Guided Inquiry @ Work:
Insights from AIS Research
Project
Dr Ross J Todd
Director, Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries
Professor, School of Communication & Information
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
rtodd@rutgers.edu
www.cissl.rutgers.edu
www.twitter.com/RossJTodd
Todd 1 and Todd 2
Panama Canal
Macchu Pichu
Bucharesti, Romania
What was
Nicolae
Ceaușescu
thinking?
Vatnajökull Ice Cap, Iceland
“We set sail on this sea because there is knowledge
to be gained” (J. F. Kennedy)
The Importance of the Teaching Role
Quality teachers and quality teaching as the most
important influence on student learning
Meta-analyses of educational research shows that the
most significant impacts on achievement are:
the role of teacher and quality of instruction;
developing a supportive learning environment
engaging students in discovery, inquiry, thinking and
knowledge building
(Prof John Hattie, Auckland University: Effect Sizes
http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/RC2003_Hattie_TeachersMakeADifference.pdf)
What did you do at school today?
Willms, J. D., Friesen, S. & Milton,
P. (2009).
What did you do in school today?
Transforming classrooms through
social, academic, and
intellectual engagement. (First
National Report) Toronto:
Canadian Education Association.
© Canadian Education Association
2009
INTELLECTUAL
ENGAGEMENT
AT HEART OF
QUALITY
TEACHING
Australian Government Quality Teacher
Program
Taking Professional Standards into Practice
• Innovation in learning and teaching
• Instructional interventions underpinned by research
• Effective utilisation of the information and
technological landscape
• Connected, shared learning – for teachers and
students
• Evidence-based practices
• Collaborative teams
What do you want your school library to
do?
The school library is the school’s physical and
virtual learning commons where inquiry, thinking,
imagination, discovery, and creativity are central to
students’ information-to-knowledge journey, and to
their personal, social and cultural growth.

The Pedagogy
A Framework For Meaningful
Research In School Libraries and
the Information Universe:
Building on Evidence
The learning process?
Prof Carol Kuhlthau
Information-to-Knowledge Journey
Information Search Process Carol Kuhlthau
Tasks
Initiation Selection Exploration Formulation Collection Presentation Evaluation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feelings uncertainly optimism confusion
(affective)
frustration
doubt
clarity
sense of
satisfaction or
direction/ disappointment
confidence
Thoughts vague----------------------------------------→focused
(cognitive)
----------------------------------------------→
increased interest
Actions seeking relevant information-------------------------------→seeking pertinent information
(physical)
exploring
documenting
Zone of Intervention: the critical point / need for instruction
GUIDED INQUIRY
EVIDENCE – BASED PRACTICE
Guided Inquiry AIS Project Goals
• To understand the dynamics of developing and
implementing collaborative Guided Inquiry units, based
on the Information Search Process model: learning,
instructional, collaborative
• To track and understand how students build on their
existing knowledge of a curriculum topic and how their
knowledge of a topic changes in the context of a
collaborative guided inquiry unit;
• To examine the transformation and integration of found
information into existing knowledge, and the creation of
new personal knowing, and reflective processes
• To use some school-based tools for measuring and
charting knowledge development
The Participating Schools
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Abbotsleigh
Broughton Anglican College
Loreto Kirribilli
Newington College
Northholm Grammar School
Queenwood School for Girls
Roseville College
Santa Sabina College – Senior and Junior
St. Luke’s Grammar School
St. Paul’s Grammar School
St. Vincent’s College
Wenona
Scope of Research
• Most projects were in Years 7-10.
– 8 in History, 1 in English, 1 in PDHPE (us), 2 in Geography, and 1 in
Science.
– Two primary schools participated – Year 5 Geography, Year 4
Science
– Most developed new units of work for the project, some used
existing ones, adding Guided Inquiry scaffolding on.
– The number of lessons the projects took varied from Year long to 9
lessons – however, all had significant teaching input from teachers
and teacher librarians
– The number of classes the GI project ran through varied from
whole form to 1 class – with one class being much easier to
administrate in terms of the SLIM Toolkit.
– Total Number of students and educators
involved:
34 teachers, 18 teacher-librarians & 935 students
Examples of Research Tasks
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Historical Fiction
Ancient Egypt
Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing
Geographical disasters
Australia between the wars
Solar System
Medieval life
• Use of the Information Search Process (Kuhlthau) as
the instructional design framework
Instructional Planning: Roseville
Guided Inquiry Stage
INITIATION
SELECTION
Potential Instructional Interventions
(Including IT )
Introduce research project. Hand out process folders and discuss
how process is included in final assessment.
