Inquiring Minds Want to Know:
What are the critical elements
of inquiry?
twitter: @brendasherry
email: brenda.sherry@ugdsb.on.ca
website: brendasherry.com
LC Conference
Sept 27, 2013
ALL RESOURCES
tech2learn.wikispaces.com
Guided Inquiry
Project-based Learning
Knowledge Building
Open Inquiry
Problem-based Learning
Structured Inquiry
Coupled Inquiry
by tambakothejaguar on flickr
Inquiry-based learning
Active
Learning
Wondering...
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Is it really inquiry?
What elements must I think about while
planning?
How do I make sure everyone is
learning?
What is the culture I need to build to
ensure that successful inquiry happens ?
John Dewey - 1938
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Learners draw meaning by connecting
one experience to another and to the
future, and by collecting and by
reflecting on and organizing the ideas
that emerge from the experiences.
What are the implications for our
classrooms?
What is missing?
Your top 5 elements of
inquiry...
Reflect on process;
Generate new questions
Share demonstrations of
learning with others
Tap into prior knowledge,
background knowledge
Common
Generate intriguing problems
and/or questions
Inquiry
Organize info, draw
conclusions and new
understandings
Framework
Develop a plan for
investigation
Select and analyze
resources
http://www.inquiryschools.net
What is PBL?
From the Buck Institute at www.bie.org
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focuses on the central concepts and
principles of a discipline
involves students in problem-solving
investigations and other meaningful tasks
allows students to work autonomously to
construct their own knowledge, and
culminates in realistic products.
What is PBL? (cont’d)
George Lucas Educational Foundation at Edutopia.org
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is curriculum fueled and standards based
asks a question or poses a problem that each
student can answer
asks students to investigate issues and topics
addressing real-world problems while
integrating subjects across the curriculum
is a method that fosters abstract, intellectual
tasks to explore complex issues.
What is PBL? (cont’d)
Linda Darling-Hammond
PBL involves completing tasks that typically result in a realistic
product, event, or presentation to an audience.
 central to the curriculum
 organized around driving questions that lead students to
encounter central concepts of a discipline
 focused on a constructive investigation that involves inquiry
and knowledge building
 student-driven, in that students are responsible for making
choices &for designing &managing their work
 authentic, by posing problems that occur in the real world and
that people care about
What is PBL?
(cont’d)
Susie Boss and Jane Krauss (ISTE, 2007)
 Projects form the centerpiece of the curriculum - they
are not an add-on or extra at the end of a "real" unit.
 Students engage in real-world activities and practice
the strategies of authentic disciplines.
 Students work collaboratively to solve problems that
matter to them.
 Technology is integrated as a tool for discovery,
collaboration, and communication, taking learners
places they couldn't otherwise go and helping
teachers achieve essential learning goals in new
ways.
Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real World Projects in the Digital Age
Seymour Papert and Hard
Fun!
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kids like hard fun, important work, challenges
kids need to see us learning
kids can think like mathematicians, scientists,
artists
What does inquiry look like in
science?
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search for accurate and replicable
evidence
confirming or refuting a hypothesis
drawing conclusions about a truth
identifying misconceptions by going
beyond observations to investigate
fallacies
What does inquiry look like
in math?
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problem-solving and reasoning
looking for patterns and relationships in the
physical world
more involved with accuracy and logical
thinking rather than point of view
What does inquiry look like in
history or social studies?
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assess evidence for point of view
assess evidence for social and
historical point of view
finding multiple truths
representative of different
perspectives and time periods
understanding your own personal
bias
What does inquiry look like in language arts?
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interpretation of evidence
weighing social context
determining point of view and
author’s purpose
synthesizing and making
inferences
questioning
Crowdsourcing the
Wisdom in the Room
Continua to Consider for Effective PBL
Peter Skillen & Brenda Sherry, 2012
David Thornburg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4CeceFQAJ8
Flavoured Tobacco Project
How do we make sure
everyone is learning?
Developing a community of thinkers
Habits of Mind from Deborah Meiers - Mission Schools
Evidence: How do we know what's true and false? What evidence counts? How
sure can we be? What makes it credible to us? This includes using the scientific
method and more.
Viewpoint: How else might this look if we stepped into other shoes? If we were
looking at it from a different direction? If we had a different history or
expectations? This requires the exercise if informed "empathy" and imagination. It
requires flexibility of mind.
Connections/Cause and Effect: Is there a pattern? Have we seen something like
this before? What are the possible consequences?
Conjecture: Could it have been otherwise? Supposing that? What if ? This habit
requires use of imagination as well as knowledge of alternative possibilities. It
includes the habits described above.
Relevance: Does it matter? Who cares?