Inquiry Based Learning

The process skills approach to teaching is defined as the educator helping children develop science skills and processes to confidently undertake their own investigations (Campbell, 2012). These skills are developed through: communicating, science language, asking questions, making sense of phenomena, predicting, modelling, conducting investigations, planning, testing, observing, reasoning, and drawing conclusions of science concepts (Campbell, 2012). When the educator assist children’s learning, it is important to put the emphasis on the nature of science and scientific concepts. Guided discovery approach to teaching requires the educator to ask effective questions that encourage children to explore and extend their investigations throughout science learning (Campbell, 2012). This can be developed through play experiences as children explore their world around them. An interactive approach to teaching children is based on questions that lead explorations and the educators to provide essential resources to guide these explorations (Campbell, 2012). It is the educators’ responsibility to support children’s development, ideas, questions, ways of thinking, and develop scientific thinking. Furthermore, an inquiry approach to teaching relates to children investigating the answers to their own

The Chinese Proverb, “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”, applies to the 21st century skills that students need to have to meet the global challenges. Inquiry is a process of active learning that is driven by questioning and critical thinking. The understandings that students develop through inquiry are deeper and longer lasting than any pre-packaged knowledge delivered by teachers to students. Inquiry-based learning follows a process that progresses through phases, but is recursive and reflective throughout (Library of Congress n.d). Furthermore,

“The more typical view of learning resembles the mental equivalent of consumerism: the more knowledge we acquire, the better 'educated' we think we are. But as some of the leading researchers and practitioners in the field have observed, such education 'focuses more on memorization and static answers rather than on the art of seeking new possibilities through dynamic questioning.' Instead of teaching students 'how to ask powerful

This research article analysis is over the article Undergraduate student researchers, preferred learning styles, and basic science research: A winning combination which is published in the Clearing House Journal and written by Lori Woeste and Beverly Barham. This article can also be found in Week One Electronic Reserve Readings. In this analysis a summary of the article will be provided, the type of information discussed in the article will be given, as well as if the information in this article should be considered reliable and valid.

The benefits of constructivism for teachers and learners, in an ideal setting include focusing on students allowing students the time and opportunity to investigate big ideas, and along the way helping them to understand concepts and skills, rather than just memorizing and regurgitating facts or ideas. Constructivism engages students’ natural curiosities to help them find answers to the questions inherent in their minds (Constructivism). Intrinsic motivation would be expected to be high when students are provided the freedom to choose their course of learning and given the time to investigate until questions are answered.

This assignment is a case study of a child’s engagement, inquiry skills and understanding of physical or chemical understandings. There are two parts to the assignment that build to the final case study report. Part A is to design a science inquiry activity suitable for engaging a child at junior primary with physical or chemical science understandings that uses materials like water, sand, ball or tubes. At the next, it is needed to figure out how the planned inquiry activity links to the Australian Curriculum and the early Years Learning Framework. This report also needs to explain and justify the learning theory that underpins the activity and the proposed teaching and learning approach. At the last

Educators and scholars draw upon data from many sources and on different subjects to illuminate current issues and trends in educational institutions. These subjects may include data from demography, health, education, culture and environment as well as government institutions and national databases. Educators and scholars use various research methods to collect, analyse and critique their findings to support or refute the topic of inquiry they are undertaking. Many researchers will commonly use the published data of others in the same manor to reinforce/support or counter argue their standing in a subject area.

Scientific-based instruction is something that teachers use all the time in their classroom. Teachers are consistently assessing and evaluating students’ performance, creating and amending individual education plans, lesson plans, and reflecting on their practices. As teachers, we should be doing rigorous research and building hypothesis to base further teaching practices on.

Although the hands-on learning approach requires a great deal of preparation time, once students have adjusted to the teaching method, the learning process becomes an enjoyable experience for both the teacher and the students (Berk, 1999). When teachers make use of hands-on activities to illustrate concepts in mathematics and science, students perform better on assessments in these subjects because their level of thinking and curiosity increase as a result of their active participation in the learning process (Wenglinsky, 2000).

Before this class began, I thought of myself as a person who tended to lean towards science as fact-based and found it hard to believe in some philosophical and religious claims that were not backed up by experimentation and evidence. Five weeks later, my views haven’t changed drastically, but have instead been developed and broadened. I now understand the importance of the philosophy of science and why philosophy and science should be interconnected. The need to question things that may appear to be factual is something I now consider more than ever crossed my mind before this course.

As part of the science curriculum, it is mandatory to introduce the concept of enquiry through experiments and investigations. The practical element of science promotes the idea that children need to develop a certain level of scientific enquiry through a wide range of activities suggests, Cross and Bowden (2014). Some examples of scientific enquiry can range from; nature walks in order to observe the numerous mini beasts amongst the school

* Inquiry-based instruction is a student-centered and teacher-guided instructional approach that engages students in investigating real world questions that they choose within a broad thematic framework.

Science is, by its nature, inquiry based and science knowledge is built through processes in which discoveries of the natural world are made (Abruscato, 2000). It utilizes discovery and scientific thinking process to explore and learn knowledge and skills. Learning by doing is the new efficient method in teaching science. For kindergarten, this method leads to better understanding of science concepts and builds skills that children will use in future life .What a child can do with assistance now, they can later do on their own (Vygotsky, 1978). John Dewey (1916) stated that children must be engaged in an active quest for learning and new ideas. Inquiry is important in educating kindergarteners because it not only keeps them interested in lessons but also helps them retain more information when performing exploration and investigation. Children are naturally motivated to learn and actively seek out information to help their understanding (Piaget, 1950).The success of students who participate in hands- on inquiry activities suggests that if students have first hands experience with science, concepts are easier to understand and apply and students are generally more favorable to science and have better understanding of the nature of science .Within a conceptual framework, inquiry learning and active learner involvement can lead to important outcomes in the classroom. In kindergarten, students who are actively making observations, collecting results and drawing

The main responsibility of a nurse is to offer a various range of health care services which includes provision of health education, prevention against disease, promotion of health condition and treatment of acute illness. (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) They are expected to perform a wide range of clinical skills for saving patients’ lives and this requires student nurses to have solid foundation in their learnings. The problem-based learning is defined as the learning that develops from the process of working towards the solution of a given problem (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) and its learning approach has been the focus in the nursing education for student nurses’ academic curriculum. This essay argues that problem-based learning and self-directed learning help student nurses to develop critical thinking skills and problem solving competency. The essay also explains that both learning approaches develop student nurses to become effective team collaborators with good communication skills, which will make them grown and achieve higher in professional nursing career. Moreover, it describes how problem-based learning aids student nurses to develop their self-directed learning skills and empowers them to adopt to changes in the workplace and health care practices.

As stated by Calhoun, Joyce, and Weil, “Inquiry training originated in a belief in the development of independent learners; its method requires active participation in scientific inquiry” (p. 176). This paper will look to acquaint the reader with the goals and assumptions of the inquiry training model. This paper will then give an example of its use.