Can I Inquire About Something?: Inquiry Based Instruction Trial 1

My freshman year of college I had a professor that used a variety of inquiry based and problems based learning and teaching methods- at first I struggled.  Then I realized he was a genious, the way he brought us from point A to point B amazed me.  Trying this approach on for the first time, I really enjoyed it.  Not only did I get excited about the method and approach- but also the content.  This brought out my personal curiosity, and I hope it will do that for students as well.  Below are some gems and opportunities from my lab!

Gems:

Creativity 

For this lab we were asked to use part of a kit or a piece of scientific equipment.  I looked through a Food Nutrient Kit to start brainstorming....and testing in my kitchen!  This took a little time and adapting, but slowly I started to pull the peices of this homemade-scratch paper lesson into a successful inquiry based instruction lab.   The cool thing about this process was my natural curiosity (the same mentality I want to bring out in my students) kicked in.  I wanted to see which foods or beverages had reducing sugars and why.

Context & Questions

Inquiry based instruction requires facilitation- setting a little context (words or simply materials) and guiding students to research and ask.  I felt I set a context that framed the lab but also would also allow for student self direction and discovery.  The quesitons I led with, asked to students and the correlations I tied I felt were done very well, and I think my classmates would agree.  This teaching segment more than the others I felt more comfortable and confident as well.

Opportunities to Grow: 

Front-loading 

This is a struggle.  The inquiry based instruction spectrum moves from teacher led to student led.  The goal is really to create an inquisitive and student directed learning atmosphere. At the beginning of this lab I did front-load some things.  I do not think it was a bad thing, but I did have to stop myself and even when I was a participant in labs I found myself wanting more information at the beginning.  For my first lab, this front-loading was okay, but challenging myself to take away some of that framework is what I need to do next.  It also makes me think about what I am saying and doing more- the quiet observation is uncomfortable (for me), but needed for students.  This requires a little more confidence (in myself and the students).  I am looking forward to redrafting this and trying it again.

Differentiation

Every student will respond to this method differently, which makes sense all students are different. Two of the groups jumped right in, whereas another group needed more time, and I need to be okay with that.  The prompting and pointed questions I believe helped them to get to this spot, but this is an area I want to continue to reflect on.  It worked in this group of 7, but I need to make it work for 20 now.

The Unexpected Fits in Agriculture: Inquiry Based Instruction.

Who, What & Why:

Inquiry Cycle.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07600.pdf

Cultivating curiosity is part of my teaching philosophy, but the more labs we have and the deeper into this teacher preparation program, the more difficult I realize it is.  Because it is not always how I was taught. I did have one great chemistry professor in college that used inquiry-based instruction, but it was challenging for me to learn that way at first.  I agree that when using inquiry, especially at first if students are unsure of it, I need to be honest myself as a teacher and my students that it involves the unexpected (Alberta Learning).  Even though it involves the unexpected, there are methods to make it happen and it is something students do not something that is done to them (Alberta Learning).  Because inquiry involves experiencing or experimenting with something, comparing it to past and future concepts, and an element of reflection or evaluation I think it is very similar to Kolb’s experiential model.  In agricultural education, we talk about Kolb’s model in regards to SAEs but I think it is also applicable in the classroom.  Students have concrete experiences, reflect on their observations, find abstract concepts, and experiment again in the classroom as well.  This is inquiry.  In addition to this concept, there were a few other concepts I took away from the readings. 

Kolb's Experiential Model
http://www.nwlink.com/~%E2%80%89donClark/hrd/styles/learning_styles.jpg

Stop Collaborate and Listen

Good inquiry requires collaboration, between students and others in the school.  Various articles stated that it is important to work with the science department to plan and implement some of the inquiry.  Being that much of agricultural education now is aligned with science standards this makes sense.  I have seen the importance of this collaboration in various locations.  It’s these types of collaborations that deepen student knowledge of the content and scientific process and continue to prepare them for college and careers. 

Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail

This quote could be the title of every blog I have written lately.  Inquiry is more of a ‘guide on the side’ pedagogy, versus a ‘sage on the stage’ but it requires a great deal of planning.  I also think it requires confidence and competence in the content area, and in the research skills to also discover answers as you guide students to do the same.  I know that this will require more front loaded work for me, but will be more beneficial for students in the end. 

Action without Reflection is a Waste of Time

I am a product of quality reflection and now understand the importance of implementing quality of reflection.  I think observations and evaluation are in essence reflection practices for science based concepts. The Alberta Education article shares the importance of reflection on the learning process itself as well.  Not only is it important to do reflection, through observations and evaluations, but it is also important to explicitly give student reflection prompts and ways inquiry connects to industry and college standards and practices. 

Inquiry Expects More

There are numerous articles, teachers and parents that I am sure we would say are expecting too much of students, and yes maybe in some ways we are as an entire system.  But I would also argue there are ways and occasions where it is important to expect more.  In Dr. Thoron & Dr. Myers (2014) research on inquiry based instruction he interviewed teachers and this quote resonated with me, “if my overall goal is to make sure students memorize something then we memorize it, if I want them to learn deeper knowledge I use inquiry and I assess them accordingly.” I couldn’t agree more, it expects them to be realistic and think deeper, and that is something we should expect.  Along with that various teachers comment on the evaluation and assessment of inquiry, and related it back to student being able to justify answers.  This is an essential skill, to be able to justify answers and findings, in any field we are in.  And if the vision of agricultural education is to encourage students to make a lifetime of informed choices in the global agricultural and food industry, then I think inquiry might be a great place to teach this. 

References:

Warner, A.J. & Myers, B.E. (2011) What inquiry-based instruction? Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07500.pdf  Warner, A.J. & Myers, B.E. (2014). Implementing inquiry-based teaching methods. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC07600.pdf  Alberta Learning. (2004) Focus on inquiry: a teacher’s guide to implementing inquiry-based learning. Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf  Thoron, A.C., Myers, B.E., & Abrams, K. (2011). Inquiry-based instruction: How is it utilized accepted, and assessed in schools with national agriscience teacher ambassadors? Journal of Agriculture Education, 52(1), 96-106. DOI: 10.5032/jae.2011.01096  Note: Retrieve online from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ955679.pdf