I’ve often thought about inquiry based learning (IBL)  and feel like I unintentionally am engaging with it in my own classroom, but I’m often left wondering: what does it really look like?

While reseraching the topic,  I’ve recognised the cyclical nature of inquiry based learning. By the “end” of the process learners now own new information and ideally skills, however the inquiry framework is cyclical and also asks learners to continue on this path repeatedly.

Importantly though, the framework must be recognised as a  model and should not be viewed too rigidly.  In fact, some feel that the “situated learning”, learning as a function of the activity and participating in the community, rather than abstract, decontextualised presentations of knowledge, is the most valuable aspect of IBL.  Learning is moving to the centre of a community of knowledge rather than watching it from the outside.  “Most of the process is incidental rather than intentional” 

More recent IBL processes focus on emerging technologies and encouraging teachers and teacher librarians (TL) to “give up the role of content expert” and learn “new ways to engage with your students”.  This sounds a bit idealistic to me as I feel that I’m being pulled from the role of Language and Literature teacher to a Tech Design teacher.  But herein lies the “giving up the role of the content” aspect.  My role as an educator is changing and I need to to keep up with the demands.  Technology needs to be more than an add-on and legitimately “take learners places they could not go otherwise” (Boss and Krauss 2007).  this means that TLs need to be creators and familiar with design in order to model learning and enable students.  It’s not feasible that we can be experts at every form of digital communication, but we can be experts at researching and aiding with the information search process (ISP)

Opportunities are ripe for TLs as schools are looking for frameworks that enable learners to “judge the quality of information, find a way through complex and disparate information, formulate their own focus and answers to their own questions, and transform information into knowledge” (Fitzgerald 2015).  Guided Inquiry Design (GID) can provide the framework that will utilise the 21st century skills that students need to be a productive part of the future’s workforce.  Information and Communication Literacy (ICL) can be taught through the ISP and “guided inquiry now covers the steps the individual researcher takes (ISP), and the creation and delivery of inquiry tasks (GID)”.  This is of course a large shift in practice as teachers can underestimate the amount of hard work necessary or be unaware of the kind of scaffolding needed.  The GID process captured below aims to help educators facilitate the process for learners.

Students need to be encouraged to find an aspect of the topic that engages them and should be given as much freedom to explore the topic as the curriculum allows.  Keeping a log through the process, including search hits, and inquiry charts through the early stages and mind maps or inquiry charts when they reach Collect/Create and Present.  The GI process is cyclical in regards to feedback, reflection the transition to a new or remixed inquiry.

 

 

In the share and evaluate portion of the process it is important that students recognise they are part of the inquiry community and there ability to share their knowledge with others is as important as creating it.  Likewise learners will evaluate what they will emulate in the future and how they can proactively overcome the obstacles they faced in the future.  Finally, the teaching team should also discuss what is working, so they can shape and adapt the GID to fit the needs of their learning environment.

References

FitzGerald, Lee. (2015).  Opportunity knocks: The Australian curriculum and guided inquiry                 [online].  Access, Vol. 29, No. 2, Jun 2015: 4-17. Availability:                                                                  <http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=222071881870959;        res=IELAPA> ISSN: 1030-0155. [cited 13 May 16].

Inquiry Based Learning. (2010). EduTech Wiki. Retrieved from:                                                                       http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Inquiry-based_learning

Boss S. & Krauss J. (2007). Reinventing Project-Based Learning. International Society for                      Technology in Education.  Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/docs/excerpts/reinvt-                     excerpt.pdf