Inquiry-Based Learning: Educating and Inspiring Kids

Because inquiry-based learning is premised on helping children ask questions, instructors themselves must learn the art of asking good questions. As the leader and guide, remember that you have to model the spirit of inquiry. Be aware of how a question can either shut down or open up a conversation by the words you choose and the prejudices you reveal. For example, consider the different responses you’d get to the question “Nobody here has ever created a Web page, have they?” versus “Has anyone made a Web page before?” versus “What do we know about creating Web pages?” The second question is at least a more positive version then the first, but it still will only get you yes or no answers. The third invites constructive input and validates prior knowledge. Listen to how people ask you questions.

Inquiry-Based Learning: Educating and Inspiring Kids

Closely related to evaluating the quality of information is the next step: evaluating its applicability to the original inquiry question. How is this information relevant? How does it relate to what else we know? What parts support the hypothesis and what parts do not? Does it raise any new questions? Again, learners catalog information and record new questions that arise, but now they focus on the relationship of that information to the hypothesis and to the other bits of information. One critical aspect of this process is to instill in children the need to actively look for information that disproves their hypothesis. Just because some data support it does not mean a hypothesis is true. Other explanations could apply to the same data. Equally important, help children understand that quantity of information does not trump quality.

How you encourage students to explore those questions will depend on their age and sophistication, but two things must happen for a successful activity: • The inquiry must relate to a student’s real question; it should not be a bait-and-switch in which the student actually pursues the teacher’s interests. Helping students find their real question can sometimes be no easy matter because they may not know the real question themselves. For example, kids of a certain age might tell you that they are interested in studying modern music, but what they might really be interested in is learning how to dance because they feel socially awkward. Through modeling and skillful questioning, your job is to help them get to the thing they really want to learn. This situation can be particularly true with young students, who do not have fully developed reasoning techniques. • The questions must ultimately be answerable. Questions like “What color is God?” or “Can I become a national leader?” are valid questions, but they are belief-based and not subject to the scientific and quasi-scientific methods that are at the root of inquiry-based learning. Similarly, questions that are highly personal, are based on opinion, or do not lend themselves to a practical source or experiment won’t work either.

Step-by-Step Through the Techniques&#160;

The essence of inquiry-based learning is that children participate in the planning, development and evaluation of projects and activities. Teachers can take many approaches to crafting an inquiry-based project, but Dr. Cornelia Brunner of the Center for Children and Technology breaks it into four main parts: Posing Real Questions, Finding Relevant Resources, Interpreting Information and Reporting Findings. (Youth Learn, 2016) -Step 1: Posing Real Questions -Step 2: Finding Resources -Step 3: Interpreting Information -Step 4: Reporting Findings

Inquiry-based learning is a learning process that engages students by making real-world connections through exploration and high-level questioning. It is an approach to learning that encourages students to engage in problem-solving and experiential learning.&nbsp;There is so much happening in our world that is worth our learners discovering and experiencing. (Santa Ana College, n.d.)

Instructors who adopt an inquiry-based learning approach help students identify and refine their “real” questions into learning projects or opportunities. They then guide the subsequent research, inquiry, and reporting processes. Since one role of out-of-school programs is often to enhance, support, and expand on the core curriculum of K-12 schools, it’s a particularly good approach for giving kids an opportunity to learn with more freedom while reinforcing and imparting basic skills.

References Inquiry-Based Learning. Santa Ana College. (n.d.). https://sac.edu/AcademicAffairs/TracDat/Pages/Inquiry-Based-Learning-.aspx#:~:text=Inquiry%2Dbased%20learning%20is%20a,problem%solving%20and%20experiential%20learning. Inquiry-Based Learning. YouthLearn. (n.d.). http://youthlearn.org/resources/inquiry-based-learning/

