Inquiry Based Learning - Week 3 Thoughts

Its been fun learning about Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) so far this summer, and I'm feeling more confident about using it more intentionally in my classroom now. Being a visual person, I learn and remember things well when I can see it in action. For example, my Master's classmates and I got to watch a video of a high school class learning about optics through inquiry.

Video link.

It was very helpful for me to see a real teacher using it, and it looked very effective. If you go watch it, you'll notice how the teacher empowers and challenges the students to take ownership of their learning (my favorite part of IBL). And when they ask him questions, he doesn't just answer them, but asks them questions to help them discover the answers for themselves. Plus, instead of just modeling how to work with optics, he puts the objects and tools in their hands and lets them investigate how to do it themselves. From my experience as a student and teacher (learner in both cases), any hands-on learning is more effective than lecture learning.


I love this picture below because it helps me visualize some of the understandings essential for IBL.

Inquiry Learning. (2016). Retrieved from http://inquirylearning428.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/8/3/18830120/9931927.jpg?312

My teacher, Professor Karen Johnson (2016), lists these understandings. Here are a few that can be supported from the above graphic:

• Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of investigations.
• Current knowledge and understanding guide investigations.
• Investigations sometimes result in new ideas and phenomena for study, generate new methods or procedures for an investigation, or develop new technologies.

As you can see, IBL encourages a variety of ways to achieve the learning goals. It is in a way like differentiating instruction because it allows students to sometimes dictate their own learning path, which can tap into their learning style, interests, and/or abilities. Not only that, but IBL in its freest sense (open inquiry) lets students investigate their own questions. Now when the teacher gives the context for those investigations, students, like these arrows, can arrive at similar conclusions even though they've asked unique questions that led to unique investigations.

Here is a great infographic that helps in simply describing the IBL process:

IBLibrary. (2015). The Cycle of Inquiry-based Learning. [Infographic]. Retrieved from http://www.peoplemagazines.net/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/cdd5d_TheCycleofInquirybasedlearning.jpg

Here is another helpful graphic that lists questions for each category to help the participants know if they are thoroughly accomplishing each process.

The Inquiry Process. (2016). Planning for Inquiry Based Learning. [Infographic]. Retrieved from http://titleiidgrants.wikispaces.com/Planning+for+Inquiry-based+Learning

 The main questions I have in regards to IBL at this point in my understanding of it are "What are the roadblocks to successfully implementing IBL in the classroom?" and "What specific rubrics and/or formative assessments can I get my hands on to use in my classroom?"
What brought about these questions was an Inquiry Learning (2016) website that has a page dedicated to the limitations of IBL. Here is what caught my eye:
"During IBL, the learning is student centered and the teacher works only as a facilitator, suggesting that students may stray  from the task at hand. To combat this, it is suggested that teachers monitor all students during the investigations, ensuring students are staying on task and are heading in the right direction. 

In conducting an inquiry based investigation, teachers should be very prepared to meet students' needs during the investigation which involves a lot of preparation and planning time. Assessing the students who are conducting IBL can be very difficult, as all students can take their investigations to new places and go above and beyond the expected requirements. It is essential that students are given a rubric that can guide their learning and help them determine how successful they will be in their investigations."

I hope specific ideas to combat these challenges and ways to confidently assess IBL in the classroom will be addressed in the upcoming weeks of this class.


Sources

Annenberg Learning Center. (2000).The Physics of Optics. Retrieved July 7, 2016 from http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1414

Inquiry Learning. (2016). Limitations of Inquiry Based Learning. Retrieved from http://inquirylearning428.weebly.com/limitations-of-inquiry-based-learning.html

Johnson, K. (2016). Topic A: Abilities, Understandings and Process Skills in the Classroom. Retrieved form https://live.wilkes.edu/d2l/le/content/216356/viewContent/2262979/View