Begin with the end in mind.
This seems to be an emanating principle in each of our lessons in 412. Student need is something that is emphasized in the first article, and the main concept I think about when I hear the word "inquiry". I believe that without any type of care or desire to learn, then inquiry cannot exist. Therefore, we need to create an environment where we can instill the need to learn in the student. We need to get their minds up and running, and get them to want to be "present".
I know in class Monday I made a comment about mass vs. weight. The teacher that pounded the importance of segregating the two terms also heavily relied on inquiry based teaching. He also typically used a strategy where we answered our own question. For example, if someone asked Mr. Smeltz, why does oil float on top of water? He would say well what do we know about water, specifically its density? We would respond it is 1 g/mL, and he would say something like well than what does that tell you about the density of oil? Inquiry based teaching is beneficial because it encourages free-thinking and addresses multiple facets of education. This kind of reminded me of the benefits of open ended questions a few class sessions back.
The great utility of this technique and the amount that it is studied is truly surprising. I had no idea that it could be broken down into various areas, but after reading it makes sense. In order to achieve more or less student inquiry, the complexity of the problem and amount of information given to the student can be adjusted. Scaffolding instruction is also another component of our class that can be linked to inquiry based learning and teaching. As Dr. Foster said, make it an inch for a cinch, or make it a yard to be hard. We have to assess our students knowledge and abilities, and design our inquiry instruction from that.
After reading the descriptions of the various types of inquiry, I could see how they could be used in the classroom. Guided inquiry is what we were presented with in our gum experiment. We were provided with the materials and the problem that we needed to solve (whether or not the gum would have less mass after chewing). Structured inquiry would have been if Dr. Foster gave us the material and problem, but then told us to record the mass of the gum, chew it, and then record the mass again. Open inquiry would have been achieved if Dr. Foster would have given us the scale and gum and told us to think of something we can test and measure with the gum on our own.
I enjoyed how the readings said that in order for a teacher to be a successful inquiry based teacher that they must believe in the students having some sort of control over what they are doing. This is something I will try to achieve, I want my students to feel included, interested, and that they have a say in what they learn.
The scientific method, the inquiry cycle, and the "5-E" models of learning are all very similar in their organization, just not their wording. Personally I think the 5-E model is the best because it is the easiest to remember and uses two words that we are typically presented with in our teaching endeavors -- "Engage" and "Evaluation".
According to research, inquiry based teaching and learning can help students become more creative, more independent, and above all more positive. Positivity is something I try to strive for in everything in life -- even the tough or bad things. I believe that with the right attitude anything can be fun or in some cases tolerable. I hope that for each of my lessons I am able to create a fun interest approach and really get my students in the moment.
