Why?

Anyone who has hung out with a child around the age 4 will know this question well. 

“Time to put away the toys!”
“Why?”
“So that we can get ready to go outside.”
“Why?”
“Becuase we need to wear a rain coat and boots outside.”
“Why?”
“Becuase it’s raining.”
“Why?”
“Because…..” – at this point it’s up to you how much information about meteorology you’d like to share with a 4 year old, but no matter what explanation you give, they will undoubtedly want to know more.

This boundless curiosity that comes so naturally to young children is an invaluable resource that can be tapped into in a classroom setting. Inquiry based learning (IBL) utilizes students’ natural curiosity by encouraging them to ask questions and to approach new topics in an interactive manner, fostering a deeper, more personal connection to the topics being taught.1 This can look like posing direct questions to an educator or using experimentation to promote engagement and autonomy.2 IBL also encourages students to work together to solve problems. Allowing students to see how their peers may approach various problems differently will, in turn, encourage them to foster diverse thinking both in the classroom and outside.3 

IBL also offers educators a unique view of a student’s comprehension of the subject. As the lesson progresses, the questions and assumptions students make about the content should shift and become more relevant to the topic at hand. If a student doesn’t understand a subject, the higher level of participation involved with IBL allows the educator to pinpoint where they are getting lost, and by listening to the students’ questions, guide them to proper comprehension. 

In my learning pod, we are developing an interactive learning activity for 9th grade math based around the concept of “thinking algebraically”. The purpose of this learning resource is to “de-abstractify” algebra by connecting equations to real world scenarios, which students usually have a much easier time solving. IBL could be incorporated into this activity by encouraging students to come up with specific questions for the activities they find challenging, as well as incorporating an aspect of experimentation in the form of changing parameters of the real-world scenario and seeing how the equation changes. 

Inquiry based learning will look a bit different subject to subject, but will always be shaped around the idea that students should play an active role in the learning activities. By encouraging students to ask questions, make predictions, and reflect on how new material fits into their previous conceptions, the act of learning transforms into an experience more akin to exploring an uncharted territory rather than memorizing information. 

References:

  1. Lee Beavington (2024, August 8). “Ask, Find Out, Act: The Benefits of Inquiry-based Learning” University of Saskatchewan: Teaching and Learning blog, https://teaching.usask.ca/articles/2024-08-08-ask-findout-act-beavington.php
  2. The Significance of Experiments in Inquiry-based Science Teaching. (2024). European Journal of Education and Pedagogy, 5(2), 86-92. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejedu.2024.5.2.815 https://eu-opensci.org/index.php/ejedu/article/view/30815
  3. Michelle Worgan (2023, January 8). “Inquiry-based learning: make your classroom more inclusive”, Cambridge: World of Better Learning blog, https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2023/01/08/inquiry-based-learning-make-your-classroom-more-inclusive/