Discuss the Information Search Process acknowledging emotional
part of research.
Do Reflection Sheet 1.
Students to read widely for background knowledge, and possible
areas to investigate.
Interventions:

Help locate books on shelves

Online databases on Rosenet
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Questia as a source of information
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State Library databases

Individual discussion with students on possible areas of
interest
EXPLORATION
Students continue to research for background knowledge.
Interventions
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Note-taking
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Bibliographies
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Evaluating resources
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Annotated bibliography
FORMULATION
Students formulate “big question”.
Interventions
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Meaningful questions
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Higher level thinking skills
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Individual discussions on potential questions to investigate
COLLECTION
Students engaged in research. Starting to think about presentation.
Interventions
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Individual help to refine question
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Individual help with research
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Individual help with note-taking
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Reminder about bibliographies
Students to complete Reflection Sheet 2.
Evidence Strategies / Assessment (Formative / Summative;
informal, formal
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Folders containing assessment task sheets including
rubrics and templates
Research River powerpoint
Reflection Sheet 1
Building background knowledge template
Constructing meaningful choices sheet
E-jazz template from Loertscher, David V. et al. Ban
those bird units: 15 models for teaching and learning in
information-rich and technology-rich environments. Salt
Lake City: Hi Willow, 2005.
Blank E-jazz template adapted from Loertscher, David
V. et al. Ban those bird units: 15 models for teaching
and learning in information-rich and technology-rich
environments. Salt Lake City: Hi Willow, 2005. p20
Templates on Rosenet
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Notemaking scaffold
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Link to Citation Maker
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ABCDE scaffold for evaluation
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Building thinking questions scaffold
Bloom’s taxonomy revised sheet
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Organizer scaffold
Analyse scaffold
Assess scaffold
Compare and contrast scaffold adapted from Loertscher,
David V. et al. Ban those bird units: 15 models for
teaching and learning in information-rich and
Broughton College: Ancient Egypt
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2. Act:
TL – construct wiki using PBwiki software. Design home page and upload research plan for students to
follow – including assessment guidelines
TL - Teach class about ethical use of a wiki and skills to make their own wiki page – downloading and
uploading files etc
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Using The Information Search Process framework:
Initiation: Immerse students in general information about the topic using videos, books and websites so
students can select their personal areas of interest - Selection
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Exploration: Students search for information and read widely in their chosen area
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Formulation: Students required to compose a Big Question reflecting the depth of the upper three levels
of Blooms Taxonomy (available on wiki) Class teacher (subject specialist) and TL assist in the
composition of questions - Intervention
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Collection: Students compose a wiki page of the answer to their question – guidance and relevant
scaffolds given to assist them – needs gauged from SLIM reflection sheets – TL or teacher intervention
given when needed
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Presentation: Students perform peer reviews (PQP). Each student assigned two wiki pages to review
that are not topic areas they have studied.
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Students combined their knowledge through discussion groups with ‘experts’ from separate areas of
knowledge in each group. Zing software was used to type answers to the BIG Question on the
whiteboard and saved for publication to the wiki home page.
•
Final Reflection sheet used for assessment of task and skills. Class teacher assesses BOS outcomes.
TL assesses GI process and ICT skills
Instructional Interventions
• Involved planning of instructional interventions to
initiate the unit on inquiry, help students select topics,
help them build their background knowledge, help them
develop their specific focus questions, to help students
analyse, synthesise, deal with conflicting knowledge,
develop arguments, and develop personal positions and
perspectives. SCAFFOLDING
• Involved an area of inquiry which allowed students
freedom to develop their own focus questions.
• All began with developing and using existing
background knowledge.
• Provided high quality resources for students, and
instruction in their use.
