Inquiry-based science
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inquiry-based science is a method of teaching science where students learn science by using similar methods, attitudes and skills as scientists do when they are conducting scientific research. Students get to act like 'mini researches.' Students have the opportunity to find their own problems and questions, formulate hpyothesis, think up a method for testing their hypthesis, and then using the data they have collected to decide the hypothesis was correct and thus try to answer their original question.
Inquiry-based science is a student-centered teaching method, based on the constructivist theory of learning. It can be contrasted with traditional education and direct instruction which emphasizes learning facts and information from books and teachers.
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[edit] Science inquiry
To truly understand inquiry-based science it is necessary to understand how scientists work and how scientific research is conducted. The ideas of science are the principles, concepts, and theories which scientists have. Science is done in a methodical step-like way. This is known as the "scientific method". Those skills used when doing this are called the science process skills; they include observation, planning, and prediction. Scientists have a number of attitudes when conducting science. They are open-minded, curious, and they cooperate.
Scientists use their background knowledge of principles, concepts and theories, along with the science process skills to construct new explanations to allow them to understand the natural world. This is known as "science inquiry".
When students are learning using inquiry-based science they use the same ideas as scientists do when they are conducting research. Students become 'mini-scientists.'
[edit] What does inquiry-based science teaching involve?
There are many definitions of inquiry-based teaching and what it involves. Students often need help initially to engage in authentic inquiry experiences. There are a number of different forms of Inquiry.
- Structured inquiry: The teacher gives the students a problem to solve, and tells them what methods to use to do this. She does not tell them the desired outcome of the exercise.
- Guided inquiry: The teacher provides the students only with the materials and the problem they have to solve. Students have to develop their own methods to solve the problem.
- Open inquiry: Students formulate their own problems to investigate, and then determine the method to solve it.
Teaching using inquiry can be seen as a continuum. Students need time to develop the skills to use scientific inquiry. Learning using inquiry should be scaffolded, with students being helped a lot at first, but as they become better and more confident at using inquiry this help can be removed.
It is becoming common to use inquiry-based teaching to do project based work. Students work a few hours per week for a number of weeks on a specific project. But inquiry-based teaching can also be done in a single lesson or part of a lesson.
Examples of forms of inquiry for teaching about electrical circuits
- Structured inquiry: Students are given step-by-step instructions as to how electrical circuits are built. Questions prompt students to remove bulbs and record what they see.
- Guided inquiry: Students are given bulbs, wire, and batteries. They are told to light the bulbs in as many ways as possible. They are asked what happens when individual bulbs are removed from these circuits.
- Open inquiry: Students are given bulbs, wire, and batteries and instructed to investigate how bulbs light in electrical circuits.
[edit] Why should we teach using Inquiry-based Methods?
By learning using inquiry-based science children learn how science is conducted, its limitation and its strengths. They begin to gain an understanding of what science means. This is important because it allows them to understand and demystify what scientists do. It also allows children to think for themselves, become critical of information they are given, develop their problem solving skills, and evaluate what they are told.
These skills are important for future scientists to develop, but it is also important that all students possess these skills. The skills used in science are used more and more in everyday life. In today’s information rich world it is important everybody has the skills to use the information they have. For example it is important we can evaluate what politicians are telling us and evaluate it. Many of the problems the world faces today such as global warming are caused by technological and scientific progress, it is important that citizens have the ability to understand these problems.
Another important reason to use inquiry-based methods is that students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with scientific knowledge. They actively construct new knowledge that either fits in with previous knowledge (assimilation) or deconstructs and replaces previous knowledge (accommodation). Inquiry-based science teaching requires students to surface their prior knowledge and assumptions and examine them in the light of natural phenomena. This facilitates either means of acquiring new knowledge.
[edit] Debate
Inquiry-based science has been increasingly promoted as a mainstream teaching approach, especially since the publication of the 1996 Standards in Science education document. However, there are many critics of inquiry-based science. They point out that inquiry-based science
-cannot be used to teach students complicated theories and ideas, such as evolution, which were developed by scientists over many decades.
-fails to teach students essential facts and knowledge.
-that many teachers are uncomfortable teaching using this technique.
Science testing has become increasingly important with the No Child Left Behindprogram, and the rewriting of the National Assessment of Educational Progress to emphasize facts. This has lead to a decrease in emphasis on inquiry as a method of teaching science and a fall back to more traditional 'chalk and talk' methods.
During the 1990s when the calls for the use of inquiry-based science were strongest many teachers felt overwhelmed by what was being demanded of them. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute concludes that while inquiry-based learning is fine to some degree, it has been carried to excess.[1] and can damage students.
The debate between traditionaists and progressive teaching specialists continues. It appears increasingly likely that the argument about whether 'traditional' or 'inquiry' is better is purley theoretical, and that in actual fact a mixture of the two is most suitable for effective science teaching in the classroom.
