Inquiry-Based Learning

Using a Concept Driven Curriculum

Our Challenge for Learning in the 21st-Century

We want students to:• Find problems• Integrate knowledge from multiple subjects, sources and

media• Think critically (analyze, synthesize, evaluate)• Collaborate with peers, local and global communities• Learn how to learn - become life-long learners• Become responsible citizens (develop and instill core

values, moral intelligence)• Become globally-minded

Traditional Conception of curriculum

A traditional design of curriculum emphasizes the lower cognitive levels (knowledge, comprehension)

centering around topics and related facts. It engages students no higher than the topic.

What is a concept-based curriculum?

• A concept is an idea that is timeless, abstract, broad and can be shown through a variety of examples.

• Examples of a concept: Power, Change, Identity, Perspective, Conflict, Time, Waste

• Examples of the concept ‘CHANGE’ can be found in social studies(historical events), science (erosion, energy resources), literature (characters), health (puberty), math (ways of representing numbers)

Changing the Focus• We need to change the focus of curriculum and instruction from teaching topics to

‘using topics’ to teach and assess deeper conceptual understanding.

• Concept knowledge transfers across time and cultures. It provides a conceptual structure for thinking about related and new ideas. It is a lifelong developmental process.

• Conceptual understanding requires higher-level integrative thinking skills that need to be taught systematically through all levels of schooling. Integrated thinking is the ability to insightfully draw patterns and connections between related facts, ideas and examples,

and to synthesize information at a conceptual level. • As students progress through the grades, they build conceptual structures in the brain as

they relate new experiences and knowledge to past learning.

Erickson, H. Lynn(2002) Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. Teaching Beyond the facts. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, California pp 7-8

Concept Maps

In the age of information overload, students need a mind map (graphic organizer) to pattern and sort information. Concept maps provide a way of organizing and connecting information.1. Start with a ‘concept’ or ‘central idea’2. Branch out from a more complex idea to a less

complex ideas. It often ends with an example.3. Use connecting lines and linking words to state the

relationship between the concepts.

Example of a Concept Map

Thematic Units vs. Structured InquiryThematic Units Structured Inquiry

•Activity dominated

•Teacher in charge, pre-planned teacher activities related to various subjects, forced unnatural connections

•Focus is on: students sharing what they know, want to know

•Emphasis is often on process and presentation skills in culminating activity

•Learning emphasis: coverage and on supplying information. Gathering facts instead of just memorizing them.

•Knowledge as gathering of facts dominates; Learning of process skills is often the emphasis.

•Students feel they have finished the topic.

•Significant content shaped to engage and focus students’ inquiry; teacher questions provide the scaffold to student inquiry

•Focus is on: students and teachers together spending as much time figuring out what the questions are as on the research. Collaborating in designing activities which will support inquiry - experience

•Emphasis on looking for connections, for coherence, there is a recognition that knowledge is someone else’s answers to prior questions

•Learning emphasis: Did we answer our questions? Students making meaning of carefully selected activities; teachers devising assessment tasks related to answering the driving questions

•Inquiry is viewed as understanding which will last until the learner has time to ask new questions to ‘create more compelling theories’

•Students see the return to the inquiry as a possibility of deepening their knowledge and understanding

Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry is a method of learning in which students are encouraged to recognize and state problems, to ask questions about these problems in a manner that allows them to pursue answers and to recognize that these answers are both the final product and the starting point for further study.

A Model of Inquiry Learning

Although Inquiry-based learning can be used as an instructional approach for a specific topic or lesson, it can also be used as a curricular framework in which to approach student learning.

Guidelines for developing effective units of inquiry

The Written CurriculumStage 1: What is our purpose?

a) Conceptb) Central ideac) An inquiry into: (Sask curriculum connections, shared values, circle of

courage)

Stage 2: What resources will we use?a) Sask curriculum guidesb) Range of perspectives - resources from different cultures

Stage 3: What do we want to learn?a) Teacher Guiding Questionsb) Student Inquiry Questions

The Taught CurriculumStage 4: How best will we learn?(differentiated learning, multiple intelligences,

technology integration, problem-based, CEL’s)

-The activities should be open enough to include student input and include student interest. Authentic connections

-The activities should develop further understanding of the central idea, an inquiry into and teacher/student questions.