Instructional Features
• All focused on presence of teachers and teacher
librarians at each stage of the process to guide and
intervene, both in planned ways, and in unplanned ways
which arose out of information provided by students in
the SLIM Reflection Sheets. DIAGNOSTIC
• Focused on process more than product, and most did
not tell students what the product was to be until they
had passed the Collection phase of the Information
Search Process. PROCESS
• Gathered data from students at three points of the
Information Search Process - at Initiation, at Collection,
and at Assessment. EVIDENCE
Data Collection
• Student Learning through Inquiry Measure (SLIM)
SLIM Handbook
SLIM Reflection Instruments and Scoring Guidelines
SLIM Scoring Sheet
• http://cissl.rutgers.edu/impact_studies.html
Instructional Teams: Multiple Expertises
Flexible team approach;
alliances for shared learning
- Alliances within school
- Curriculum expertise
- Disciplinary expertise
- Information expertise
- Technical expertise
- Reading / Literacy expertise
- Special needs expertise
- Watchful Eye expertise
- Student expertise &
learning through students
From “A One-Man Band” to
“The Beat of Different Drums”
Student Planning: Explicit Project Management
Instructional Interventions
Predominant focus on complex knowledge building tasks
•
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To enable student’s progression from information to
knowledge and understanding
Not abandoned at the complex knowledge building stage
ie doing something with the found information)
Collection Stage
Three predominant types of instructional interventions:
1. Question formulation
2. Knowledge construction (analysis, argument,
perspective, position)
3. Critical thinking / reflection
Sharing of exemplars via wiki
Wiki
Enablers of Learning
• Instructional intervention: providing the intellectual
scaffolds for connecting with, interacting with and
utilizing information
• 3 kinds of scaffolds valued by students:
Reception Scaffolds: building a foundation for deep
knowledge: background knowledge as basis for
choice of topic and developing personal questions
• Transformation Scaffolds: assist learners in
transforming the information they've received into
some other form. This involves imposing structure on
information
• Production Scaffolds: assist learners in actually
producing something observable that conveys the
complexity and richness of what they have learned.
• Guided inquiry: not abandonment
• Modeling the process and Feedback
Scaffolds
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Guided Inquiry at work planning sheet - CISSL
Research river PPT - Loreto/Barker
The Research Clock – Queenwood
Building background - Loreto/Ban the birds
Developing Questions using Blooms and Goldilocks – Abbotsleigh
Blooms and Goldilocks - Abbotsleigh
Creating questions – Abbotsleigh
Creating Questions with Blooms – Anderson and Krathwohl
Question development – Queenwood
Initial question development – Santa Sabina
Building thinking questions – Santa Sabina
Notetaking scaffold 1 – Loreto
Notetaking scaffold 2 – Loreto
Notetaking scaffold 3 - Loreto
Notetaking scaffold 4 – Santa Sabina
Notetaking practice – Santa Sabina
Synthesis – Developing deep perspectives – Santa Sabina
Synthesis – Analyse – Queenwood
Synthesis – Assess – Queenwood
Synthesis – Compare – Queenwood
Synthesis – Critically analyse – Queenwood.
Intext citation – Loreto
Bibliographies - Loreto
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Primary:
Curiosity scaffold – Santa Sabina
KWL chart – Santa Sabina
Topic Selection
Topics of interest to
me
Intriguing factors
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Rank your topics on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 = of little interest; 5 = very
interesting)
Circle your two most interesting topics
Explain your choice in your conference with your class teacher /
teacher-librarian
Positives
Negatives
Rank 15
Building Background Knowledge
Year 9 PDHPE - Aboriginal Health and Well Being Guided Inquiry
Building background knowledge statement
Your group:
This assignment starts off with what you already know about aboriginal health. Please fill that in here.
What do we already
know about Aboriginal
Health?
Next you will watch a selection of Click view videos, have a guest speaker, as well as doing some broad background searching on aboriginal health. Add to the chart that
follows as you find out more about the state of Aboriginal health in Australia. Please keep your information very general at this stage.
That’s interesting…..
We didn’t know that….
Question Formulation
Skinny questions
Fat questions
Understanding questions
Show, list, name, how many? What?
Wondering questions
distinguish, analyse, compare,
why?
Deciding questions
Explain, describe, identify, outline,
what? Who?
Persuading questions
Connect, design, reorganize, how?
Figuring out questions
Collect, demonstrate, classify, how?
Predicting questions
Predict, judge, interpret, assess,
what if?
Inventing questions
How could I? What would happen if?
Knowledge Building Scaffolds
Compare Scaffold – Santa Sabina
Issue to be compared:
Similarities
Point:
Elaboration and support:
Point:
Elaboration and support:
Point:
Elaboration and support:
Differences
Point:
Elaboration and support:
Point:
Elaboration and support:
Point:
Elaboration and support:
Conclusion and judgement:
Points to note:
Identify the things to be compared
from the question.
Preview each point you will raise.
Topic sentence at the beginning of
each point followed by explanation
and relevant examples to illustrate
point.
Use linking words between each
point such as: also, in addition
similarly, another similarity is”.
“For instance”, “This can be seen in”,
“An example of this is” and “for
example” can be used to start
sentences that provide examples for
your points.
