The Importance of Being a Teacher - Inquiry-Based Learning

1. Dr.Soultana Lefkopoulou Thessaloniki, 01.10.2015

2. The importance of being a teacher “Teachers are at the heart of school improvement, and with all the change in the world and new understandings about learning it is essential that they too keep learning“. (Stoll, Fink & Earl, 2003)

3. The inquiry-based learning • tackling real-world questions, issues and controversies • developing questioning, research and communication skills • solving problems or creating solutions • collaborating within and beyond the classroom • developing deep understanding of content knowledge • participating in the public creation and improvement of ideas and knowledge

4. The inquiry-based learning • problem-based learning: learning that starts with an ill-structured problem or case-study • project-based learning: students create a project or presentation as a demonstration of their understanding • design-based learning: learning through the working design of a solution to a complex problem

5. The steps of inquiry-based learning • Ask questions. • Explore by observing and investigating. • Analyze and describe findings. • Communicate and share by writing and discussing. • Reflect on what has been learned.

6. The inquiry-based learning in 5 words Ask Investigate Reflect Create Discuss

7. g g q q P P l l a a n n n n i i n n a a n n i i n n u u i i r r y y s s s s l l e e o o n n Why Inquiry? Too many boring textbooks Boring and irrelevant Cant’ see the point of it Too many facts and too much copying Too easy and not enough challenge No one asks me what I think Too much repetition OFSTED 2008 c c - - U U s s i i n n g g t t h h e e L L e e a a r r n n i i n n g g C C y y l l e e S S t t r r a a t t e e g g y y

8. The inquiry-based learning Hands-on and student centered discovery It all starts with a question. Experiences are more successful when questions are phrased clearly and when students can discover answers through their own hands-on experiments or through their own research.

9. The inquiry-based learning • Inferencequestions. • Interpretation questions • Transferquestions • Questionsabout hypothesis.

10. Student activities: learning through inquiry (1/ 2) Students pursue questions which they have identified as their own even if introduced by the teacher. • They do not know the answer to the questions they investigate. • They know enough about the topic to engage with the question. • They make predictions based on their emerging ideas about the topic. • They take part in planning investigations to test their predictions. • They conduct investigations themselves. • They use appropriate sources and methods of collecting data relevant to testing their predictions.

11. Student activities: learning through inquiry (2/2) • They discuss what they find in relation to their initial expectations or predictions. • They draw conclusions and try to explain what they find. • They compare their findings and conclusions with what others have found and concluded. • They keep notes and records during their work. • They engage in discussion of the methods used and the results of their investigations.

12. The inquiry-based learning inquiry-based teaching should not be viewed as a technique or instructional practice or method used to teach a subject. Inquiry starts with teachers as engaged learners and researchers with the foundational belief that the topics they teach are rich, living and generous places for wonder and exploration. Inquiry is not merely ‘having students do projects’ but rather strives to nurture deep, discipline-based way of thinking and doing with students. 

13. What kinds of questions work best? • When helping students to pose open-ended questions for inquiry, teachers should lead student thinking to questions that are: • Interesting to the student • Answerable, but neither a simple fact answer nor a value judgment • Not personal in nature • Objective

14. Levels in inquiry Level 1: Confirmation InquiryLevel 2: Structured InquiryLevel 3: Guided InquiryLevel 4: Open/True Inquiry

15. High Order Cognitive Skills - HOCS “Higher order thinking occurs when a person takes new information and information stored in memory and interrelates and/or rearranges and extends this information to achieve a purpose or find possible answers in perplexing situations.” Lewis and Smith (1993)

16. Teaching the climate change www.geography.org.uk

17. Who said what? Jeremy Clarkson “ I care more about the colour of the gear knob on my Mercedes SLK than the amount of CO2 it produces.” David Attenborough "I'm no longer sceptical. Now I do not have any doubt at all. I think climate change is the major challenge facing the world. "I have waited until the proof was conclusive that it was humanity changing the climate." "If we care about our grandchildren we have to do something and demand our governments do something."

18. Teaching the climate change Inquiry SequenceShould I be bothered about climate change? • What different opinions are there on climate change? • What is climate change? • What causes climate change? • How do humans contribute to climate change? • Who and what will be affected by climate change? • Are there any solutions? • What do I think now? • Will I change anything about my life?

19. Think like Pythagoras • Preparatory part • Main part with a motivating historical story • Factographic historical part • Homework explanation and motivation associated with a competition for the nicest- wisest work www.primas-project.eu

20. In the footsteps of Eratosthenes http://www.fondation-lamap.org/fr/eratos Malta Argentina France

21. Using texts There is a difficulty in understanding and managing the information in a text. • In the age of information we are not able to handle the information effectively. • The challenge is to • classify • set priorities • select • construct • in order to transform the information into knowledge.

22. Using texts

23. Teaching today The meaning of ‘knowing’ has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it.