Inquiry is simply asking a question, looking for data, and using the data reflectively to come up with answers. Source: Indiana Department of Education

The Anatomy of an Inquiry Question

It’s a long road behind you It’s a long road ahead If you follow every dream, you might get lost Neil Young “The Painter”

What is this???

On what did you focus? Why did you decide to focus on these things? What role did the image itself play? your past experiences? your perception? your feelings?

Narrow the scope - What is this?

Even more focused?

The Big Picture?

How far have we come?

What did we learn by doing this? We often start with the “big picture”, then focus. Our image of what we think is important is sometimes blurry. By focusing, we can sometimes make better sense of the big picture. Does the formation of an inquiry question truly end?

Remember this?

What are the sources of inquiry? Inquiry focus comes from a difficulty or “felt need” (Dewey) Inquiry focus comes from systematic data analysis Something in between????

Question identifying and listing the questions you might want to explore (NOTE: Plan could also be your first step) Plan developing a strategy to find pertinent information Collect data harvesting information which casts light on the key questions Analyze rearranging the puzzle pieces, looking for patterns Implications making sense of the puzzle pieces - getting the picture Compare figuring out what's missing, what else is needed Questionthe cycle continues

Constructing an inquiry question is really an inquiry in and of itself