Inquiry-Based Inquiry-Based LearningLearning

Cory Laverty @ your Education Library

What is Inquiry?What is Inquiry?

•Originates with John Dewey’s philosophy that education begins with the curiosity of the learner.•Focuses on guiding students through research process.•Driven by questions of interest rather than general topics.•Involves teacher-librarian/ teacher team to model and build inquiry and information literacy skills. •Coaches students as they go.•Assesses progress in developing inquiry skills as well as understanding of content.

Sketch a concept or mind map of inquiry skills you’ve seen in the classroom or discussed in your program.

Why Use Inquiry?Why Use Inquiry?

Provides opportunity for best teaching and learning strategies:•Small-group participation in various contexts.•Reality-based authentic learning problems.•Interdisciplinary and multicultural approaches.•Engages learner through their interests.•Foundation for lifelong learning.•Develop a culture of asking questions.•Alternative assessments.•Home-school partnerships.•Constructivist approach.•Stimulating classroom environment

NCTE 21NCTE 21stst- Century - Century Standards for LiteracyStandards for Literacy

National Council of Teachers of English. (2008). Towards a definition of 21st-century literacies.

• Develop proficiency with technology.• Build relationships to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally.• Design and share information for global communities.• Manage, analyze and synthesize information.• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts.• Attend to ethical responsibilities.

David Warlick: Redefining LiteracyDavid Warlick: Redefining Literacy

Redefining Literacy: The 3Rs become the 4EsRedefining Literacy: The 3Rs become the 4EsReadingReading Writing Writing Arithmetic Arithmetic EthicsEthics

Exposing Exposing knowledge knowledge

Decode info. Decode info. esp. multimediaesp. multimediaConstruct digital Construct digital

libraries libraries

Expressing Expressing ideas ideas

Competing Competing contentcontent

Be compellingBe compellingUse multimedia Use multimedia

Employing Employing information information

Use numbersUse numbers to solve to solve problems problems

Use software to Use software to manipulate info.manipulate info.

Ethical Ethical useuse

Information is Information is power and power and property:property:

assess, respect, assess, respect, and maintain itand maintain it

Warlick, D.F. (2004). Redefining literacy for the 21st century. Worthington, OH: Linworth.

Ontario Model Ontario Model for Inquiry for Inquiry LearningLearning

Ontario School Library Association. (2010). Together for learning: School libraries and the emergence of the learning commons: A vision for the 21st century. Toronto: OSLA.

Inquiry Learning OutcomesInquiry Learning Outcomes

Inquiry Skills to Research Inquiry Skills to Research “Cocooning”: Civics“Cocooning”: Civics

Stage 1: ExploringStage 1: ExploringThe problem of no question:• What information are you looking for? Copying of facts leads

to patchwork information and no interpretation.• Problem with the notion of "knowledge telling" (Bereiter &

Scardamalia, 1985) that dominates broad inquiry tasks.

Bereiter, C. & Scardamalia, M. (1985). Cognitive coping strategiesand the problem of “inert knowledge”. In S. F. Chipman, J. W. Segal, &

R. Glaser (Eds.), Thinking and learning skills: Research and open questions (vol. 2, pp. 65-80). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

Creating Good QuestionsCreating Good Questions

Activity: In one minute, brainstorm questions around cocooning. Use 5Ws prompts: who – what – when – where – why - how

How to sort and group questions?• Use Bloom’s if you want to focus on more critical thinking.• Great Question Press for ideas on re-stating questions.

Teaching Strategy: • Model process using think-aloud• Students brainstorm for questions in groups, sort, prioritize• Student applies to individual topic and gets peer feedback

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create

list summarize classify order rank combine

describe interpret experiment explain assess plan

outline illustrate calculate differentiate conclude compose

label paraphrase solve organize compare design

state explain relate interpret predict mash-up

identify demonstrate integrate hypothesize

Creating Good QuestionsCreating Good Questions

Stage 2: InvestigatingStage 2: Investigating

Where do you send students for information? An assignment should name appropriate reference types and students should be shown how to find them.

Teaching Strategy: • Work with teacher-librarian to introduce resources

appropriate to topics• TDSB website as model:

http://www.tdsb.on.ca/libraries/cat.asp?schoolNo=9• Knowledge Ontario databases for all Ontario schools• Video-streaming resource for all Ontario schools: Learn360

and Access Learning• Searching the Web: search methods: what would you teach?

Teaching Web SearchingTeaching Web Searching

Download web searching guide at Education Library

Use Google search lessons for sequential learning

Watch How Search Works in You Tube

Make concept map of resources on the web

Introduce Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Earth

Test all operators and compare searches on web and between resources.

Stage 3: ProcessingStage 3: ProcessingNotetaking: Think Literacy documents and handout on EL

website; understanding plagiarism – You Quote It, You Note It

Evaluation of sourcesSearch cocooning in Wikipedia and on the web.What methods would you use to evaluate results?

Organization of ideas: graphic organizers in SMART Ideas

Documentation of sourcesBibMe and Citation MachineCopyright

Evaluating WebsitesEvaluating Websites

• How to evaluate information? Meaning?• Select 3 websites and a create list of evaluation criteria.• Class creates evaluation checklist.• How to decide what are good criteria (purpose of the task –

what is good/useful information)• Test your criteria by ranking 5 sites.• In groups, take on specific role (author, bias, content) and

compare ranking of sites across groups.• Include criteria for inclusion on inquiry project.

Stage 4: CreatingStage 4: CreatingCreating: digital tools Your recommendations?

Assessment: diagnostic – formative – summative

Presenting: PowerPoint/Prezi does not offer evidence of critical thinking

Consider addition of annotated bibliography and interactive presentations

Sharing and Creative Commons

New Skills?New Skills?Draw a ring around what your existing concept map.

Add an outer layer showing what additional skills you would teach or how you would teach a skill differently.

Please leave the maps here.

Inquiry in the Future?Inquiry in the Future?What will inquiry look like in the future? The medium is the message? The machine is us. The message is us.

Advertised: World-wide information and collaboration.We can be experts in everything.

Reality: Multimodal texts where everyone is an author.Cognitive demands need to be recognized by teachers and students.