The Learned CurriculumStage 5: How will we know what we have learned?

-Outlines assessment at all different stages of learning during the unit. (formative, summative)

-Use a variety of assessments (KWL, Concept-maps, Reflections, Projects, etc)

-Student self-assessment

How will we take action?

- students demonstrate their ability to choose, act, reflect

-students use their knowledge, skills beyond themselves

Stage 6: To what extent did we achieve our purpose?a) Teacher reflections

b) Student feedback

All units of inquiry follow a similar format

1. Tuning In

2. Finding Out

3. Sorting Out

4. Making Conclusions

5. Reflecting and Taking Action

Example of an Inquiry-Based Unit

Developing a Central Idea

• Determines the focus of the unit• Is written as a broad statement• Is clear and concise• Is worth knowing and true• Is value free• Globally Transferable• Can be studied at any age• Has a degree of complexity• Has a degree of ambiguity that promotes discovery

Concept: How the World WorksCentral Idea: Humans are dependent on a variety of natural resources each having its own unique properties and uses

Concept: IdentityCentral Idea:All living things on Earth have unique characteristics and classifications that provide them with an identity.

Concept: How we organize ourselvesCentral Idea: People migrate from place to place for different reasons and they affect their new communities in a variety of ways.

Concept: PowerCentral Idea: Power in the form of authority, influence or force is acquired by having superior resources, greater numbers or more effective organization

Examples of Central Ideas

How can we plan and teach this way using the

Saskatchewan Curriculum

Using Foundational Objectives and CEL’s

• Foundational objectives can guide the formation of the central idea

• Foundational objectives can guide the formation of the teacher guided questions

• Focusing on the foundational objectives allows you as the teacher to compact the curriculum and differentiate by sifting through facts, language, and activities that take up time

• CEL’s can help focus the units activities based on the teacher and student questions. They can help determine if you are too overloaded in one subject or skill set area.

How best will we learn?

How can students learn to be inquirers?

Classroom activities that promote inquiry:• Riddle or problem of the week• Lateral thinking games (Mind Trap)• Quotes to respond and ask questions about• Games involving questions (20 questions, Mind Trap, Head bands, Hoopla,

Cranium)• Bloom’s Taxonomy (Leaning to formulate questions at different levels - dice

game, fly swatter game)• Reflective writing, response journals• Field trips• Think/pair/ share• KWL charts• Simulations, scenarios• Primary sources

Our Inquiry JourneyWhat is working?• Students are more engaged in learning (more discovery and

questioning occurring)• Accommodates all ability levels and interests

(differentiation is more achievable)• More student-centered activities• Students are more involved with planning and assessment• Team teaching approach to planning, assessment, and

reflection (less work for us)• Students are becoming better researchers and beginning to

ask better questions• Compacted curriculum• Continuity of unit structure

• Able to make cross-curricular connections

What do we need to improve?• Open up the units to be more student driven - too much

front loading still and focus on teacher guiding questions

• Help students to become better inquirers

• Portfolio assessments

• More science related activities and art projects (We are too Social Studies driven)

• Determine specific key assessment tasks

• Build concept map earlier on and revisit it at each stage

How are students responding?• Takes time for students to adjust• Some students have shown great enthusiasm and some

have not bought in yet• Students appreciate choice and enjoy their personal inquiry

projects• Students enjoy collaborative work • Students are beginning to understand the process• Less behavioral issues during class time• Students are making connections with their own

experiences and asking related questions• Some students still want facts to memorize and cannot

fully grasp the central idea• Students are becoming more creative• Students are becoming more technologically literate

References• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/

• http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/classroom/connect/

• http://eduscapes.com/info/inquiry.html

• http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm

• http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/

• http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/approach/inquiry.asp

• http://www.biopoint.com/msla/links.html

• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/inquiry.shtml

• http://www.helsinki.fi/science/networkedlearning/eng/delete.html#new

• http://www.ibo.org/pyp/

• http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/Planning/models/princbackdesign.htm

• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html

• http://www.ed.arizona.edu/short/Publications/Examining%20our%20beliefs.pdf• Erickson, H. Lynn(2002) Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. Teaching Beyond the

facts. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, California pp 7-8