Jack Holbrook Inquiry-based Teaching/Learning (IBSE)

What is IBSE? Question Predict Plan inquiry Conclude Conduct inquiry Observe / record Interpret THE GOAL To solve a scientific problem by carrying out an investigation seeking evidence The start (question must be scientific i.e. answerable from seeking evidence) Solution Seeking the evidence in a valid and reliable manner Carry out observations/ procedures Obtain reliable evidence Give meaning to the findings. Present outcome in a useful way What is the solution? Was the prediction correct?

1. Is water needed for a plant to grow? 2. Can we construct an instrument to determine wind direction? 3. Under what conditions can water be turned into (a) ice and (b) steam ? 4. Why does iron conduct electricity?

1. Involve a control. Add water to experimental plant; do not water the control plant. Observe over time. 2 Use a stick which is allowed to rotate (eg on top of a plastic bottle). The stick has a piece of flat cardboard added as a tail to catch the wind 3 Put water in a tray in the refrigerator; heat water in a kettle

1. As the experimental plant stayed healthy and the control did not, this indicates water is needed for plants to stay healthy and grow. 2. The stick turned to indicate the wind direction because the wind blew on the cardboard and the stick turned 3 The water in the ice box in the refrigerator turned to ice because the temperature was less than 0. The water in the kettle turned to steam as the temperature was raises to 100.

 The booklet ‘Science Education Now’ (EC, 2007) proposes that inquiry-based science education should be an important component of science teaching.  What reasons does it give?  (one reason must surely be – for the students to learn science knowledge and skills!!)

 What is meant by saying IBSE needs to be student-centred?  Can IBSE be anything other than student- centred?  If the teachers’ role is assessor, what is assessed?

1. Structured Inquiry - easier Less thinking by Students – Qu. given, instructions given and students only interpret. 2. Guided Inquiry – average The teacher helps the students to cover all types of thinking, but usually the teacher provides the initial question. 3. Open inquiry – difficult Student do all. This, in essence, is a PROJECT. What does the teacher do?

Stage 3 (Putting the gained science into context) Socio-scientific learning (putting science in context) Decision making (science in society) Stage 2 (THE MAJOR LEARNING STAGE) Science Conceptual Learning IBSE (Inquiry Teaching/Learning) Stage 1 (setting the relevant scene) Scenario giving the context Student Motivation Teaching bridging 1 to 2 Teaching bridging 2 to 3

Four key components are: 1.Student involvement (especially thinking). 2.Teacher has a clear purpose in mind (teacher has suitable learning outcomes). 3.The inquiry stems from a scientific question. 4.Teacher receives feedback on student involvement (about the strength of learning).

Student Involvement If student involvement is completely absent, so also is inquiry teaching/learning. Student involvement means - STUDENT THINKING (being involved in, for example, making suggestions, giving ideas, explaining, planning, ensuring safety - the list is not exhaustive) and - STUDENT DOING (undertaking activities such as - planning, experimenting, reporting, discussing, seeking information - this list is not exhaustive).

 The degree (quantity) and level (quality) of inquiry/learning is important. PROFILES strives for a high degree and a high level of inquiry teaching/learning  High degree - much student involvement  High level - very intellectual ‘thinking’ by students and very capable in ‘doing’

 Unfortunately, a high degree and a high level of learning can only happen if student motivation is sufficiently positive (Without positive motivation, involvement is very unlikely to be high).  Good teaching ALWAYS encompasses a strong student motivation component and ALWAYS seeks high student involvement.  Clearly good teaching includes all essential (must have) components of inquiry teaching/learning.

 If the learning is ‘too easy’ or students see it as ‘trivial’, little thinking occurs. Learning and motivation are likely to be low. And it is unlikely to be inquiry learning.  Too little learning occurs if the teacher undertakes too much of the thinking process and thus the student level of involvement in the ‘thinking’ process is low.

If the level of the inquiry ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ task is too difficult (the ‘thinking’ challenge is too great) – there will be little student involvement. This means there will be little, or no, inquiry teaching/learning. Key factor  Prior learning and prior experiences play a key role in effective inquiry teaching/learning.

The teachers knows what student involvement is to achieve (the teaching has learning outcomes). All too often the purpose of student involvement is to:  undertake inquiry procedures (do experiments), and  give explanations of, or interpretations to, the findings.  This is not sufficient for students in higher classes. More thinking is needed – e.g. planning experiments.

The way to do this may come from the students, or the teacher. (The less experienced the students, the greater the teacher role, but the lower the degree (quantity) and level (quality) of student involvement). To involve students more, it is suggested:  teachers avoid experimental situations which set out to – ‘show that’, or ‘verify that’, (low level of student thinking)  and strongly encourage problem-solving i.e. ‘to find out if....’ or ‘to investigate whether....’ (higher level of thinking)

The inquiry learning starts from a scientific question.  Basically - no scientific question, no inquiry learning  The scientific question needs to be expressed in such a way that it is at an appropriate level for student learning.  (and of course, the scientific learning needs to be within the curriculum)

In PROFILES, the scientific question is intended to be an outcome from a reflection on the initial socio-scientific scenario. In PROFILES, the desired (or eventual) target is:  the students put forward the scientific question (ably guided by the teacher).  The inquiry procedure is based on problem solving to learn the science which is needed to discuss the scenario.

The scenario is intended to provide to students a relevant, motivational, ‘thinking’ challenge.  The 1 st challenge is for the students to recognise that their discussion of the scenario is limited because they lack sufficient scientific ideas.  The 2 nd challenge is to learn these science ideas.

Maximum scientific inquiry/learning comes when students are meaningfully (thoughtfully) engaged in:  providing the scientific question, and then  successfully determining (by ‘thinking out’ procedures and ‘doing’) the solution, and then  evaluating/explaining (by ‘thinking’) the solution in a scientific way.

Student feedback to the teacher. How does the teacher know the required ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ takes place and that the students have been successful in their learning?  The more the teachers knows about the actual student learning, the more the teacher can make inquiry learning meaningful.

The expectation:  The more students are involved, the greater the student motivation.  The greater the motivation, the more students are willing to learn by inquiry.  The more students learn by themselves (through inquiry), the greater student learning and hence coverage of the intended curriculum.