Encouraging and Supporting Student Inquiry
Encouraging and Supporting Student Inquiry

Author: Harriet S. Selverstone

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2007-09-30

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 031309683X

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Assignments that engage students in inquiry topics of their own choosing contribute to motivation and thus to learning. Very often the topics chosen (particularly by high school students) are considered controversial by school administration, parents, community organizations, and others. This practical book discusses the processes, actions, and policies needed to support and encourage high school students in that type of inquiry. Building trusting relationships over time with administration and the school community will be stressed as a way to build a community of true inquiry in your school and library. Classroom teachers and high school librarians will value the advice and scaffolding techniques presented that will enable their school and high school library to become a safe place for student inquiry into issues of their own choosing— controversial or not. The author draws on her 30-plus years as a high school librarian, deeply concerned with the intellectual freedom of the researchers in her library media center and with offering help and reassurance to those trying to implement school library programs that allow all voices to be heard. Grades 9-12.

Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards
Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-05-03

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 0309064767

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Humans, especially children, are naturally curious. Yet, people often balk at the thought of learning scienceâ€"the "eyes glazed over" syndrome. Teachers may find teaching science a major challenge in an era when science ranges from the hardly imaginable quark to the distant, blazing quasar. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards is the book that educators have been waiting forâ€"a practical guide to teaching inquiry and teaching through inquiry, as recommended by the National Science Education Standards. This will be an important resource for educators who must help school boards, parents, and teachers understand "why we can't teach the way we used to." "Inquiry" refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and in which students grasp science knowledge and the methods by which that knowledge is produced. This book explains and illustrates how inquiry helps students learn science content, master how to do science, and understand the nature of science. This book explores the dimensions of teaching and learning science as inquiry for K-12 students across a range of science topics. Detailed examples help clarify when teachers should use the inquiry-based approach and how much structure, guidance, and coaching they should provide. The book dispels myths that may have discouraged educators from the inquiry-based approach and illuminates the subtle interplay between concepts, processes, and science as it is experienced in the classroom. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards shows how to bring the standards to life, with features such as classroom vignettes exploring different kinds of inquiries for elementary, middle, and high school and Frequently Asked Questions for teachers, responding to common concerns such as obtaining teaching supplies. Turning to assessment, the committee discusses why assessment is important, looks at existing schemes and formats, and addresses how to involve students in assessing their own learning achievements. In addition, this book discusses administrative assistance, communication with parents, appropriate teacher evaluation, and other avenues to promoting and supporting this new teaching paradigm.

The Knowledge Gap
The Knowledge Gap

Author: Natalie Wexler

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0735213569

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The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Dive Into Inquiry
Dive Into Inquiry

Author: Trevor MacKenzie

Publisher: Edtechteam Press

Published: 2016-07-20

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781945167140

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Want to make learning more meaningful in your classroom? Looking to better prepare your students for the world of tomorrow? Keen to help learners create authentic connections to the world around them? Dive into Inquiry beautifully marries the voice and choice of inquiry with the structure and support required to optimise learning for students and get the results educators desire. With Dive into Inquiry you'll gain an understanding of how to best support your learners as they shift from a traditional learning model into the inquiry classroom where student agency is fostered and celebrated each and every day. This book strikes a perfect balance of meaningful pedagogy, touching narrative, helpful processes, original student examples, and rich how-to lesson plans all to get you going on bringing inquiry into your classroom. After reading this book educators will feel equipped to design their own inquiry units in a scaffolded manner that promote a gradual shift of control of learning from the teacher to the learner. Exploring student passions, curiosities, and interests and having these shape essential questions, units of study, and performance tasks are all covered in this powerful book. Learn to keep track of the many inquiry topics in your classroom and have students take ownership over their learning like never before! Trevor MacKenzie provides readers with a strong understanding of the Types of Student Inquiry and proposes a framework that best prepares both educators and learners for sharing the unpacking of curriculum in the classroom as they work together towards co-constructing a strong Free Inquiry unit. Helpful illustrations for in-class use, examples of essential questions from a variety of disciplines, practical goals for making progress in adopting inquiry into your practice, and powerful student learning on display throughout, Dive into Inquiry will energize, inspire, and transform your classroom!

Concept-Based Inquiry in Action
Concept-Based Inquiry in Action

Author: Carla Marschall

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 379

ISBN-13: 1506391281

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"This is exactly what my school needs right now to support colleagues to build on the foundations of our written concept-based curriculum and to take-off our taught curriculum to the next - and highest - levels." Neville Kirton, Deputy Head of Secondary Colegio Anglo Colombiano, Bogota, Colombia "Filled with strategies, illustrations, diagrams, and pictures, this book really gives you the insight you need to help students better understand what they are learning. So many great ideas that can be used in any classroom. A must read for all educators." Amanda McKee, 9th, Algebra/Geometry, Secondary Certified Instructor/Mentor Johnsonville High School, Johnsonville, SC Create a thinking classroom that helps students move from the factual to the conceptual All students deserve the opportunity to think conceptually. But seeing conceptual relationships does not come naturally to every student. How can teachers construct thinking classrooms where students can move from the factual to the conceptual level of thinking? Concept-Based Inquiry in Action has the answers. In this book, the authors marry theory with practice to create a new framework for inquiry that promotes deep understanding: Concept-Based Inquiry. The key is helping students to inquire into concepts and the relationships between them using guiding questions developed by the teacher, the students themselves, or by the teacher and students together. Step by step, the authors lead both new and experienced educators to implement teaching strategies that support the realization of inquiry-based learning for understanding in any K–12 classroom. The book and its accompanying website are rich with the resources necessary to facilitate the construction and transfer of conceptual understanding, including Numerous practical teaching strategies, aligned to each phase of Concept-Based Inquiry, that can be modified for diverse populations Visual notes that represent significant ideas discussed within each chapter Videos of instructional strategies and teacher interviews that show Concept-Based Inquiry in action in K–12 classrooms around the world Templates of graphic organizers, sample anchor charts, and blackline masters that support the use of teaching strategies in the classroom Planners that show how the phases of Concept-Based Inquiry come together in a unit In a world filled with complexity, the role of the teacher as a facilitator of conceptual understanding has never been more pressing. Concept-Based Inquiry in Action provides teachers with the tools necessary to organize and focus student learning around concepts and conceptual relationships that support deep understanding.

