Supporting InquiryDonna Parker

AP Environmental Science and Biology Educator

Dublin Coffman High School, Dublin, Ohio

Lab-Aids ConsultantNBCT - AYA/Science

This presentation is adapted from materials originally developed by Mark Koker and Dick Duquin of the LAB-AIDS Professional Development Division, copyright LAB-AIDS (c) 2006 and used with permission. SEPUP materials are copyright (c) 2007 by the Regents of the University of California.

On learning…..“Learning science is something

students do, not something that is done to them.”

--National Science Education Standards

Journal Assignment

In your journal, tell me what does inquiry mean to you?

You may create a list or write in paragraph form.

Give one (1) example in your classroom

Presentation Overview Inquiry Quiz Best Practices Essential elements of inquiry Selected activity from SEPUP Rating lessons on inquiry The inquiry paradox

True or False…with reason Science subject matter should be taught

through inquiry. True inquiry occurs when students generate

and pursue their own questions. Inquiry teaching occurs easily through the use

of hands-on or kit-based instructional materials.

Student engagement in hands-on activities guarantees that inquiry teaching and learning are occurring.

Inquiry can be taught without attention to the subject matter.

Best Practices Most of us learn best through personal

experience and by connecting new ideas to what we already know

Students must have a chance to move from concrete to abstract ideas

Inquiry is well-documented as an effective tool in science instruction

Many effective teaching strategies are core elements of inquiry

Five Essential Features of Inquiry

Learners are engaged by scientifically oriented questions

Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations

Learners formulate explanations from evidence to address scientifically oriented questions

Learners connect explanations to scientific knowledge

Learners communicate and justify their proposed explanations

(Inquiry and the NSES)

Bored Yet?

Just checking….

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Let’s Get Busy Now…

Brainstorm: Make a list of all the places you have used or come in contact with something using a battery this week.

30 seconds - ready, set, go….. 60 seconds - share with a friend and

and one new thing to your list.

Challenge

Which pair of metals produces the most energy?

Collect supporting evidence

Procedure To make the electrolyte in the plastic

cup, add 4 packs of salt to 25 mL of water. Add 25 drops of hydrogen peroxide. Fill the SEPUP wet cell.

Add two metal electrodes to the wet cell. Then rest is up to you to figure out but

document what you do in your journal. Record your data in your journal as well.

Hey, stop…while you are playing

You must also create a list of questions that come to mind from this activity. Record this list in your journal.

Let’s share evidence…… Now let’s play more…..

Your Next Task

What is your question? How are you going to answer your

question? (a rough procedure w/variables, constants and a control)

Data Conclusion Additional avenues to explore

Essential Features of Classroom Inquiry and Their Variations

Less ---------------------------------------Learner Self Direction------------------------------------------------------More

More----------------------------------- Direction from Teacher or Material------------------------------------------Less

FEATURE

1. Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions.

A. Learner engages in question provided by teacher, materials, or other source

B. Learner sharpens or clarifies question provided by teacher, materials, or other source

C. Learner selects among questions, poses new questions

D. Learner poses a question

2. Learner gives prior ity to evidence in responding to questions

A. Learner given data and told how to analyze

B. Learner given data and asked to analyze

C. Learner directed to collect certain data

D. Learner determines what constitutes evidence and collects it

3. Learner formulate explanations from evidence

A. Learner provided with evidence

B. Learner given possible ways to use evidence to formulate explanation

C. Learner guided in process of formulating explanations from evidence

D. Learner formulates explanation after summarizing evidence

4. Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge

A. Learner given all connections

B. Learner given possible connections

C. Learner directed toward areas and sources of scientific knowledge

D. Learner independently

examines other resources and forms links to explanations

5. Learner communicates and justifies explanations

A. Learner given steps and procedures for communication

B. Learner provided broad guidelines to use to sharpen communication

C. Learner coached in development of communication

D. Learner forms reasonable and logical argument to communicate explanations

So urce : Nation al Rese arch Co unc il. 200 0. Inquiry and the Nation al S c ie nc e Educ atio n St andards : A G uide fo r Teac hing an d Learning. Was hingto n, DC: Natio na l Ac ade my Pres s, P.29

Kid Speak It

Remember….”Learning science is something students do; not something that is done to them.

Learning inquiry is no exception so let’s do this in kid language.

Take the blank chart and with your group turn the “educator language” into “kid language.”

Let’s Analyze in Kid Speak

Where did this activity start on the spectrum?

How did we change it? Where did it end up on the spectrum? Keeping in mind this experience, go

back to your original definition….what would you add?

Benefits of Inquiry Brings real world into the classroom Promotes teamwork, collaboration Supports different learning styles Helps close “learning gaps” (especially for

historically-underserved populations) Inquiry techniques can be used in all

branches of science… Not to mention you get to torture students by

making them THINK!!!!

Guided vs. Open Inquiry Experiences that vary in “openness” are

needed to develop the inquiry abilities. Guided inquiry can best focus learning on the development of particular science concepts. More open inquiry will afford the best opportunities for cognitive development and scientific reasoning. Students should have opportunities to participate in all types of inquiries in the course of their science learning. Inquiry and the NSES (p 30)

Humor before we continue

Physical Science and Inquiry

One more…. Inquiry and Ag Science

So what? Who cares? Increasingly, decisions about the

environment are made with public input, not made for us by our elected officials and their science advisors

If our kids don’t know the science behind the issues, and understand the power and limits of what science can tell us (inquiry), they may fall victim to effective media-based campaigns

We need decisions based on science, not slogans

Other rocks to turn over…. Lab manuals or textbooks used to pose

questions and describe methods for investigations, so students can discover relationships

Instructional materials are used to pose questions, but methods and answers left open for students to determine

Students ask questions, gather evidence, and propose explanations based on their own investigations

Students investigate details of research and reports of scientific research Inquiry & NSES (p 15–16)

The Inquiry “Checklist” For Students

Make initial obserations Pose (or respond to) researchable questions Formulate predictions or cause-and-effect

hypotheses to test these research questions Plan procedures that identify relevant

variables and produce data to test these research questions

Collect, organize and display data Analyze data and craft tentative inferences to

evaluate predictions or hypotheses

“Checklist” (continued) Share ideas, results and inferences with a

group that provides feedback on potential validity

Revise, if necessary, the evaluation of data Reach a formal consensus on answers to

the research questions

From Leonard & Penick. “Is the Inquiry Real?”. The Science Teacher. Summer 2009. 40-43

Back to your journal…. Think of one activity you presently do (think

about the previous slide). Write it down in your journal

Where does this activity “fit” on our inquiry spectrum? Yes you have to write it down in your journal.

How can you move it to the more student directed side? Think checklist and yes you have to write it down - you guys are worse than the kids!

The commitment

You just made one….take this activity that you just changed to be more inquiry based and use it in your classroom!

To complete the commitment, email me (dcall@zoomnet.net) and tell me how it went.

One last thing

Go back to that original definition….how would you further change it? Write it down…

Share it with a friend.