Final Post

Let me begin my final post by presenting my new understanding of inquiry learning. Inquiry learning is a cycle comprised of three elements: a questioning framework, an information seeking process and an action research cycle/evaluation. Together these three elements form a “holistic inquiry” model (Lupton, 2012, para. 17). The prezi below of the ‘inquiry circle’ is an example of a holistic inquiry model that incorporates the three elements of inquiry but also the affective domain of the inquiry learning journal.

Image created by site author: Sources for this compilation created by the International School of Tianjin (2008): — Branch, Jennifer, and Dianne Oberg. “Focus on Inquiry.” IASL. 2005. 6 May 2007 <http://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf&gt;. — Murdoch, Kath. Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Armadale, Vic: Eleanor Curtain Pub, 1998. — Stripling, Barbara K. “Inquiry-Based Learning.” In Curriculum Connections through the Library, ed. Barbara K. Stripling and Sandra Hughes-Hassell, 3-39. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, 2003.

The time has come to reflect and evaluate upon my learning. I have decided to use the Kuhlthau’s ISP model to appraise my inquiry process.

	Thoughts (cognitive) and Actions	Feelings (affective)
Open-Immerse	After my initial post I realised that my implementation of inquiry learning was not as effective as it could have been. Thus, to start my inquiry I identified questions that I needed to know to rectify the situation	– Concerned about past teaching practice – Intrigued to find out more
Immerse- Explore	At this stage I needed to identify search strategies. I knew locations to find information, however, was unfamiliar with search techniques. Boolean operators and other search operators, such as truncations were new to me. I have had limited experience in using them. Before my search could begin I needed to re-search Boolean operators: – What they did and, – How and when to use them	– Confused until I understood the purpose of each operator – Excited to start searching with my new found knowledge
Explore-Identify	I needed to make sure that I selected high quality sources. In order to do this I experimented with my search strategies to make my searches more relevant. Also I used the CRAP test to identify reliable and useful texts	– Frustrated when my search strings brought up irrelevant information – Motivated to continue when I became experienced in using Boolean and other operators to find useful resources – Annoyed when I found an interesting source but full text was not available – Proud when I made my first ever screencast demonstrating my search techniques
Identify-Gather	Reading the texts that I had found were very informative. However, I found the curation phase challenging. Having not used any similar tools before I had to experiment with different curation tools before selecting the one that worked best for my needs- this happened to be Scoop it!	– Excited when I found connections between the text and my own practice, giving me a new understanding – Frustrated and annoyed when a creation tools would not do what I wanted it to (Diigo and Pinterest) – Happy once I found a curation tool that I liked working with
Gather- Create- Share	It took a considerable amount of time to write my response. I found it difficult to succinctly convey in writing what I had learnt and keep it within 500 words!	– Flustered trying to keep my response within the word limit – Satisfied with my final response- after significant editing
Share-Evaluate	Overall I enjoyed this process. It was time consuming and challenging but very much worthwhile. I understand inquiry learning much better- allowing me to improve my teaching practice. Furthermore, I have just completed an inquiry re-search cycle myself, allowing me to experience the process first hand. I feel that I have greater clarity on the subject.	– Amazed at how far I had progressed – Excited to start teaching in a new way – Proud of the hard work that I had put in

Model by Kuhlthau, Carol C., Leslie K. Maniotes and Ann K. Caspari. 2012

My journey has come to an end. I have followed the “road not taken” through the woods, overcoming obstacles that have lead to significant discoveries in my learning. Travelling along this road has not only informed my understanding of inquiry learning pedagogy but also transformed my teaching for the better. The way that I teach and implement inquiry into my classroom from this moment on will benefit the students I teach, improving their learning experiences and outcomes. For “I took the one [road] less travelled by, And that has made all the difference” (Robert Frost, 1916).

Creative Commons Image: Jordan, J. (2007). Destination. Retrieved 27th December 2014 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesjordan/766172776/sizes/m/

References:

Lupton, M. (2012, August 22). What is inquiry learning?. [Web log post]. Retrieved 27^th December 2014 from http://inquirylearningblog.wordpress.com/.

Curation Collection and Response

Creative Commons Image: Fidelman, M. (2010). Curation Analytics Equation Diagram. Retrieved 27th December 2014 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/fidelman/4893340316/sizes/l

As I walked out of the woods through the overgrowth I could see a clear path ahead of me. I have taken time to curate 10 of the most relevant and useful sources that I encountered throughout my re-search. I think that you will find these an informative source of professional readings in relation to inquiry learning pedagogy…I certainly gained a new perspective!

Curation Tool: Click Image for hyperlink

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In addition to this, I have addressed one of my inquiry questions:

Which stage of the inquiry process should focus questions be posed and how can I assist students in developing meaningful questions?

After considerable reflection and evaluation of my sources I decided to respond to what I believe to be the most important of my inquiry questions. At the beginning of this journey you may recall that my focal point of inquiry learning pedagogy within my classroom was for students to find the answers. Previous inquiry lessons that I have implemented have focused on students posing re-search questions at the beginning of the task then to find the answers. I now realise that this was a weakness in my teaching practice from what I now know effective and authentic inquiry learning to be. It is evident to me that for inquiry learning to be successful I must change the way I implement the inquiry cycle and place a stronger emphasis on questions rather than answers.

Rich and meaningful questions can only come from inquiry learning if the cycle is implemented effectively. Maniotes and Kuhlthau (2014, p.10) declare “authentic research questions come towards the middle of the process after exploration and before collection, rather than at the beginning”. From analysing my current practice I can see that my students have been getting “mired in the collection stage of re-search” and have ended up “reporting on disconnected facts” (Maniotes & Kuhlthau, 2014, p.10) because I had not implemented the inquiry cycle correctly, resulting in a poor questioning framework. In order to rectify this I need to ensure that each stage of the inquiry cycle is implemented accurately with the emphasis on the processes rather than the outcome (assessment).

Image created by site author: adapted from the Inquiry Model Diagram: Branch, J, & Oberg, D. (2004). Inquiry Model Process. Chapter 2, p. 10

Image created by site author: adapted Inquiry Model Diagram by Maniotes and Kuhlthau. (2014). p. 12

Questions are the foundation of inquiry learning. Engaged inquiry classrooms are characterised by students actively posing meaningful questions, therefore, enhancing their own questioning skills (Whitehouse, 2008, p. 36). For teachers like myself, this means they need to teach thinking skills to their students. The development of metacognitive skills is an essential aspect in refining the questioning techniques that students employ. If inquiry pedagogy and the questioning abilities of students are to be improved, teachers need to know how to teach metacognitive skills (Milvain, 2008, p. 7; Hamston, 2014 post, para. 1-2). This is done best through teachers modelling their own thinking, making it visible to students. This will allow students to identify their own metacognitive processes, enhancing their ability to pose quality inquiry questions.

Meaningful and relevant inquiry must come from within the student rather than the teacher. If students are to become independent learners they need to be skilled in asking questions, not just answering them (Godinho & Wilson, 2004, cited in Whitehouse, 2008, p. 32). Clearly, “the questions that are posed by students shape the way discovery unfolds” (Whitehouse, 2008, p. 32). This requires teachers to explicitly teach questioning techniques. The most effective form of questioning for inquiry is open-ended questions. Teaching students how to pose open-ended questions leads to:

• greater investigation of the topic,
• authentic inquiry learning experiences and,
• independent learners.

Sample Activity for Planning

Developing Good Inquiry Topics and Questions

Teach students, as they brainstorm possible questions, ideas and issues, to keep asking: “Am I going to be telling my audience something they didn’t know before?” (commonly called the Who Cares? Test). The following question stems (Owens, Hester & Teale, 2002, p. 618) assist in the development of engaging topics:

How is ____________ related to ____________?
What is a new example of ____________?
What are some possible solutions for the problem of ______? Explain why ____________.
What do you think would happen if ____________?
Why is ____________ important?

Branch, J, & Oberg, D. (2004). Inquiry Model Process. Chapter 6, p. 49

Students need to be skilled in posing inquiry questions that are intellectually stimulating. Their questions should challenge and extend their understanding of the topic (Milvain, 2008, p. 9). This is the true objective of inquiry learning. From the clarity that I have gained from my re-search my future teaching practice will change for the better as I now realise QUESTIONS are at the KEY to discovery in inquiry learning.

Response: 547 words (10% margin)

References

Branch, J, & Oberg, D. (2004). Focus on inquiry: A teacher’s guide to implementing inquiry-based learning. Alberta, Canada: Alberta learning. Retrieved 21^st December 2014 from, https://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf

Hamston, J. (2014). Cited by Murdoch, K. (2014 November 11). Something to talk about: Dialogic teaching- putting classroom talk at the centre of inquiry. [Web log post]. Retrieved 23^rd December 2014 from http://justwonderingblog.com/2014/11/11/something-to-talk-about-dialogic-teaching-putting-classroom-talk-at-the-centre-of-inquiry/.

Maniotes, L. & Kuhlthau, C. (2014). MAKING THE SHIFT. Knowledge Quest, 43(2), p. 8-17. Retrieved 22^nd December 2014 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1620878836?accountid=13380

Milvain, C. (2008). Thinking skills within the humanities discipline. [Online]. Ethos, 16(4), p.6-10. Retrieved 21^st December 2014 from http://search.informit.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/fullText;dn=174318;res=AEIPT

Whitehouse, J. (2008). Talking humanities: questions and co-operative learning. [Online]. Social Educator, 26(1), p.32-36. Retrieved 21^st December 2014 from http://search.informit.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/fullText;dn=168678;res=AEIPT.

Social Media

Creative Commons Image: MKHmarketing. (2013). Social Media Class. Retrieved 15th August 2015 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8540717756

As I walked through the woods the sun shone on my face, and I smiled. I could see familiar re-search sources that were not foreign to me…social media. Since I had become very well acquainted with blogging sites as of late I decided this would be my first place to start.

Screenshot: Kath Murdoch’s blog ‘Just Wondering’ in Wordpress

Social Media Site	Type	Person(s) of interest	Comment
WordPress	Blog	Kath Murdoch	This was a direct search. I have been following Kath Murdoch’s blog for some time now. It contains numerous posts relating to inquiry learning that were very relevant to my search.
Edublogs	Blog	Barbara Braxton	Again this was another direct search. Being a member of OZTL I was already acquainted with Braxton’s blog. She provides insightful posts relating to teacher-librarianship discussing educational pedagogy, such as inquiry learning

Both of the above blogs are excellent for anyone interested in education to follow as a form of professional reading. I regularly visit both blogs, as they are relevant to my field of work.

As I followed the path further along I realised there were other forms of social media that offer professional learning for teachers. Twitter, Pinterest and Google Communities were the three social media sites where I next directed my re-search.

Social Media Site	Type	Person(s) of interest	Comment
Twitter	Tweets	Numerous. Search involved: #Inquiry based learning #Australian Curriculum #Inquiry #History	This search involved using a number of hash tags to find relevant information. I did find some great little articles that were of interest but nothing particularly relevant to my inquiry questions
Pinterest	Curation and Collection tool	Numerous. Search involved: – Inquiry-based learning – Inquiry – Inquiry in history	Similar to my Twitter re-search, I found several sources of interest for extension reading that will be useful in the future.
Google Communities	Group communities on specific topics	Numerous groups relating to inquiry learning	Several community groups caught my attention. These groups will provide a fantastic support network for my inquiry learning journey.

The above three social media sites offered general information and useful resources on inquiry learning. Twitter was particularly interesting because many educators use it as a tool to share their work. I would definitely recommend social media as a tool for professional reading. There is a mass of useful information in cyberspace just waiting to be found! In light of this, the most valuable resources that I gained from this social media re-search were the blogs of Kath Murdoch and Barbara Braxton. I have to admit, I had never thought of directing my students to social media as a re-search tool before. This search certainly enlightened me! I will now encourage my students to find useful and relevant social media sources to assist in their inquiry projects.

Pros	Cons
Very easy to navigate because of frequent use compared to the A+ and ProQuest databases Some very useful and practical information found A great source for professional reading and developing professional networks	Similar to Google, sources may not be peer reviewed compared to Google Scholar, A+ and ProQuest Time consuming searching for information if you do not have a direct source

Well, my re-search aspect of my journey has come to a close and I will begin to enter the next phase. I will be reflecting upon my re-search findings and discover where my path has taken me thus far.

ProQuest Education

Image created by site author

Continuing along this long winding path I find myself using the ProQuest Education database. I decided to start my search where I left off, focusing on engaging students in the inquiry learning process through questioning.

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
ft (Inquiry-based learning NEAR/20 Engag*) AND History	82	6/10	I decided to raise the stacks of my search and use more complex search strategies, such as the proximity/ truncation operators and subject headings to refine my search string in order to find specific and relevant sources to my inquiry.  I would deem it to be a successful search as I found some journal articles that were worth reading. However, I wanted to find sources that were directly related to my inquiry questions

Screenshot: ProQuest complex search string 1a

If at first you do not succeed… try again…

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
ft (“inquiry-based learning” NEAR/20 Engag*) AND History AND (secondary OR middle)	66	8/10	The results of this search string found articles relevant to my inquiry question of engaging students in historical inquiry

At this point I wanted to take a step back in my re-search. I had found some wonderful sources that directly assisted me with my inquiry questions relating to my subject area of History. However, I wanted to find more relevant sources relating to effectively implementing inquiry learning, in hope that I would find articles that would provide me with a deeper understanding of the inquiry learning cycle.

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
“Guided-Inquiry” AND ((Secondary OR Middle School) Classroom)	354	4/10	Speed bump… I was shocked at the number of results. Most of the sources (except one- Kuhlthau (2010)) were irrelevant to what I was searching for.

Screenshot: ProQuest complex search string 1b

The fourth article on the list in my last search string was a very valuable article by Kuhlthau (2010), which I intend to use in my annotated bibliography. In this journal article Kuhlthau (2010, p. 3) articulates,

“Teachers feel pressed to meet curriculum standards and to prepare students to pass skills tests.… This is a misunderstanding of 21st century education. Inquiry learning is more than an occasional, optional research project. Guided Inquiry is…. the way to meet the many requirements of the curriculum through engaging, motivating and challenging learning.”

This article addressed two of my initial inquiry questions:

1. How can I use class time effectively to teach the core content in History but also implement effective and worthwhile inquiry learning experiences for my students?
2. How much guidance is too much? How can I assist in the development of my students in becoming independent learners?

 With this empowering information I decided to find other articles written by Kuhlthau, hence, my next search string was….

 

By specifically using the ‘author’ subject heading I was able to significantly narrow my search to 9 highly relevant and scholarly articles written by Kuhlthau and co-authors that were on par with my inquiry questions. With a win from my effective search string I decided it was time to leave the ProQuest Education database on a high. Thus far, I have found ProQuest and A+ Education the two databases that had provided me with the most relevant and reliable information. However with ProQuest, my search strings needed to be very precise to find relevant articles to assist in my re-search, perhaps this was because it was an American database. ProQuest Education is another database that I will definitely be referring my students to. The next stop in my re-search journey will be exploring social media.

Overall:

Pros	Cons
Relatively easy to navigate Search terms can be refined to minimise results Peer-reviewed and scholarly sources Similar to the A+ database, a Thesaurus is available to expand search terms	Need a variety of search terms and spelling to find a wider variety of articles as it is an American database At times need to be very specific with search strings otherwise irrelevant information is found

References:

Kuhlthau, C. (2010). Guided inquiry: School libraries in the 21st century. School Libraries Worldwide, 16(1), 1-12. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/217762150?accountid=13380**

 

A+ Education

Screenshot of graphic created by site author

Before I continued on my journey I realised that my current search strings would only get me so far if I continued to use the same search terms. Accordingly, I used the A+ Thesauri, new terms that I had encountered throughout my re-search readings and my own knowledge to brainstorm alternate search terms for ‘inquiry learning’ using Padlet.

Annotated Screenshot: A+ Thesauri for ‘Inquiry’

http://padlet.com/sarah_a_martyn/tdxp0781eho9 Padlet: Search Terms for Inquiry Learning

In addition to this I also wanted to expand more of my search terms so that my re-search would be as thorough as possible. Again on Padlet, with the assistance of the A+ Thesauri I found synonyms for ‘information literacy’, ‘History’ and to narrow my searches even further I found alternatives for ‘secondary education’.

http://padlet.com/sarah_a_martyn/wez0ar069cvs Padlet: Expanding my search terms

With new search terms in my hand I continued walking down the overgrown path. I was confident that my new search strings would uncover valuable information.

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
(“inquiry-based learning’’ OR “discovery learning”) AND (information literacy OR information seeking) AND “History classroom”	18	6/10	This search string found some results that were related to what I was looking for, however some Science sources popped up as well
(“inquiry-based learning’’ OR “discovery learning”) AND (information literacy OR information seeking) AND “History classroom” NOT Science Publication Dates: 2000-2014	14	5/10	Even though my search eliminated Science sources, the articles that were found were focused on information processing rather than information processing within inquiry learning. I believe this was because of the double parenthesis. Perhaps I should have only had ‘“inquiry-based learning” Or “discovery learning”’ in parenthesis.

It was as I thought, the parenthesis in last search string were complicating the search. In my quest for discovery I attempted the search string again as follows:

Annotated Screenshot: A+ complex search string 1a

This greatly narrowed the search results, however, I only found one useful source. I was at a standstill and knew that I needed to take my re-search in different direction. Ultimately, all of my inquiry questions were based around a theme…engaging students in the process of inquiry. Hence, this is where I came out the other side of the overgrowth.

Annotated Screenshot: A+ complex search string 1b

Image created by site author

This search located two very relevant and interesting sources that I found very informative. These sources were related specifically to my subject area of History, providing practical inquiry advice about implementing the inquiry process in the classroom and importantly emphasised the importance of questioning frameworks in the inquiry learning cycle. This made me stop in my tracks, if I remembered correctly, “the value of collecting questions rather than answers is crucial” in the inquiry learning cycle (Lupton, 2012, para. 6). These articles were the types of sources I had been looking for, they were discussing the fundamental element of inquiry learning…questioning. As my journey continued I had two new question:

1. Which stage of the inquiry process should focus questions be posed and how can I assist students in developing meaningful questions?

2.  What language should I be using when I explicitly teach inquiry learning?

I found the A+ Education database user friendly. Compared to Google and Google Scholar it had been my favourite database so far to work with. The user has the option to select peer-reviewed articles, which provided me with high quality scholarly sources. One challenge that I overcame was widening my search terms by using Thesauri. Even though this database is Australian, different states use different terminology, thus at times I needed to adjust my search terms. This is one database that I will definitely teach my students to use and I will certainly be using it myself in the future. I have decided to finish my re-search in the A+ Education database on a high. I feel that I have gathered some quality sources and am enthusiastic to continue my journey with the ProQuest Education database.

Overall:

Pros	Cons
User friendly and easy to navigate Search terms can be refined to minimise results Peer-reviewed and scholarly sources Australian Database Provides a thesaurus- something Google and Google Scholar did not	Need a variety of search terms to find a wider variety of articles Searches other databases unless specified

Reference:

Lupton, M. (2012, November 28). Collecting Questions. [Web log post]. Retrieved 20^th December 2014 from http://inquirylearningblog.wordpress.com/.

 

Google Scholar

Screenshot of graphic created by site author

As the road continued deeper into the woods, I decided to start my Google Scholar search off with a quick comparison to Google. My first search string was exactly the same as my last Google search.

Annotated Screenshot: Google Scholar comparison to Google

This search dug up 614 results, a stark contrast compared to the 75,000 from Google. Not to mention the sources found here were more useful to my search and scholarly. Interestingly, many of the articles that I found in this search string discussed the information seeking process (ISP) of the inquiry learning cycle, along with the use of information technology/information literacy in the implementation of inquiry. This brought me back to one of my initial inquiry questions:

• How much guidance is too much? How can I assist in the development of my students in becoming independent learners?

In light of the new information I have gained I refined this question to:

• At which stage of the ISP do my students need guidance?

From the above results I was excited to continue following my path as I travelled deeper into the unknown. I decided to employ expert search strategies, such as wildcards, parenthesis, synonyms and double quotations in my search strings to refine the results. Having never used these expert search skills before I fumbled my way through the darkness with trial and error, learning how to employ these strategies along the way.

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
(?nquiry learning OR Collaborative Learning) AND “information literacy”	16,200	6/10	Some intriguing sources, but the search was still too broad. My next search was more specific to my subject area
(?nquiry learning OR Collaborative Learning) AND “information literacy” AND “History Classroom”	80	7/10	A more manageable number of sources that relate more to my inquiry.

Annotated Screenshot: Complex search string 1a

Annotated Screenshot: Complex search string 1b

The above search strings lead me to some useful sources that discussed practical implementation of inquiry learning. This was helpful as one of my initial inquiry questions related to effective implementation of the inquiry learning cycle in the classroom. At this point I decided to leave my Google Scholar re-search here and look past the overgrowth and into the depths of the A+ Education database.

Google Scholar is a practical database for re-search. The search results were more relevant to my inquiry and the sources were from reliable academic authors compared to the Google search. Nonetheless, I did come across a few boulders in my path which I had to climb over. There were several sources that I came across that did not have the full text. I found this frustrating as I would have liked to read many of the articles that were inaccessible. In spite of this, I would recommend Google Scholar to my students when re-searching as it is did contain some valuable information.

Overall:

Pros	Cons
More scholarly and relevant sources than Google Manageable numbers of sources per search compared to Google Easy to use and navigate Reveals how many other sources have cited current works of your article	Some sources did not contain full text Content of search did vary at times, needing specific terms

Google

Creative Commons Image: Laakmann, G. (2006). Google Logo. Retrieved 21st December 2014 from https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=google&sort=relevance&license=1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C6.

As I follow the diverging path into the woods my first stop on this journey is to test the waters of inquiry re-search by diving into a good old fashioned Google search, after all, this is the first resource my students look to for their information. My initial search was very basic; consequently the search results were enormously large.

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
Inquiry Learning	194,000,000	4/10	This search string revealed a Wikipedia page, inquiry process diagrams, general education sites outlining the WHAT of inquiry learning and two Youtube clips. All of these provided an overview of inquiry learning but not the depth of information I was looking for.

As I leaped into the mass of information I found a Youtube clip which provided a succinct and informative overview of inquiry learning…it even sparked some questions. According to educational theorists, such as Dewey (1915) and Bruner (1960), greater control of the curriculum should be given to students to allow them to investigate and interact with it. Thus, my new questions are:

1. Does inquiry learning pedagogy represent best practice in the History classroom?
2. What are the challenges in implementing inquiry learning in the Australian History Curriculum?

From this point, I decided to use more specific search terms that correlated to my inquiry questions and introduce basic Boolean operators. This strategy minimised the results significantly, however there were still an overwhelming number of sources that were found.

Search String	Results	Relevance Rating out of 10	Comment
Inquiry-based Learning AND Best Practice AND History	1,130,000	3/10	This search string was ineffective because it was too broad. Again, the results that appeared provided general information on inquiry learning rather than the specific information I was looking for. Perhaps I will refine this search string and apply it with another search tool
Inquiry Learning AND Australian Curriculum AND History	360,000	5/10	This search revealed curriculum documents which were helpful but I was also looking for information critically analysing these documents.
Effective AND Guided-Inquiry Learning AND History	75,000	5/10	“Guided-Inquiry” was a new term I came across in my previous search. Even though the search results were decreased, the relevance of the sources was still very broad.

I have to admit that Google did provide some interesting sources that gave a clear overview of inquiry learning, in particular in the Australian History Curriculum. Nevertheless, it did not provide me with many scholarly articles from educational academics that were specifically relevant to my inquiry. As a teacher I often recommend Google to my students as a starting point for their re-search. However, I need to instil the notion in my students that Google is not always the best search database for in-depth academic re-search.

Overall:

Pros	Cons
Easy to use and navigate  Good for a broad overview of a topic  Some useful sources can be found	Unmanageable number of sources per search Time consuming to find relevant and reliable information

Reference Chaloner, M. (2011 December  7). Teaching Inquiry Learning. [Video file]. Retrieved 21st December 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCmCJ8OhWY.

Expert Searches

You are about to follow me on a journey as I walk through the woods on the ‘road not taken’. The grass is at my knees and road looks rough! My hope on this quest is to:

1) Improve my expert re-search skills (which I have to say at this point are simplistic).

2) Discover new ideas and theories related to inquiry learning- formulating new questions as I go.

3) Find relevant and reliable sources to assist in my inquiry.

You will also note that when I use the term “research” I will be writing it as “re-search”. This is a term coined by Mandy Lupton (2014) as it accurately describes searching for existing information.

Let the journey begin!

Creative Commons Image: Kealy, C. (2010 October 9). Into the woods. Retrieved 22nd December 2014 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/chriskealyphotography/7528099074/sizes/m/.

Reference

Lupton, M. (2014). LCN161 Inquiry Learning: Module 1 Study Guide. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.

Initial Post

What I already know about Inquiry learning

The term inquiry learning was first introduced to me when I was at university studying my teaching degree. Inquiry learning is a prominent pedagogy used in my school, thus, my understanding of the inquiry learning cycle has developed from teaching experiences in the classroom. As a Year 7-10 History teacher, historical inquiry is very much embedded in the Australian Curriculum, therefore I use inquiry as a form of pedagogy on a regular basis. My understanding of inquiry learning is that it is first and foremost, a quest for knowledge- to ask QUESTIONS and find ANSWERS. That is, questions are posed; re-search is conducted; answers are found and findings are presented. The image below is a visual representation of my understanding.

Image created by site author

What I want to know

Upon reflection of my teaching practice, I feel the need to examine the effectiveness of how I implement inquiry learning in my classroom. From what I currently know about inquiry learning and what I am beginning to discover from brief re-search, I feel that there is a disconnect in my teaching practice. Lupton (2012, para. 6) states that in the inquiry learning process “the value of collecting questions rather than answers is crucial”. I feel that I have been placing too much emphasis on my students ability to find the answers to their inquiry rather than focusing on the power of questions. I believe that this is partly due to time constraints. As many teachers would agree, I feel pressured to cover all of the content and skills prescribed in the Australian Curriculum, along with completing student assessments each term. As a result, I often question if I am implementing an effective inquiry learning framework, and wonder if I am offering my students the best educational experience.

Another area I would like to focus on is how engaged and motivated my students are during the inquiry learning process. At times, I feel that I give students too much guidance, taking away ownership of their learning. I am beginning to believe that I am contradicting the whole concept of inquiry learning, as the philosophy behind the pedagogy is designed to assist learners understand their own learning processes (Kulthau, Maniotes and Caspari 2012, p. 5). Thus, I have two choices. I can continue my teaching practice as it is (flaws and all) or I can improve my teaching practice to benefit the learning outcomes of my students. As Robert Frost (1916) once said,

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Basic Google Search for “Inquiry Learning”

After typing the words “inquiry learning” into Google I was astounded at the 194,000,000 results that appeared. This in itself reveals that inquiry learning requires expert re-search skills to decipher the mass of information that is on the Internet. I was not surprised to see Wikipedia in the top three search results. It has been my previous experience that Wikipedia is usually always one of the first sites to appear in any Google search. Which is concerning as now that I think about it, 8/10 of my students will reference a Wikipedia page in their bibliography. This makes me question, am I teaching my students expert re-search skills? I was surprise to see that the second article on the search list was a PDF document from Kath Murdoch. The source outlined the many benefits of inquiry learning and provided a scaffold on how to conduct an inquiry learning activity. This source was informative and set me off to a great start on my journey, however, a link to Kath Murdoch’s webpage would also have been beneficial. The other search items of interest were the blog from Neil Stephenson who documented his inquiry learning journey and an article by Luke Touhill who had written an article about inquiry learning in early childhood education.These sources provided basic explanations of inquiry learning, however, did not offered the depth I was looking for. Clearly, I need to take the road less travelled and up-skill my re-search abilities.

What questions do I have about Inquiry Learning?

As two roads diverge into the unknown, and I take the road less travelled by I have decided I to start my inquiry journey with these questions:

1. How can I use class time effectively to teach the core content in History but also implement effective and worthwhile inquiry learning experiences for my students?
2. What are some strategies that would engage and motivate my less historically inclined students in inquiry learning?
3. How much guidance is too much? How can I assist in the development of my students in becoming independent learners?

References

Frost, R. (1916). Cited by Poetry Foundation. (2014). The Road Not Taken. Retrieved 21^st December 2014 from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536.

Kulthau, C., Maniotes, L. and Caspari, A. (2012). Guided Inquiry design: a framework for inquiry in your school. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.

Lupton, M. (2012, November 28). Collecting Questions. [Web log post]. Retrieved 20^th December 2014 from http://inquirylearningblog.wordpress.com/.

Welcome

BES Photos. (2008). Student Teacher. Retrieved 20th December 2014 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/besphotos/2361681986/.

“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery”- Mark Van Doren

Welcome, this blog is designed to be a professional development resource for teachers relating to best practice in inquiry learning. I will be undertaking re-search in inquiry learning pedagogy. This blog will be a tool where I will document my findings and results. I hope you find it useful to your teaching practice.