Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 12 Inquiry: Key to Critical and Creative Thinking in the Content Areas Maureen McLaughlin This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Is Inquiry-Based Learning?   Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a project-oriented teaching method that is constructivist in nature (Eick & Reed, 2002).   It is a process in which students ask questions that lead to new understandings, which, in turn, lead to new questions (Flint & Bomer, 2002).   Short and Burke (1996) suggest that inquiry should be viewed as a framework for learning, a context in which students are encouraged to understand at deeper levels.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 12.1: Factors That Characterize Inquiry-Based Learning

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Instructional Techniques Promote Inquiry? Problem-Based Learning   Problem-Based Learning challenges students to work collaboratively to reason their way to solutions of real world problems.   The problems are designed to motivate students to learn.   The students work together and think critically and creatively to create solutions.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Instructional Techniques Promote Inquiry? Guidelines for Students Engaging in Problem-Based Learning   Understand the problem.   Determine what you need to know.   Use collaborative skills when working in groups.   Communicate effectively.   Support thinking with evidence and sound reasoning.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Instructional Techniques Promote Inquiry?   First-Person Experiences In First-Person Experiences, students assume the identities of people who played an active role in the event or time period they have chosen to investigate.   The Rest of the Story Most of us can clearly recall particular facts we learned in science or social studies such as lists of inventors and their inventions or explorers and their discoveries. This technique challenges students to go beyond the basics.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 12.2: Formats for Presenting First- Person Experiences

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Instructional Techniques Promote Inquiry?   Press Conference Press Conference is an inquiry-based activity that promotes oral communication. It is based on student interest in a particular content-related topic. Students peruse newspapers, magazines, or the Internet to find articles of interest to themselves and their peers. When they find a topic in which they have interest, they discuss it with us. Then they begin their research.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 12.4: Press Conference Checklist

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Instructional Techniques Promote Inquiry?   Inquiring Minds Inquiring Minds is an inquiry-based, small group research activity based on student-selected content area topics. When using Inquiring Minds, students form small groups based on their topic choices. The small groups brainstorm three to five questions about their topic that they would like to be able to answer through their research

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What Instructional Techniques Promote Inquiry?   Oral History Project The Oral History Project is a long-term process in which students research the personal histories of other individuals (Dickson, Heyler, Reilly, & Romano, 2006). This is an authentic experience that often includes working with members of previous generations. This helps students to make connections to the past ( times which they themselves did not experience) while researching another person’s life story.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 12.6: An Oral History Project

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. How Can We Effectively Assess and Evaluate Inquiry-Based Learning?   When students engage in inquiry-based learning, they demonstrate what they know and can do.   In most cases we can assess how students engage in the process and evaluate the product they create. We often use checklists to assess and rubrics to evaluate.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 12.8: First-Person Experience Rubric

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Final Thoughts   Learning experiences that are inquiry-based foster creativity, variety, and innovation. They also motivate and engage students.   Inquiry classrooms become places where ideas are born, valued, and nurtured. Students become problem seekers as well as problem solvers.   Inquiry-based experiences and the resulting critical and creative thinking serve as the foundation of dynamic teaching and learning.