Based Learning 9: IBL — Inquiry-Based Learning

IBL: Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning (also enquiry-based learning in British English) starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios — rather than simply presenting established facts or portraying a smooth path to knowledge. The process is often assisted by a facilitator.

Why Inquiry:

1. Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand. Inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding.
2. An inquiry is seeking for truth, information, or knowledge — seeking information by questioning.
3. The process of inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the human senses — seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.
4. Facts change, and the information is readily available — what’s needed is an understanding of how to get and make sense of the mass of data.
5. The inquiry is not so much seeking the right answer — because often there is none — but rather seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues.
6. No one can ever learn everything, but everyone can better develop their skills and nurture the inquiring attitudes necessary to continue the generation and examination of knowledge throughout their lives.

Inquiry Components:

1. A question(s) related to the topic of inquiry to be explored (problem statement),
2. Followed by an investigation and gathering of information related to the question (data collection),
3. Continuing with a discussion of findings (analysis),
4. Commencing with a reflection on what was learned (implications/conclusion).

Inquiry Procedures:

1. The first step in any inquiry is the formulation of a question or set of questions related to the topic of inquiry. The question can be posed by the teacher or by the pupil(s). Sometimes the question is referred to as a hypothesis or a problem statement.
2. Once a question is posed, pupils are encouraged to investigate the topic by gathering information from sources that either the teacher provides or within learning resources or tools that are readily available to the pupils.
3. When enough information related to the topic of inquiry is gathered, it is organized in categories or outlined by highlighting the important information relative to the topic. This helps the pupil make connections with new learning and prior learning.
4. The information is discussed and analyzed for further understanding. The teacher can direct the discussion and highlight the implications that arise from the investigation and show how it relates to the solution of the problem.
5. Conclusions are made and related back to the original question. Student reflections are encouraged and serve as a way to relate back to the inquiry and retrace the steps that led to the conclusion. This also serves to reinforce the model so that pupils can repeat the process in any problem-solving situation.

Inquiry Levels:

1. Confirmation Inquiry: The teacher has taught a particular science theme or topic. The teacher then develops questions and a procedure that guides students through an activity where the results are already known. This method is great to reinforce concepts taught and to introduce students into learning to follow procedures, collect and record data correctly and to confirm and deepen understandings.
2. Structured Inquiry: The teacher provides the initial question and an outline of the procedure. Students are to formulate explanations of their findings through evaluating and analyzing the data that they collect.
3. Guided Inquiry: The teacher provides only the research question for the students. The students are responsible for designing and following their own procedures to test that question and then communicate their results and findings.
4. Open/True Inquiry: Students formulate their own research question(s), design and follow through with a developed procedure, and communicate their findings and results. This type of inquiry is often seen in science fair contexts where students drive their own investigative questions.

Inquiry Benefits:

1. Learners direct their learning in a way that is similar to how science happens in real-world situations.
2. Students are able to identify their own areas of inquiry and engage in hands-on learning using science process skills to seek information.
3. This results in increased ownership of learning and enhanced critical thinking skills while creating a culture that values learners’ ideas.

Facilitator’s Role:

1. Reflect on the purpose and makes plans for inquiry learning.
2. Facilitate classroom learning.
3. Serve primarily as a resource for the students.
4. Guide the students through the learning process.
5. Establish content-based parameters for learning objectives, and then allow students to direct their own learning.
6. A co-learner with the students as they engage with real-world questions.
7. Provoke additional inquiry of the questions presented by the student.

Learner’s Role:

1. View themselves as learners in the process of learning.
2. Accept an “invitation to learn” and willingly engage in an exploration process.
3. Raise questions, propose explanations, and use observations.
4. Plan and carry out learning activities.
5. Communicate using a variety of methods.
6. Critique their learning practices.
7. Direct their own learning within the parameters set by the facilitator.
8. Work in groups and learn from each other.

Inquiry Challenges:

1. Time-Consuming — More intense learning process
2. Messy — More authentic replication of real-world situations
3. Loud and Chaotic — Students are more engaged
4. Unpredictable — More meaningful teachable moments

Inquiry Outcomes:

1. Useful knowledge about the natural and human-designed worlds.
2. How are these worlds organized?
3. How do they change?
4. How do they interrelate?
5. How do we communicate about, within, and across these worlds?

Resources to Implement IBL:

1. Edmodo: https://spotlight.edmodo.com/product/based-learning-9-ibl-inquiry-based-learning--388085/
2. Edweb: http://home.edweb.net/webinar/inquiry-based-learning-gen-z-student/
3. Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/topic/inquiry-based-learning
4. 4-H: Targeting Life Skills: https://spotlight.edmodo.com/product/4-h-targeting-life-skills--388057/
5. 10 Tips for Inquiry-Based Learning:https://spotlight.edmodo.com/product/10-tips-for-inquiry-based-learning--388077/
6. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u84ZsS6niPc