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Using Inquiry
Page
A library "fosters individual and collaborative inquiry" (Information
Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, Chicago: ALA, 1998, pp. 58).
To help support this goal, along with supporting active learning with
technology within our schools, we will be using the Inquiry Page (www.inquiry.uiuc.edu).
The Inquiry Page will help us create engaged learning activities using
the digital resources we've been exploring. In addition, we'll learn how
to use the Inquiry Page as a digital library in its own right.
What is "inquiry-based learning" and why should we use it?
Good question! Inquiry-, problem-, and project-based learning are terms
that are often used interchangeably. Let's think of inquiry-based learning
as being the underlying, guiding "theory" behind problem- and
project-based learning.
"Fun!" may be reason enough, however our own state standards
are calling for including more problem-, project-, and inquiry-based learning
activities for our students. Why? Because these types of learning approaches
allow for deeper problem solving and thinking, encouraging learners to
discover relationships between pieces of information. They also support
collaborative learning, enhancing student communication skills.
According to the ALA in The Information-powered School (Chicago: ALA,
2001; p. 77) authentic information technology learning experiences are
characterized by:
- Disciplined inquiry
- Knowledge construction
- Value beyond school
- Connections to students' personal worlds
- Cooperation and communication
The Inquiry Page is one tool that can help both you-and your students-shape
these kinds of learning experiences.
Home
| What is the Inquiry page | Becoming
a Member | Searching Inquiry
Page | Creating Your Own Unit
| Other Ways of Creating a Unit
| Editing Your Unit | Resources
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| DEFINITIONS
OF INQUIRY LEARNING |
"…something
that students do, not what is done to them,"
(National
Research Council Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards:
A Guide for Teaching and Learning. National Academy Press: Washington,
D.C., 2000. p.2). |
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"…practical
inquiry tends to be concrete rather than abstract… It strives
as much for wisdom as for knowledge,"
(Mike Atkin, Professor of Education, Stanford University, Stanford
CA — Website
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"Inquiry
teaching is putting learners into situations in which they must
engage in the intellectual operations that constitute inquiry.
It requires learners to make their own meaning out of what they
experience… Neither inquiry nor inquiry teaching are easy.
But they are productive. And fun!"
(Beyer, Barry K. "The Nature of Inquiry" in Inquiry
in the Social Studies Classroom, Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill,
1971, p. 6). |
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