
was clear to me from watching the “Physics of Optics” video is that I need to
work on developing my questioning skills.
The teacher did an excellent job of asking questions that helped
students find the answers themselves, without actually giving them the
answers. He also helped students to feel
good about moving forward by affirming their new knowledge, and their questions.
Some questions
for me, are how can I adopt a more guided approach up front rather than always
starting out so structured in my lessons, and where can I learn more about
developing my own questioning skills as a teacher?
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