INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING:Can You Identify What True Inquiry Looks Like?

True Inquiry Flawed Inquiry

Back & Forth Flow of Knowledge One Directional Flow of Knowledge

• Teacher poses an idea or concept and asks targeted questions which leads to students sharing ideas and asking additional questions

• Teacher responds with additional thought-provoking questions that encourage students to investigate on their own and analyze their �ndings

• Students build on and defend new explanations and understandings based on evidence

• Teacher poses an idea or concept and asks speci�c questions

• Teacher provides direct resources or learning activities from which the answers to the questions can be found

• Students complete the activity or research and present the answer to the question with little or no higher level thinking

Teacher as a Facilitator Teacher as an Instructor

• Teacher prompts student questioning and idea sharing with purposeful questions

• Teacher ensures that students have access to the resources as they determine what they need

• Teacher sets expectations but students are held accountable for their own actions

• Teacher lectures and does not encourage communication and questioning

• Teacher provides resources

• Teacher strictly monitors and micromanages student behavior

Student Ownership No Buy-In From Students

• Student ownership increases when students are given meaningful tasks that are engaging and challenging.

• Accountability also increases when students are part of a cooper-ative group and others are depending on them.

• No sense of ownership when they have no choice in how to inves-tigate a problem

• Students working independently have no one depending on them and therefore not much incentive to perform beyond minimum expectations

Promotes Curiosity and Creativity Sti�es Curiosity and Creativity

• Students’ natural curiosity is piqued in true inquiry as they explore a concept and ask their own questions to further understand what they are learning

• Students are encouraged to think outside the box and creatively test their theories

• Implies that students’ questions are irrelevant, and they only need to focus on what is in the textbook or taught by the teacher

• Little to no opportunities for creative thinking

Prepares Students for Future Challenges and Roles

Limits Students in Their Thinking

• Students learn valuable 21st century skills such as creativity, collaboration, perseverance, and problem solving

• Authentic work is representative of what adults do in the real world

• Mimics the adult thinking process of analyzing an idea, breaking it into manageable parts, and seeking comprehension of each part to build a conceptual understanding

• No opportunity to practice 21st century skills through “sit and get” learning

• Work has no authentic purpose

• Higher order thinking skills are not involved, only rote knowledge and comprehension questions

Wide Range of Resources Limited Resources

• In addition to books and online resources, students consult experts or conduct their own investigations

• Students use the resources to explore their ideas

• Research is limited to books and online sources

• Students use the resources by following a plan already built by the teacher

Increased Opportunities for Communication

Limited Communication

• Students must communicate their needs and o�er progress updates

• Students may present their �ndings verbally, in writing, or through a media presentation

• Communication is limited to written work or perhaps asking questions by the teacher

Rigorous Questions and Activities Low-Level Questions & Activities

• Questions increase in rigor to include upper level Bloom’s Taxonomy such as synthesis and evaluation

• Activities reach levels 2 through 4 of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (Working with Skills and Concepts, Short-Term Strategic Thinking, and Extended Strategic Thinking)

• Students practice their critical thinking by planning their own investigations using the experimental design process

• Questions are o�en limited to knowledge and comprehension

• Activities are o�en limited to level one in Webb’s Depth of Knowledge

• Students complete a task or activity by following step-by-step instructions, with little to no higher-level thinking

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