Must make a judgement related to
the similarities and differences in the
topic.
Broughton College: Question JigSaw
Data Collection
Initiation, Focus and Presentation stages SLIM Toolkit (Student
Learning Through Inquiry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Write the title that best describes your research project at this
time.
Take some time to think about your research topic. Now write
down what you know about this topic.
What interests you about this topic?
How much do you know about this topic? Check () one box
that best matches how much you know. Nothing, Not much,
Some, Quite a bit and A great deal
Write down what you think is EASY about researching your topic.
Write down what you think is DIFFICULT about researching your
topic.
Write down how you are FEELING now about your project. Check
() only the boxes that apply to you. Confident, Disappointed,
Relieved, Frustrated, Confused, Optimistic, Uncertain, Satisfied,
Anxious or Other.
Task 3: easy, difficult, reflections on learning
Did they learn anything?
• Each school showed substantial growth to deep
knowledge (as evidenced by number of explanations),
while the number of facts remained high. In fact, the
majority of students at all schools continued to express
their knowledge as facts. The language of the facts
changed to accommodate greater knowledge of deeper
aspects of the topic
• It was interesting that Abbotsleigh had the strongest
growth to explanations and conclusions. This was the
only project that went for a whole year, and was the one
that had by far the greatest freedom for students to
develop their own area of interest arising out of reading
any historical fiction.
• Metalanguage – specificity of technical vocabulary
Achievements of AIS Project
• Doing quality research is simply hard work – on part of
teaching teams and students
• Provides insights into own habits of minds and
potential for adapting personal approaches to learning
• Increased awareness of teachers and students of
importance of staged process to research.
• Teacher appreciation of design of task influences how
students approach an assignment.
• Rich insights into the intellectual journey of students:
cognitions, behaviours, feelings
• Valuing of staged approach and formative assessment
along the journey; instructional support not
abandonment in the name of “independent learning”
Achievements of AIS Project
• Interest level high in all schools: hard work – teachers
viewed process as informing and empowering their
teaching
• Interest / motivation maintained across project, with
clear dip at second response, in line with ISP research
• Question negotiation: ownership, interest, motivation
• Excellent range of research questions; Strong evidence
for the rewarding nature for students of choosing an
area of interest and their own question.
• Clear link between process and quality of product
• Excellent final products created with much less
plagiarism than usual: depth rather than superficiality
of knowledge
Achievements
• Development of disciplinary knowledge: intellectual
quality and intellectual agency (mastery of information
competencies)
• Complexity of knowledge building: struggle to narrow
broad topics and develop deep focus questions;
Complexity of question formulation; challenge to craft
arguments; conclusions, positions – growth evident
• Student valuing of information structures: support to
help analysing and structuring information /
arguments / conclusions
• Students less concerned than usual with grades
• Recognition that this is not achievable fully in just one
unit
• Finding that GI methods do not need whole new unit to
be developed - can be incorporated into existing ones
Achievements
• Excellent basis on which to build the substantial independent
research projects in senior subjects.
• Collaborative partnerships – shared expertise, learning from
one another; mutuality of intent
• Understanding how the SLIM reflection sheets can be used
both for guiding interventions with students on an individual
and group basis, and as an individual diagnostic tool for
formative assessment.
• Further development of students’ love of reading
• Students valuing individual feedback - most positive
experience; Student appreciation of being asked to reflect on
their process of research;
• Understanding how reflection sheets allowed for design of
interventions from teachers and TL.
• Raising awareness of scholarly databases, such as Questia
• Instructional teams gained knowledge of the process of
effective research and now feels confident to lead the school in
the Guided Inquiry approach.
Students have difficulty ..
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Developing focus questions (absence of building
background knowledge)
Finding the "right" information targeted to focus –
looking for the “right answer”
Taking notes - link found with poor notetaking and
plagiarism
Synthesising information: putting information
together, developing arguments, conclusions
Acknowledging sources
Interest dip at Formulation stage
Difficulties
Abbotsleigh: Percentage of students experiencing
difficulties:
• 54% - finding good websites
• 42% - finding a variety of sources
• 25% - choosing relevant, reliable, accurate information
• 64% - making notes and plagiarism
• 40% - synthesizing information, creating a product
• 24% - formulating a bibliography
Queenswood:
• Developing an appropriate question, analyzing and
assessing information, and translating information into
appropriate product.
