Key Principles of Inquiry-Based Learning

"Inquiry-based learning" is one of many terms used to describe educational approaches that are driven more by a learner's questions than by a teacher's lessons. It is inspired by what is sometimes called a constructivist approach to education, which posits that there are many ways of constructing meaning from the building blocks of knowledge and that imparting the skills of "how to learn" is more important than any particular information being presented. Not all inquiry-based learning is constructivist, nor are all constructivist approaches inquiry-based, but the two have similarities and grow from similar philosophies.

How is inquiry-based learning different from traditional approaches? In the traditional framework, teachers come to class with highly structured curricula and activity plans, sometimes referred to as "scope and sequence." They act as the source of knowledge and as the person who determines which information is important. There is certainly creativity and flexibility in how each teacher runs his or her class, but the topics and projects are driven and evaluated based on what a teacher, administrator, school board, or bureaucracy have decided what children should know and master.
It may be that traditional education will start becoming more and more like inquiry-based learning over time. Why? Because an inquiry-based approach is more web-like in how students pursue knowledge, as opposed to the linear, vertical and compartmentalized structure of traditional education. As the web-like Internet increasingly permeates society and education, the traditional structures will have to adapt to the forms of the new media.

In contrast, inquiry-based learning projects are driven by students. Instructors act more as coaches, guides, and facilitators who help learners arrive at their "true" questions—the things they really care about. When students choose the questions, they are motivated to learn and they develop a sense of ownership about the project.

Don't get the wrong idea, however: Inquiry-based learning projects are not unstructured; they are differently structured. If anything, they require even more planning, preparation, and responsiveness from the educator—it's just that the educator's role is different."

-Excerpt from: www.youthlearn.org

One of the challenges in any research investigation involving the internet is the ability to evaluate whether a particular website is a good resource for information. One way is for students to use the CARS Model in which to evaluate a website. The CARS model asks the student whether a website is Credible, Accurate, Reasonable, and Supported?

Here are some websites in which to evaluate!

Feline Responses to Bearded Men

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

The Mountain Walrus

Moonbeam Enterprises