EDIM 513 Inquiry-Based Learning Week 7

 

     On day one, I came into this course believing that inquiry based learning was a component of project based learning. Students would begin with a question and work toward a solution.  Plain and simple. After reading and investigating over the weeks, I have learned that there is much more to inquiry based learning than meets the eye.

     Students should view the process of answering questions and learning exciting.  Teachers need to make it appear interesting by showing enthusiasm and encouraging thinking outside of the box, a sense of comfort and community in learning, the acceptance as mistakes and risk during investigation, and promote investigating beyond a single direction or path.

    One of the most important things that I realized is that it is not about the outcome. It is about the process.  All of the “things” that go into finding a solution. The components to taking part in an investigation.  What students do with their mind, the habits of the mind, the unteachable skills, thinking skills, and the desire to learn are all important components of inquiry-based environments.

      I have learned that there are skills that are necessary to have to do inquiry such as identifying questions that can be answered through investigations, designing and conducting investigations, developing explanations, thinking critically, make relationships between evidence and explanations, and communicating procedures and explanations (Wilkes University EDIM, Unit 3, Topic A, n.d.).

    There are also understandings that are necessary about inquiry as well.  For example, when you have a variety of questions, you will have a variety of investigations.  Students must use current knowledge as well as gain new knowledge.  They should understand that technology can be used to compile data and then they can analyze and quantify the results of their investigations. Also, the readings taught me that they should understand that “explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments, and use principles, models, and theories” (Wilkes University EDIM, Unit 3, Topic A, n.d.).  Students should expect that sometimes when they start of in one direction, what they find during an investigation can cause them to turn down a totally different path of investigation. 

     One of the best ways to spark interest in learning is to offer the best tools and resources for students to use during the process.  I am in a virtual learning environment, so Web 2.0 tools are used daily.  This course brought me a wealth of new tools to use along with feedback from teachers who have used the tools personally. I made a spreadsheet listing the tools and how I will use them in the future.  For example, I will try to use Whiteboard.fi for small group and 1:1 math practice. I may use it as a whiteboard to use in front of the class to complete a graphic organizer. I will be assessing my students throughout lessons, so I will use Nearpod and Google Slides so they can complete activities to show their knowledge, such as drag and drops, matching, vocabulary, fill in the blank, short answer, collaboration boards, and Time to Climb quizzes.  Students will be able to use their creativity and personal preferences when building presentations through the use of presentation-making platforms such as Canva and Prezi. 

   All in all I would like to include inquiry-based learning into every lesson if I can.  Whether it is in a simple way at the beginning of a lesson where I would have the students write on Padlet about what they know about a concept that we are about to learn and then have them engage in a discussion about what they wrote with peers. Following that, they could have a brief opportunity to research for an answer to see if they were on the right track.  I would also like to have inquiry –based projects similar to the Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly Unit that I designed for this course.  Students take a standard such as life cycle that includes migration and expand into a wider, in depth look at population decreases while linking to causes and solutions. I would like to allow the students time to practice inquiry skills and the opportunities to investigate their own wonders from time to time as well.

References

Wilkes University EDIM 513. (n.d.) Unit 3, Topic A. Retrieved April 15, 2023 from

             https://live.wilkes.edu/d2l/le/content/310611/viewContent/3754104/View

Wilkes University EDIM 513. (n.d.) Unit 3, Topic B. Retrieved April 15, 2023

 from https://live.wilkes.edu/d2l/le/content/310611/viewContent/3754105/View

 

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