The College of Education at MBU has a focus on inquiry based teaching and learning. We acknowledge that students learn best when they are “doing” versus the “sit and get” approach. But what is “doing?” Is it when students are learning about animals that hibernate and they are given a handout where they get to color the animals? Is it when they are using technology to do a game that reinforces the concepts being learned? Or is it when they are learning about congruent triangles that are given specific information to determine if all of the triangles possible are the same?
The “teacher tell” approach is taking a backseat to the “teacher as facilitator.” We, as teachers and future teachers, struggle with the latter. How do we get our students to learn a concept unless we tell them? How do we get them to think something through, to discuss what they have done, and to synthesize the information under the guidance of the facilitator to gain new knowledge? How can we use technology for learning instead of practice or games? A lot of questions and the answer is …. inquiry learning.
To guide planning an inquiry lesson, consider using the 5Es of engagement, explanation, exploration, evaluation, and extension:
- Engagement: How might you, the teacher, have the students engage in the prior knowledge needed for the task in a short warm up exercise?
- Explanation: What do you need to explain to the students so that you give them enough information to do the task but not tell them what to do? The task you create should be rich and inquiry-based.
- Exploration: What will the students be doing that will enable them to discover the concepts expected?
- Explanation #2 / Closure: Students will share what they did and provide justification for their thoughts/work. Teacher, as the facilitator, will ask questions that helps the students acknowledge and make connections about the content.
- Evaluation: How will you as the facilitator evaluate to determine if the students have gained the required knowledge?
- Extension: How can you extend the lesson, to go deeper into the content, if time permits?
A Professional Development Institute held through the College of Education at MBU was based on inquiry learning using GeoGebra. A free download, GeoGebra can be used for students in class and at home. Participants in the session were introduced to the 5Es. Their rich task was twofold from the student and teacher lens. Re-creating how the task was developed using GeoGebra enabled even more thinking and learning about geometric concepts!
Guest Post by Pam Bailey