Scientific Inquiry
Learning Science
by
Doing Science
Kendall Hunt
Publishing Company
Overview
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What is Inquiry?
How did it originate?
Why is it important?
How does inquiry-based instruction
compare to traditional instruction?
What does inquiry-based learning
look like in the classroom?
Proof of Effectiveness
Inquiry is Powerful Learning
Inquiry and the Nature of Science
By Design: A Journey of Excellence
Through Science
Inquiry Defined
• Inquiry is a dynamic approach to
learning that involves
– exploring the world,
– asking questions,
– making discoveries, and
– rigorously testing those discoveries
in the search for new understanding.
Designed With A
Purpose
• Curriculum designed under this
definition recognizes students’
drive to learn, engages students
in central concepts and
principles, leads students to indepth exploration of authentic
and important topics, uses
performance-based
assessments and encourages
collaboration.
Origins of Inquiry
• After the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union,
science instruction received renewed attention in
curriculum design.
• New curricula were developed in the U.S. many with
an inquiry focus.
• For Nearly 40 years, the literature in science
education has documented increased achievement
and improved retention of science concepts when
student are taught using curriculum materials that
have and inquiry approach.
• Unfortunately, our traditional educational system has
worked in a way that discourages the natural process
of inquiry. Students become less prone to ask
questions as they move through the grade levels. In
traditional schools, students learn not to ask too many
questions, instead to listen and repeat the expected
answers.
Importance of Inquiry
• Education is not about preparing students for
a world that is static and fixed.
• Education must prepare learners to cope with
changes that will increase in complexity
throughout their lives and many of which
cannot be foreseen at this time.
• Most learners will probably deal with several
job changes, move to several different
locations, be involved in complex social
changes, and other such issues. Education
cannot give learners all the information that
they need to know, but rather it must provide
the tools for continuing to learn.
Importance of Inquiry
• Within a conceptual framework, inquiry
learning and active learner involvement can
lead to important outcomes in the classroom.
• Students who actively make observations,
collect, analyze, and synthesize information,
and draw conclusions are developing useful
problem-solving skills.
• These skills can be applied to future "need to
know" situations that students will encounter
both at school and at work.
So, What is the
Difference?
Traditional Science
Instruction vs.
Inquiry-Based
Instruction
Traditional Instruction
• Focuses on mastery of content, with less emphasis on
the development of skills and the nurturing of inquiring
attitudes
• Is teacher centered; teacher gives information about
"what is known"
• Student is receiver of information, teacher is
dispenser.
• Assessment is focused on "one right answer."
• Concerned with preparation for the next grade level
and in-school success, not with helping a student
learn to learn through life
• Tends to be a closed system
• Resources limited to what is in class or school
building
• Focuses on learning technology rather than using
technology to enhance learning
Inquiry-Based Instruction
• More student centered, with the teacher as a facilitator
of learning
• Emphasis on "how we come to know" and less on "what
we know"
• Assessment is focused on determining the progress of
skills development in addition to content understanding
• Concerned with in-school success equally with
preparation for life-long learning
• Open systems where students are encouraged to
search and make use of resources beyond the
classroom and the school
• Uses technology to connect students appropriately with
local and world communities which are rich sources
• Can be done in lectures that provoke students to think
and question as well as labs and group projects
• Focuses on the how instead of the what
What It Looks Like:
Traditional vs. Inquiry
Inquiry Is Powerful
Learning
• Students are naturally curious about the
world around them
• Students must first be engaged in the
content to learn
• Synthesizing the information on their
own is more powerful than a lecture
• This style of learning provides the
opportunity for continued research
• Inquiry prepares students to be life-long
learners
The Abilities of Inquiry!
Students should learn science by asking
appropriate questions and conducting
valid experiments or collecting relative
data, not by memorizing dogmatic
steps and copious facts….
Inquiry allows students to develop a love
for science through investigation and
discovery. This is how science
happens and this is why scientists
love science.
Proof of Effectiveness
• Educational studies show that student
learning increases after the use of an
inquiry-based science curriculum.
• Inquiry Instructional Models
(Bybee, 2006) The BSCS 5E instructional model: Origins,
effectiveness, and applications
• Formative Assessment
(Black and Wiliam, 1998) Assessment and classroom learning
• Reflective Practice
(NBPTS, 2000; Vandevoort, Amrein-Beardsley, & Berliner, 2004)
A Distinction that Matters; National Board Certified Teachers and Their
Students’ Achievement
Inquiry and the Nature
of Science
• Inquiry instruction is a hallmark of current
science education reform efforts.
• The typical school laboratory is “cookbookstyle.” Students are given the exact steps to
follow and are asked to confirm known results
• Many typical laboratory learning experiences
use the stereotypical ‘scientific method’ which
portrays the work of scientists as following a
rigid, linear path.
• These are NOT accurate views of how
science works and are NOT inquiry.
By Design: A Journey To
Excellence Through Science
• Will help children understand the world they
live in and instill in them a willingness to
explore and make sense of the world around
them.
• Will provide all students with stimulating
experiences in the life, earth, physical
sciences and technology, and health while
simultaneously developing their criticalthinking and problem-solving skills along with
strengthening their faith.
• Will provide children with the opportunity to
learn age-appropriate concepts and skills
and to acquire scientific attitudes and habits
of mind.
By Design: A Journey To
Excellence Through Science
• Will provide teachers with a variety of
strategies with which to assess student
learning
• Will offer teachers opportunities to link
the teaching of science with the
development of skills in mathematics,
language arts, and social studies
• Will encourage the use of cooperative
learning to help students develop the
valuable skill of working together
By Design: A Journey to
Excellence Through Science.
• By Design will help develop life
long learning skills.
• By Design will give you the
practical framework of inquiry you
and your students need to be
successful.