Generally, teachers do face a lot of challenges in developing and maintaining high levels of student engagement. Most of the time, majority of schools follow a teacher-centered model of education, where students listen as a teacher tells them what to learn. Thus, the Inquiry-Based Learning is so important nowadays.
History Of Inquiry-based Learning
The method is being developed throughout the discovery learning movement of the 1960s as a rejoinder to traditional forms of education. The viewpoint of inquiry-based learning discoveries its backgrounds in constructivist learning theories, such as the work of Piaget, Dewey, Vygotsky, and Freire among others.
As people get further into the second half of the school year, the emphasis on engagement will be significant to filtering our practices with increasing influence. Educators can simplify and aid students discover, discuss, and demonstrate(3D) to flourish.
Nevertheless, each D is planned in being simple, transferrable, and customizable. Each D could occur synchronously or asynchronously, in person or online.
How the 3 Ds would look with your students?
- What is your critical content?
- What are your design limitations (e.g., time, developmental appropriateness)?
- What technology could assist in making all learners positive?
Discover
Providing learners with various opportunities to discover content before starting the direct instruction. It is an extremely effective way to encourage engagement from the start and boost student activity. In this stage, learners can curate content, create content, and/or give learners a chance to study to find and validate their own sources of statistics.Try to stay focused on critical content. Less is more.
Discuss
This is a prospect for common learning experiences with peers through communication and association. While direct teaching is a grave part of teaching and learning, it must not be the only resource. There are wonderful opportunities for peer-to-peer education as well as prospects for on-demand knowledge with constant reflection and discourse in both live and asynchronous lessons.
This can look like founding resources such as mini TED Talks, YouTube videos, and shared Wakelets, which are online tools used to save content and organize it into folders or wakes.Also, maintaining protocols are important for any discussion, whether synchronous or asynchronous.
Demonstrate
Indeed, it’s vital to remember that, preferably, we’re signifying understanding throughout education. Also, we may need to move back through Discover and Discuss to get to Demonstrate. Apprentice conception is the best demonstration of trustworthy learning. Offer choices that are expressive.
Consider this quote from Albert Einstein – “I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”
IBL (inquiry-based learning) asks students to take more responsibility for their learning. The different cognitive skills that schoolchildren develop can also be used to demonstrate and expand understanding across all subject parts, as well as being general in day-to-day life and living assistance. Another important feature of inquiry-based learning (and science) is the use of open learning.
The 4 Steps of Inquiry-Based Learning
- Students develop questions that they are ravening to answer.
- Research the topic using time in class.
- Have schoolchildren present what they’ve learned.
- Asking students to reflect on what worked about the process and what didn’t.
Therefore, it’s significant to think about how teachers are designing opportunities for students to advance skills and achieve precise goals.
Advantages of Inquiry-Based Learning
Here are the benefits of Inquiry-Based Learning —
- Inquiry-Based Learning improves understanding of core concepts.This is due to curiosity’s consequence on the brain.
- It can help students engross information throughout the day.
- It promotes a deeper understanding of content through the process of asking open questions and solving them through original approaches.
- Inquiry can support students see the fundamental rewards of learning.
- Students can advance certain transferable skills through inquiry-based learning. They learn how to ask inquiries, explore, discuss, collaborate, cooperate and reach their own decisions.
- Inquiry-based learning can also work almost in any classroom.
- Running an inquiry-based learning movement will give you a chance to use distinguished instruction strategies. Learners can work by themselves, or as part of a small or large group.
According to Bloom’s Taxonomy, the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information or new understandings indicates a high level of thinking.
Wrapping Up
Inquiry-based learning is important for the growth of higher order thinking skills. Teachers should be reassuring different thinking opportunities and allowing students the freedom to ask their own questions. The International Teaching Diploma Program helps teachers to master the inquiry-based learning approaches and strategies.
The developed order thinking skills that students have the prospect to grow during inquiry activities will support in the critical thinking skills that they will be able to transfer to other topics.
