December
Inquiry & Scientific Questioning
“Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand."
Inquiry is the act of asking questions and the seeking of knowledge. You have been using the process of inquiry since you were a baby, without knowing or labeling it as “inquiry”. From birth we use our senses to take in the world around us, ask questions and discover the answers. The process of inquiring begins with this gathering of information. Inquiry-based learning is active learning and involvement that leads to understanding.
Inquiry in the classroom looks different than a traditional teacher-lead lesson. Inquiry is student-lead not teacher-lead. Rather than leading the lesson, teachers take on the role of coach, guide, or facilitator and help guide the students to their own questions and discoveries. When students choose the questions, they are motivated to learn and they develop a sense of ownership about the project. Your role is a teacher is to guide students in finding the answers to questions themselves and encourage them to ask new questions along the way. The best questions and discoveries are ones that stem from the students’ own lives, and experiences.
Inquiry plays on the natural inquisitive of children. It utilizes their natural curiosity to learn how the world “works”. Lessons embedded with inquiry provide students with opportunities to use their innate curiosity to engage in a variety of actions, including observing, explaining, concluding, sorting, classifying and predicting.
Thoughtful, open-ended questions are at the heart of inquiry. When students have to answer these types of questions, they are engaging in inquiry. Examples of such questions include:
• How would you describe the function of __?
• How would you compare ___ to ___?
• What would result if __ happened?
• Can you propose an alternative to __?
Links
Youth Learn - How to: Inquiry
http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/planning/lesson-planning/how-inquiry/how-inquiry
Concept to Classroom: What is Inquiry-based Learning?
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html
