Please sit in groups of four. Please sit in front of a colored card

Please sit in groups of four.

Please sit in front of a colored card.

Guided Inquiry in Mathematics

Joan Zoellner, jzoellner@clark.eduGarrett Gregor, ggregor@clark.edu

S014

What is Guided Inquiry Learning?

• A classroom technique that seeks to teach both content and key process skills, including analytical thinking, collaborative learning, and internalizing new material.

• We learned about Guided Inquiry through participation in the NSF funded project called POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning; www.pogil.org)

Why use Guided Inquiry Learning?

• Based on research indicating that: teaching by telling does not work for

most students. students who are part of an interactive

community are more likely to be successful.

knowledge is personal; students learn more when they construct their own understanding.

What does a class look like?

• Instructor as facilitator, not lecturer.• Students work through a carefully-

designed activity in organized groups of 3 or 4.

• Students use data or information (presented as “models”) to answer questions - which guide them toward development of the concepts.

The Guided Inquiry CycleGuided Inquiry activity design is based on the Three-Stage Learning Cycle:

KARPLUS AND THIER, A New Look at Elementary School Science, CHICAGO: RAND MCNALLY (1967).PIAGET, J. J. Res. Sci. Teach. 1964, 2, 176.

Group member rolesManager (Pink)Job Description:• Make sure the group remains focused

during the entire activity.• Reads the model and each question out

loud• Takes care of time management.• Makes sure all voices in the group are

heard.

Group member rolesPresenter (Blue)Job Description:• Communicates group questions and

clarifications with the teacher or other groups.

• Presents conclusions of the group to the class, as requested.

• May be asked to represent work verbally or on the board.

Group member rolesRecorder (Yellow)Job Description:• Guides consensus-building process; group

must agree on responses to questions.

• Is the official record-keeper.

Group member rolesReflector (Green)Job Description:• Observes group dynamics and behavior

with respect to the learning process, using report format.

• Reports to the group periodically during the activity on how the group performs.

Key Process Skills•Communication.•Collaboration with others. •Critical thinking.•Problem solving.•Students reflect on the effectiveness of the group. •Rotate the roles every day.

The Facilitator’s Role• Wanders the class: checks and observes

work.• Anticipate learning issues that might arise,

and have a plan for dealing with them.Reporting out, Leading questions, Mini-

lectures• Adapt to events that occur in class. • Ensure that the class is engaged.• Promote effective group behaviors.

Your Turn!You will be working on a Guided Inquiry activity entitled “Introduction to Limits”

Goal: Get through Summary Box L1.1: Infinite Limits

by 9:45Calculus I: A Guided Inquiry.Straumanis, A. et al. Lancaster, PA: The POGIL Project; New York: Wiley, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-118-87748-7

Common Issues

• Students who are concerned that “the teacher isn’t teaching – I have to learn everything on my own.”

• Students who come to class unprepared.

• Students who lack the necessary pre-requisite knowledge.

Common Issues

• Students who don’t like working in groups (or have difficulty).

• Students who try to dominate all group interactions.

How do students benefit?

• Students practice the skills needed to work in groups in the real world.

• Students develop a deeper conceptual understanding of the content.

How do students benefit?

• Students see that learning is a growth activity – it is neither necessary nor expected that everyone understands everything immediately

Student Feedback

• “Helping others learn something (even teaching it) strengthens my understanding and helps affirm it in my mind.”

• “We were able to discover how things happened and why for ourselves ... instead of being told.”

Student Feedback

• “It was hugely beneficial to discuss through ideas as we were learning them; this way it was easy to immediately identify problem areas and work them out before going on.”

How do faculty benefit?

• The responsibility for “knowing math” is shared with students.

• Students move away from the expectation that the instructor will act as a “solutions manual”.

How do faculty benefit?

• Students often provide alternative methods and explanations that can clarify the concepts for themselves and classmates.

More Resources

• Inquiry-Based Learning workshophttp://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/

• Introduction to Inquiry Based learning http://www.teachinquiry.com/index/Introduction.html

• https://pogil.org/• Guidedinquiry.org