RE-SEED Training
Inquiry Based Learning Workshop
About the Program
• Christos Zahopoulos,
Executive Director
• Claire Duggan,
Director of Programs
• Daniel Sullivan,
Program Coordinator
About the Program
• Mary Howley,
Administrative Officer
• Feby Kiragu,
Administrative Officer
About the Program
• Jillian Wudarczyk,
Program Coordinator
• Martha McMorran,
Program Coordinator
• Zack Shaw,
Program Coordinator
About the Program
• Where does RE-SEED currently stand?
– Volunteer Numbers
– Staff
– Funding
Welcome to Week 2
• Schedule:
– Review of Inquiry Based Learning
• Techniques and Utilization
– Resources for Exploring
– Asking Questions – Strategies and Procedures
– Whirlygigs: Try an Inquiry Activity
– Lunch
– Workshop: Adapt an Inquiry Activity
– Build It Activity
Inquiry Based Learning
• What is Inquiry
• Preconceived Ideas, Assumptions
• The Hands-On Approach
– The Hook
– Questioning, Predicting, Hypothesizing
– Developing a Procedure
– Testing and Evaluating
Benefits of Inquiry-Based Learning
• Engaging, real-world applications
• Integration of disciplines, subjects
– Communication and writing become equally as
important as the scientific comprehension
• More social, team focused
• Generates lifetime learners
• Producers vs Consumers
Introducing Inquiry
• Important to understand students’ prior
content knowledge first. First step in any class
is to assess the students’ incoming
comprehension levels, and evaluate needs
and plan for addressing content
• Feedback and Evaluation are constant
components of the Inquiry model – must
always be gathering feedback both anecdotal
and quantitative, when possible.
Levels of Inquiry (Scaffolding)
1. Confirmation
A typical chemistry lab: known procedure, results
2. Guided (Structured)
A chemistry lab where the results are unknown
3. Bounded
Use student-driven design/experiment/procedure
4. Open (Free)
Student identified problem, experiment, results
Levels of Inquiry - Example
The Egg Drop Activity:
Students must design and build
an egg drop device that will
protect their egg from cracking
after being dropped from a
height of X meters.
Levels of Inquiry - Example
CONFIRMATION “INQUIRY”:
- Drop the egg by itself
- Drop the egg with lots of
protection
- Ask students for
‘observations’
- Generally a ‘Demonstration’
vs Engaging Activity
Levels of Inquiry - Example
STRUCTURED INQUIRY:
- Give the students the problem
(protect the egg)
- Give them a set of materials
and procedure for designing a
specific device
- All students build the same
model, or different variations
- Defined reporting – handout
or questions, drawings, etc.
Levels of Inquiry - Example
BOUNDED INQUIRY:
- Give the students the problem
(protect the egg)
- Instead of giving them all
materials, give them a budget
and option to buy different
quantities
- No set of guidelines for building
device (perhaps some rules, but
no procedure)
- Some defined reporting
procedure with student input
Levels of Inquiry - Example
FREE (OPEN) INQUIRY:
- Give the students the
problem (protect the egg)
- Allow students to use any
materials
- Any design, procedure
- Any evaluation and
reporting metrics
Inquiry Based Learning – How To
• Takes more time and planning, organization
• Must understand prior knowledge, ability to
think critically
– Mostly age-dependent – hard to do < 3rd grade
• Cross-Disciplinary Integration
– Easier to start with stories to introduce subjects,
problems, literacy component. Start discussions
early to get kids eased into the problem/scenario
– Museum of Science – Engineering is Elementary
Inquiry Based Learning – How To
• Inquiry = Art of questions
– Students asking teacher, fellow students
– Teachers asking students
• Techniques of Inquiry
– Questioning Strategies
• Defining: Who, What, When, Where
• Inquiring: Why, How
– Language Use
• “Who knows…” vs “Who thinks…”
Inquiry Based Learning – How To
• Analyzing Data and Experiment
• Reporting and Communicating Results
• Feedback
WHIRLYGIG ACTIVITY
• Objective: Each group should create a ‘whirlygig’
that will stay aloft the longest amount of time
when dropped from 2 meters
• In groups of 2, please work with your partner to
follow the instructions provided to you
• Varying ‘inquiry’ levels
• Work only with your partner
• You have 10 minutes to create and refine your
whirlygig model
• Test together at the end of 10 minute build
Whirlygigs – Feedback and Reflection
• How clear were your directions? Template(s)?
• What were your biggest challenges?
• Was it easy? Difficult? Why?
• How could your experience have been
improved?
Adapting Inquiry Activities:
Extending Kits and Labs
• Many labs, experiments, and activities can be
adapted and modified to include varying levels
inquiry based learning and engineering.
Sometimes, it can be difficult for a teacher to
understand how they can integrate
engineering concepts into their curriculum.
Here are some examples:
Adapting Inquiry Activities:
Extending Kits and Labs
• Integrating Inquiry and Engineering:
– Adding Costs, Budgets
– Introducing Materials or limiting them
– Quantifying Results, Data Analysis
– Introducing Social, Environmental, Political,
Economic concerns, consequences, etc.
– Widening scope of problem, procedure
• Extensions and investigations for further consideration
• Try to assess interests, possible directions for futher
investigation
Adapting Inquiry Activities:
Extending Kits and Labs
• Many teachers and schools/districts use kit-based
activities (FOSS and STC)
• Kits are predefined – procedures, solutions, etc. Most
are ‘confirmation’ inquiry (i.e. not inquiry at all)
Adapting Inquiry Activities:
Extending Kits and Labs
• Revise the procedure – leave some parts open
• Add investigations for further exploration (after completing the kit
version)
• Use the kit’s content to garner questions from students, confusing topics,
etc.
– Develop extension activities/investigations based on responses from
students and evaluation of content learned (does it meet the goals?
More work needed?)
• Define new variables, or remove some
• Add budgets, material costs
• Integrate ethics questions
• Include data collection, analysis, and reporting
• Integrate real-world issues that connect to the topic
Investigating a FOSS Kit
• With a partner, review the FOSS curriculum
guide and activity.
• After you understand the activity and learning
goals, determine some ways in which you
could adapt inquiry into the activity.
• Consider ways to introduce the activity, frame
it (to real-world applications), modify it, and
any possible extensions.