The I-search Paper
The I-search Paper

Author: Ken Macrorie

Publisher: Boynton/Cook

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13:

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This revised and retitled edition of Searching Writing includes two additional I-Search papers, one by a teacher, and a new chapter entitled "The Larger Context," which shows how the I Search concept can work throughout the whole curriculum in school and college. As with the first edition, The I-Search Paper is more than just a textbook; it's a new form of instructional help -- a context book -- that shows students what authority is in matters of learning and invites them to join the author and teacher in the educational movement called "Writing to Learn." To put this book in the hands of all the students in the course is not only to help them carry out an I-Search but to introduce them in a delightful way to the resources and tools of intellectual inquiry -- but one that never forgets the emotional or physical side of human activity. This is a rare textbook that treats students as partners in learning. It shows what it is to take charge of one's own learning and suggests that this move is one that productive people keep making throughout their lives.

Experience Inquiry
Experience Inquiry

Author: Kimberly L. Mitchell

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2018-08-18

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1544317115

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"Strategic and deliberate approaches to inquiry have been shown to be extremely helpful to educators who seek to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their students. In this important new book, Kimberly Mitchell provides practical insights and methods for how to incorporate inquiry into their practice. For educators who seek to enhance their effectiveness and make a difference for all of the students they serve, this book will be an invaluable resource and guide." Pedro A. Noguera, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Education UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, Los Angeles, CA "Kimberly has translated the latest terminology—pedagogical jargon—into lively language and useful advice that will strike a chord for classroom teachers! She ′gets it.′" Deborah Meier, Educator & Author Coalition of Essential Schools Discover inquiry for yourself with this interactive guide Plenty of resources speak to the benefits of inquiry, the research behind it, and even subject-specific processes to follow. But that’s not enough. Implementing inquiry is the tricky part, and involves changing beliefs about the teacher and student roles in the classroom. Most critically, we as teachers must engage in inquiry ourselves to successfully implement it in the classroom. One part practical guide, one part interactive journal, this book provides the opportunity to do inquiry as you read about it. You’ll learn what inquiry-based instruction looks like in practice through five key strategies, all of which can be immediately implemented in any learning environment. This resource offers Practical examples of what inquiry looks like in the classroom, and how to do it Opportunities for reflection throughout the book, including self-surveys, templates, and tools A user-friendly handbook format for quick reference and logical progression through your inquiry journey Fifty practical inquiry experiences that can be used individually, with students, or in small groups of teachers These strategies and experiences will improve your relationships with students and colleagues, reduce your workload by asking more of students, and breathe joyful curiosity back into your classroom. Let’s get out of our comfort zones and do inquiry-based teaching in a more practical and powerful way! Are you ready?

21st Century Skills Development Through Inquiry-Based Learning
21st Century Skills Development Through Inquiry-Based Learning

Author: Samuel Kai Wah Chu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-09-21

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 9811024812

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This book presents innovative instructional interventions designed to support inquiry project-based learning as an approach to equip students with 21st century skills. Instructional techniques include collaborative team-based teaching, social constructivist game design and game play, and productive uses of social media such as wikis and other online communication affordances. The book will be of interest to researchers seeking a summary of recent empirical studies in the inquiry project-based learning domain that employ new technologies as constructive media for student synthesis and creation. The book also bridges the gap between empirical works and a range of national- and international-level educational standards frameworks such as the P21, the OECD framework, AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, and the Common Core State Standards in the US. Of particular interest to education practitioners, the book offers detailed descriptions of inquiry project-based learning interventions that can be directly reproduced in today's schools. Further, the book provides research-driven guidelines for the evaluation of student inquiry project-based learning. Lastly, it offers education policymakers insight into establishing anchors and spaces for applying inquiry project-based learning opportunities for youth today in the context of existing and current education reform efforts. The aim of this book is to support education leaders', practitioners' and researchers' efforts in advancing inspiring and motivating student learning through transformative social constructivist inquiry-based knowledge-building with information technologies. We propose that preparing students with inquiry mindsets and dispositions can promote greater agency, critical thinking and resourcefulness, qualities needed for addressing the complex societal challenges they may face.

Inquiry-based Science Education
Inquiry-based Science Education

Author: Robyn M. Gillies

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2020-01-24

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 1000036316

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Students often think of science as disconnected pieces of information rather than a narrative that challenges their thinking, requires them to develop evidence-based explanations for the phenomena under investigation, and communicate their ideas in discipline-specific language as to why certain solutions to a problem work. The author provides teachers in primary and junior secondary school with different evidence-based strategies they can use to teach inquiry science in their classrooms. The research and theoretical perspectives that underpin the strategies are discussed as are examples of how different ones areimplemented in science classrooms to affect student engagement and learning. Key Features: Presents processes involved in teaching inquiry-based science Discusses importance of multi-modal representations in teaching inquiry based-science Covers ways to develop scientifically literacy Uses the Structure of Observed learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy to assess student reasoning, problem-solving and learning Presents ways to promote scientific discourse, including teacher-student interactions, student-student interactions, and meta-cognitive thinking