Inquiry-based Teaching
vs. Direct Instruction:
Should they be done in isolation?
Saima Naureen
and
Kay Jeffery
Edu. 7201T Fall 2010
Table of Contents
Introduction
• Statement of the Problem
• Literature Review
• Statement of the Hypothesis
Statement of the
Problem
• There exists research done by professional educators and
theorists who posit statements and provide evidence in
support of both the inquiry method and direct instruction
method of teaching science.
• Private school X, located in New York City urban area, has
been implementing the direct method of teaching for years.
This method has not resulted in significant improvement in
the children’s Stanford Examination test scores. It was
noted that the children also become teacher dependent.
• We strongly feel that merging an inquiry-based curriculum
with the direct instruction strategy should help to improve
the student’s performance and foster an independent
learning style.
Literature Review
• Theorists who inspired researchers and
practitioners to adapt inquiry-based method of
teaching/learning are John Dewey, Piaget,
Montessori, and Bruner (Vandervoor, 1983; Glassman,
2001; Chiapetta & Collette 1973; Hohloch, J. M., et. al., 2007; AlSabbagh, S., 2009; Qablan, A., et. al., 2009).
• Theorists who inspired practitioners to adapt
content oriented curricula that embrace the
direct instruction method of teaching are
Skinner and Thorndike
(Skinner, 1967).
Literature Review (cont’d)
• Theorist who inspired researchers and
practitioners to adapt both inquiry-based
and direct instruction methods of teaching
is Vygotsky (Glassman, 2001).
• Other researchers who advocate using
both methods simultaniously are Chiapetta &
Collette, 1973; Poon, C., et. al., 2009; Marshall, J. A., 2000;
Oliveria, A. W., 2009; Robertson, B., 2007.
Statement of the
Hypothesis
• We hypothesize that the group that
is taught using both methods – the
inquiry and the direct instruction
methods – will achieve greater
performance and more independence
in learning than the other two groups.