Morgan Mathews ED PS 6431 Final Paper Inquiry Based Learning The framework of inquiry-based learning is the perfect subject

to focus on for this paper. Looking at the techniques of teachers, and how they teach is what I am always focused on in the classroom and what I can use as an educator myself. As I read through this article, I really enjoyed being able to pick out what it is that I use and focus on as a teacher, as well as some of the things that I might need to work on as well. The theory has been split up into three parts: the goals of teachers; the strategies they use; and the control structure governing their teaching. The strategies presented have been put together in a way that benefits the students as well as the teacher. The first part of the theory talks about the goals of teachers. Whenever it comes to planning out a lesson for my students, the first thing I have to ask myself is, What do I want the students to learn? This question is what formulates the questions I ask my students. According to the theory, teachers need to ask questions that will open up for predictions and ways to help the students derive the new rule on their own. We as teachers in elementary school sometimes find this to be challenge, as students are still developing their independent thinking skills. We have to be able to tweak this idea in a way that works for younger students. One way that I am able to do this is by using what we call a KWL chart. This is something we use at the beginning of a new topic or story, that helps the students really build their background knowledge. We fill in a chart about a subject based on what they know already, what they want to know, and what they learn at the end of the topic. This is

a great way for the students to make their own rules with learning, and to help them really think deeply about a topic. This part of the theory also mentions that students should be able to derive a specific rule or theory that the teacher has in mind. It all goes back to that deeper thinking on the students part. If a teacher is teaching with those questions in mind, ready for the students to create their own questions and answers, then we know the students are using that deeper thinking process. Which would then prove the teacher has reached that top-level goal. The second part of the theory involves the strategies that teachers should use in the classroom as different instructional techniques. These strategies go from positive to negative exemplars, to even questioning the authority. Most of the strategies involve ways to question, in one form or another. Being able to form hypotheses and generating hypothetical cases are some other important strategies. If students are able to apply what they are learning to their every day life, then they are more likely to remember it and learn, as it becomes concrete knowledge. I have found the lessons I teach that have meaningful activities along with them, are the ones my students enjoy the most, and learn the most from. I taught a lesson once where my students had to create their own businesses, using the techniques of expenses and profits, along with advertising what they had created. The students loved being able to have enough room to experiment and try their own creative ideas, that it was a success in teaching as well as learning. I picked out many of the strategies from this theory within that unit of teaching. All sorts of questioning and finding counterexamples were a few of the ways the strategies were used.

The last part of the theory of inquiry teaching involves dialogue control structure. This focuses on teachers being able to separate the goals from the subgoals to teach effectively. Cases that are more important or more frequent than others in the subject being taught should come first, with the less detailed information coming after that has been taught. For example, in my classroom, I would not teach how to write a complete sentence without first teaching the different parts of speech. Clearly, when learning how to run, one must first learn how to take a step. Overall, this theory can prove to be successful for teachers as well as students. The article states that this technique is extremely motivating for students. It teaches them how to become involved with the process of creating new theories, and feeling like they can play a role in something important. It really is all about turning that learning into problem solving. That is the key for teachers, and the challenge for the students as they continue to learn for themselves.

Work Cited Collins, A., & Stevens, A. L. (1983). A cognitive theory of inquiry teaching. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc.