Week 2 Readings from CLN 650

Bell, R;Smetana,L& Binns;I (2005) from The Science Teacher define inquiry instruction as "involving students in a form of active learning that emphasizes questioning, data analysis, and critical thinking." A scientific question is posed and the students answer research questions through "data analysis p.31".

As part of my teaching, I have been trained in inquiry based learning in the form of posing a question and finding out what students already know, what they want to know and then we reflect at the end of the unit of work with what they have learnt.

Eg. KNOW/WANT/LEARNT chart tracks their progress throughout the unit.

I will be visiting my teaching colleague at a Western suburb school who teaches a multi-age class and I will begin my project on the topic that the class is studying which is "Life in the Past in the Local Area." The teacher has expressed an interest in making contact with the elderly community as a source of information to the children about life in the past.

I will begin the process of gathering resources and adhering to The Essentials QLD curriculum which is current at this time. I may search for the National Curriculum draft for guidance.

The project might involve the students responding to a question that I pose on the topic, they research on the Internet and in the library, fill in the questionaire, then interview their parents or grandparents as part of a homework activity so as to involve their families in the project. They may transcribe an interview with a person from an earlier generation and present it in the form of a Powerpoint or Web 2.0 application.

Readings from Kuhlthau et al (2007) and Limberg, L (2008) reveal that Kuhlthau advocates a source approach or ISP model from a teaching perspective. Limberg advocates a relational approach with the relationship between: 1. learner, 2. teacher and 3. object of learning and their interactions. Bruce (1997) and Marton (1994) promote a phenomenographic view of knowledge as a relationship between a person and a world. The educator is the agent of change.

Upon reading the inquiry theorists, I favour the phenomenographic approach because each person has a unique context in which to make meaning from.

There are opponents to the inquiry based approach that claim that unstructured, open, student based inquiry result in short term memory of concepts presented. Having taught in both the traditional setting by reciting facts and the constructivist approach with guided inquiry I would see the primary school age students require scaffolding to guide them through the inquiry process.