Pre-planning: Before going to the kids, determine any preliminary factors or characteristics that must be true in order to achieve your larger goals or plans. Consider factors such as scope, the amount of time you’ll spend over how many sessions, relationships to other projects, topical focus, age appropriateness, skills you want to use, resources, media and collaboration techniques. Make any decisions up front that you have to, but let the kids decide as much as possible. Brainstorming: Assuming the widest range of possibilities, start a discussion in class to find out what the kids are interested in. Ask some broad questions about their interests. Try some simple mapping activities to record the ideas they suggest and to begin winnowing them down to one or a few. Remember, your role is to guide them toward achieving learning objectives and mastery of skills that they need. If they pick the questions that start the inquiry, they’ll have no end of such questions, even if you subtly limit the parameters. In most cases, you’ll be better off having the whole class work on a single concept or breaking up into teams to work on particular questions, aspects or executions of that theme or idea. Just make sure that they feel ownership of the topic and truly care about it. Questioning: Almost any topic can become the foundation for an inquiry-based project, even something as mundane as shoes, if that’s what the kids are interested in. Suppose you’ve decided on that topic. Ask the kids what they would like to know about shoes, and map the questions to areas of study as shown in the curriculum wheel. (Youth Learn, 2016)

Inquiry-based learning is particularly well-suited for out-of-school programs because they a freer hand to complement, enhance, and expand on the work children are doing in their K-12 classes. IBL does offer a great option for occasional projects and lab activities in a school-based classroom, though. (Youth Learn, 2016)

How is inquiry-based learning different from traditional approaches? In the traditional framework, teachers come to class with highly structured curricula and activity plans, sometimes referred to as “scope and sequence.” They act as the source of knowledge and as the person who determines which information is important. There is certainly creativity and flexibility in how each teacher runs his or her class, but the topics and projects are driven and evaluated based on what a teacher, administrator, school board, or bureaucracy has decided what children should know and master. In contrast, inquiry-based learning projects are driven by students. Instructors act more as coaches, guides, and facilitators who help learners arrive at their “true” questions—the things they really care about. When students choose the questions, they are motivated to learn and they develop a sense of ownership about the project.

What kinds of questions make for good inquiry-based projects? As we said, they must first be questions that the kids truly care about because they come up with them themselves. In addition, good questions share the following characteristics: -the questions must be answerable -the answer cannot be a simple fact -the answer can't already be known -the questions must have some objective basis for an answer -the questions cannot be too personal

Advantages of Inquiry-Based Learing&#160;

-flexible and works well for projects that range from the extensive to the bounded, from research-oriented to the creative, and from lab to internet -many kids who have trouble in school because they do not respond well to lectures and memorization will blossom in an IBL setting, awakening their confidence, interest, and self-esteem

-works on interdisciplinary projects that reinforce multiple skills or knowledge areas in different facets of the same project -well-suited to collaborative learning environments -can work with any age group -acknowledges that children have "funds of knowledge" that are often ignored by traditional curricula; it validates the knowledge and experience that all kids bring to the learning process (Youth Learning, 2016)

During the validation and interpretation processes, students continue to refine their real question and, one hopes, find an answer, although that answer may not be as simple as they originally thought. It may even contradict their original hypothesis, but that should not be a discouraging experience if it is handled properly. Think about video games: Instead of being discouraged when they hit an obstacle, kids see it as a challenge to overcome and will go to great lengths to find the answer. Instructors should emphasize at each stage of the inquiry that the investigation is a journey and that finding new information is exciting, especially when unexpected.

Step 1: Posing Real Questions&#160;

Your ability to help students arrive at their “real” questions is the central technique of inquiry-based learning. It involves examining issues such as • What do I want to know about this topic? • What do I need to know? • What do I know already and how do I know it? • What might a possible answer be?

It is impossible to project all the possible ways in which you can build inquiry into programs, projects, and activities, but preparing for most projects involves three basic steps: pre-planning, brainstorming, and questioning. 

Between the question and the answer are sources of information. What kinds of sources might help? Where do you find them? How do you know the information is valid and who is responsible for it? What other information is there? Answering questions like these begins the process of assembling and then assessing evidence to ultimately answer the inquiry. The key distinction in this phase is that the learner must be kept focused not on finding the answer but on finding sources that might have information that could lead to the answer.

Sources of information include books, people, experiments, Web pages and discussion groups on the Internet. Although finding source material can sometimes be the easiest part of the process, assessing the information is trickier. Because real inquiries are rarely about objective facts, it is probable that no one has ever posed the inquiry in exactly the same way before, and finding a swift, pointed answer is not likely to occur. 