• (Notetaking/synthesis)
• Students think they find skills of locating and organizing
easy until their question is such that it cannot be copied
Difficulties: Working Diagnostically
Roseville:
• Many found difficulty with applying information in critical thinking and
problem solving but did not always acknowledge that in the reflection
sheets ( 5.4% said this was easy to do, 8.9% said it was hard to do and
8.9% said they learnt how to do it during the project.
• Only 1.8% of students said they could distinguish between fact and
opinion and identify misleading information.
Santa Sabina:
• Developing questions
• Searching for specific information,
• Notetaking – using scaffold provided, which precluded cutting and
pasting.
Wenona:
• Substantial number of students still found it difficult to organize all the
information – i.e. notetake and synthesise into a product.
Reflections: Students
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Question formulating was difficult and required a lot of thinking and
deliberating.
I was very interested in my topic, it made me think what life was like
back then. I want to read more about my topic.
These skills have come in handy for some of my other projects.
This project has helped me to acknowledge and use other sources
such as documentaries, books and encyclopedias
I saw the value of multiple sources to cross check information for
reliability
Before this task, I was very uncomfortable taking notes. After the
library lesson on it, I felt that I knew the method but needed practice.
Taking notes from multiple books, videos and websites really
improved this skill.
Some things I liked about this project was the independence I was
given and the support when it was needed. No one made decisions for
me and although this was hard, it made me think.
That making summaries and writing a range of notes before diving
straight into the final project helps to eliminate some of those
overwhelming and stressed feelings.
I learnt to at least TRY using different methods of study. I usually only
ever user the internet as a method of research, but during this project I
tried using books.
I know it’s weird. I usually hate research but I’ve loved researching this
topic and I’ve learnt so much.
Reflections: Students
• But what do we have to hand in? I can’t start until I know.
• I loved making up my own questions. (This) made me more
comfortable with what I was researching.
• The process took too long because I was capable of doing it on my
own.
• Research is fun
• The thing you have to know before you start researching is if you are
interested in the topic of not. And if you are not, you will not make a
big effort to find the information you want. So, always choose a topic
that you are interested in!...
• Research takes time and patience
• That you don’t have to use all the information you collect.
• That instead of just writing down the facts you also need to elaborate
and interpret it.
• I learnt that having a choice of topic meant that I had freedom and
individuality. I enjoyed this because I was able to work on something
no-one else did. More of this type of work would be good.
• I learnt the process of doing the assignment is just as important as
the final product.
• I learnt that the library is a great place to go to study and learn, as
it’s a great working environment.
Student reflections
• “I now understand that I need to search for very specific
information which answers my question rather than
finding general information like we usually do”.
• “Finding information was easy because I knew what to
look for.”
• “Having different steps to take made it easy”
• “Going through all the process was time consuming. I
didn’t like it”
• “All the steps were very time consuming but I can see
how important they are now”
• “It was easy because we didn’t have to do it on our own”
• “Help from the teacher librarians made it easy”
• “It was good that we were allowed to bother the teachers
if we didn’t know something.”
Reflections: teachers
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Guided inquiry enabled the staff to experience student research where
the process was more important than the product.
•
The project encouraged me to develop new approaches in developing
critical thinking skills for the students. These skills enabled students
to access information in greater depth… interventions have allowed
students to progress, unblocking their progress.
•
Whilst not being a practical tool for all learners, or groups, it does
offer an alternative that virtually guarantees …. student engagement,
‘deep learning” and the promotion of ‘independent lifelong learning’
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I had no idea process was so important.
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I’ve heard some staff members talk about how good it has been. Yes
please, it will be brilliant for my Geography students next year!
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The development of the students in setting questions, thinking about
the period (of history) and interacting with their peers and the teachers
was a joy to witness. The growth in the students was clearly visible
even though at times they could not see this.
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Focus on deep knowledge as opposed to “cut and paste” learning and
the importance of students constructing their own knowledge are
crucial aspects of the project.
Reflections: Teacher Librarians
• This project enabled me to understand the
relevance of seeking feedback, via the SLIM
Toolkit, from students at critical stages of the
information search process, in order to
strategically develop instructional interventions
without which students are unable to proceed
with the research. I was able to document the
changes that have occurred in both the
student’s amount of knowledge and the
substance of that knowledge. …..Students often
reflect a sense of abandonment in the research
process. In future I will feel confident to
intervene at the critical stages.
Teaching as a Subversive Activity
“One you have learned how to ask
relevant and appropriate
questions, you have learned how
to learn and no one can keep you
from learning whatever you want
or need to know”
Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner