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Understanding Inquiry Based Learning (for Teachers) — Transcript

by Room to Discover · 3,448 words · 625 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00you've probably heard of inquiry-based
0:02learning but coming up with an exact
0:04definition can be pretty challenging
0:06not to mention making inquiry learning
0:09work in a real classroom
0:10i'm jeff lechandrello with room to
0:12discover
0:13in this video i'll explain what
0:16inquiry-based learning is
0:18why it's so important how to make it
0:20work in a real classroom
0:21and where to go next for more
0:23information and resources
0:25so if you're a teacher a tutor or
0:27homeschool parent
0:28that's looking to bring hands-on
0:30authentic learning
0:32to your in-person or online classroom
0:34you'll want to stick around
0:36[Music]
0:40if you were to do an internet search for
0:42inquiry-based learning you'd find that
0:44there are dozens of definitions out
0:46there
0:46each one more complicated than the last
0:50but what i've found is that the simplest
0:52definition is probably
0:54the most useful and when it comes to
0:56inquiry-based learning the definition
0:58is right there in the name it comes from
1:01inquire it means that students learn
1:04by asking questions by exploring by
1:07discovering
1:09as opposed to learning by receiving
1:12information that's provided by a teacher
1:14this approach
1:15can be traced back to socrates in
1:17ancient greece
1:18he was known for using what we now call
1:21the socratic
1:22method he would teach by asking good
1:25questions by
1:26generating thinking and getting students
1:28to realize
1:30that they often understood the answers
1:32to their own questions
1:33when i was a student in school my best
1:36teachers were using this method
1:37as well i don't know if they called it
1:39inquiry-based learning or
1:40the socratic method but they really
1:43generated
1:44engagement and made us think deeply by
1:47primarily
1:48asking questions and less of a reliance
1:50on just providing us with facts and
1:52information
1:53but back then it was less common to have
1:55hands-on
1:56active learning um or forms of you know
1:59what's called
1:59structured inquiry the idea of
2:02structured inquiry
2:03which is what we're mostly seeing for
2:05inquiry-based learning nowadays
2:07is that you you take what you want
2:09students to learn and you almost it's
2:11almost like you put it at the center of
2:12a maze
2:13and then you build the maze around it so
2:15that the students have to go through a
2:16process
2:17that actually leads them to the learning
2:20but by getting there
2:21they are learning a lot more than just
2:23getting that piece of cheese
2:25now the two most common forms of
2:27structured inquiry that you'll see in
2:28classes today
2:30are project-based learning and
2:32problem-based learning
2:34sometimes this gets confusing because
2:36both
2:37start with a p right so they're referred
2:39to as pbls
2:40problem-based learning and project-based
2:42learning can both be
2:44called pbl but there's an important
2:46distinction between the two
2:48so for anyone who's new to inquiry-based
2:50learning i recommend
2:51starting with problem-based learning
2:53problem based is the
2:55is the less complex of the two and the
2:57idea is that we give students
2:59a problem to solve so there's a certain
3:01amount of structure because
3:02as the teacher we're coming up with the
3:04problem
3:06another feature of problem-based
3:07learning is that it will usually occur
3:09within a certain class period or maybe
3:11over two class periods but these are
3:13these are short
3:14term lessons where we're giving them a
3:17little bit of inquiry
3:18we're facilitating and we're teaching
3:20them how to inquire
3:21and it ends quickly we can reflect and
3:23then move on to the next lesson
3:25project-based learning on the other hand
3:27tends to take place over a longer period
3:29of time like an entire unit
3:31you might spend weeks or months on a
3:33single project
3:35now it's important also to recognize the
3:38distinction between
3:40a project and project-based learning
3:43so if students are asked to make a
3:45poster and they go home and they cut
3:47pictures out of a magazine
3:48and bring in the poster we might refer
3:50to that as a project but it wouldn't
3:52really
3:52qualify as project-based learning for
3:54something to be
3:55project-based there are a number of
3:57conditions that we want to meet
3:59for one we really want to have a
4:01learning objective that's usually going
4:03to be
4:04tied to standards where we're going to
4:06provide enough
4:07guidance that students know what to
4:10produce
4:11and provide them enough freedom that
4:14they can be guided by choice that they
4:15can pursue something along
4:17their own interests uh marrying those
4:19two can be pretty complicated and we're
4:21not gonna get into detail of how to make
4:23projects work in in this video because
4:26that could be a whole video or
4:28series of videos but the important thing
4:30to know is that
4:31with project based learning it's a
4:33longer term activity
4:34and the main focus is on some sort of
4:38creation the students are
4:40making a video they're giving a
4:42presentation
4:43a science project would be an example of
4:45project-based learning that kind of
4:47long-term with studying and there's some
4:48kind of creation
4:50that comes at the end of it now there
4:52are other ways to bring
4:53inquiry into your classroom but these
4:55are two of the most common
4:56and they provide a nice neat structure
4:59that can be really useful
5:00for getting started with inquiry-based
5:02learning
5:03[Music]
5:07so you may be wondering why you should
5:08go through the trouble of bringing
5:10inquiry-based learning to your class
5:12after all it is a lot more challenging
5:15especially with the way schools are
5:17designed right our schools today
5:19are not designed for an inquiry-based
5:22approach they're really designed
5:24to move through content as quickly as
5:26possible to
5:27grade students so that we can rate them
5:29and compare them to other students
5:31they're designed to make sure that
5:33students can pass standardized tests
5:35at the end of the year and all of these
5:38goals
5:38seem to run contrary to the idea of
5:41inquiry-based learning right which is
5:43about
5:43opening things up creating possibilities
5:46getting students to think deeply
5:48and doing all of these things does take
5:52more time it takes more instructional
5:53time in class and it takes more time
5:56to plan but even given all of the
5:58challenges of making inquiry-based
6:00learning work
6:01in today's schools i think it's worth it
6:03and here's five reasons why
6:05so the first reason to embrace
6:06inquiry-based learning is because it's
6:08how our brains were designed to learn
6:10um think about little children learning
6:12to walk they don't need to read a book
6:14like they try it out they take in all
6:15the information they have a goal in mind
6:18and they figure out
6:19how to get there any great discovery in
6:21human history has really been done
6:23with this approach and if you think
6:25about something as an adult learner that
6:27you've
6:28learned that you find really valuable
6:30you'll probably find
6:32that you learned about it through
6:35inquiry like i wanted to learn to play
6:37guitar
6:38um and yeah i read some books on it but
6:40that's not really how i learned to play
6:42guitar i tried it i made mistakes
6:44i collaborated with with other people
6:46and that's how i got to the point where
6:48i felt
6:49competent in it the same is true for our
6:51students the more we can
6:52give them these challenges we can give
6:54them objectives
6:55and then support them in trying to get
6:58there the learning is going to be
6:59a lot more meaningful and it's just
7:01gonna it's gonna feel better because
7:03that's how their brains are designed
7:05the second reason that inquiry-based
7:06learning is important is because it
7:07allows us to focus on
7:09deep understanding most of the learning
7:12that happens in schools today
7:14is based on either facts or
7:17skills like what are the dates of
7:19historical events or do you know your
7:21times tables
7:22these are great they're important but
7:23there's a whole neglected
7:25category of concepts and applications
7:28the concepts are the big ideas of
7:30understanding why are these facts
7:31important why are these skills important
7:33and then the application is how am i
7:35going to use these like
7:37whatever i'm learning in school is this
7:39going to make a difference in the
7:40outside world
7:40far too often students learn something
7:42in school and then they go out into the
7:44outside world
7:45and what they learned could be really
7:47useful but they don't know how to make
7:49it useful
7:49inquiry-based learning helps helps
7:51bridge that gap where they're actually
7:54making use of the skills as they're
7:56learning them
7:57and then they can they can use them
7:59better in the world outside of school
8:01the third reason is retention retention
8:03means
8:04remembering something past the quiz that
8:07you have
8:08at the end of the week retention is
8:09notoriously low
8:11in traditional education all the time
8:13we're thinking about re-teaching we hear
8:14about things like
8:15summer slide where students forget so
8:17much over the summer they need to
8:18relearn it in the fall
8:20when students learn through inquiry
8:22again the way that the brain works
8:24it's creating more connections and the
8:26brain
8:28actively removes things that are
8:30disconnected right so when we have a
8:32whole bunch of facts
8:32in our mind our brain periodically goes
8:35through and says oh this doesn't relate
8:37to anything and throws it out
8:38when we learn through inquiry we're
8:40learning through making connections
8:42and then that learning actually lasts
8:44much longer the fourth and possibly
8:46most important reason for inquiry-based
8:48learning is social-emotional
8:50learning social-emotional learning isn't
8:52just one skill
8:53it includes things like self-direction
8:56and metacognition right students ability
8:58to
8:59understand their own thinking uh the
9:01ability to control themselves
9:03and to actively focus these are not
9:05things that we're born with we're not
9:07born with the ability to
9:09sit and focus on a paper for three hours
9:12but the more students
9:13do things like problem and project-based
9:16learning the more they develop those
9:17skills
9:18another component of social-emotional
9:20learning are interpersonal
9:22skills and communication and so by doing
9:24these group
9:25projects or even group problem solving
9:28where students split up responsibilities
9:30or they give each other feedback they're
9:33they're
9:33strengthening their communication skills
9:35and their learning group process
9:38which is critical i mean there are few
9:40things that are more critical
9:42in the world outside of school than the
9:44ability to work together as a team to
9:46split up responsibilities to take
9:48feedback from your peers all of these
9:50things are strengthened
9:51when students engage in inquiry-based
9:53learning and finally the fifth reason to
9:55embrace inquiry-based learning
9:57is what i call slow then fast so i
10:00mentioned that
10:00inquiry learning is about creating time
10:03and and
10:04creating space how it's going to take so
10:05much longer and
10:07actually that's true at the beginning
10:10right so
10:10as we as teachers are adjusting to
10:12inquiry-based learning
10:13as our students are adjusting to
10:15inquiry-based learning it does take time
10:17it's a different approach
10:18there's going to be some resistance
10:21there's going to be extra planning
10:23but eventually once we lay the
10:25groundwork we can move
10:26much more quickly students who have a
10:28foundation inquiry-based learning
10:30who've developed those social emotional
10:32skills who have developed
10:34ownership they can actually move through
10:36content
10:37much more quickly so what you'll usually
10:40see if you're switching to an
10:41inquiry-based approach is that you might
10:42need more time at the beginning of the
10:44year
10:44to cover some concepts and foundations
10:47but that eventually
10:48your students can really go quite fast
10:51and students who are skilled
10:53in this area are going to learn a lot
10:55more not just in terms of grade level
10:57content
10:57but including grade level content and um
11:01in those other competencies as well
11:07so now assuming you see the value in
11:10inquiry-based learning the big question
11:12is
11:12how to make this happen i think the
11:15golden rule of inquiry-based learning
11:17is to never tell students something that
11:20they can
11:20figure out on their own it's almost
11:22reminiscent of that stereotypical
11:24crotchety teacher
11:26when you ask them what something means
11:27they say go look it up in the dictionary
11:30now that teacher was actually kind of
11:33embracing an important
11:34principle of inquiry-based learning now
11:37we don't really like that
11:38that tone and that attitude it's almost
11:40like don't bother me look it up on your
11:42own and that's not what inquiry-based
11:43learning
11:44is about we're not having students look
11:46things up
11:47because we don't want to be bothered
11:49it's actually more work
11:50for us to really support them in
11:52developing the skill but the reason that
11:54we don't want to tell them something
11:55that they can find out on their own is
11:57because
11:58once they learn how to find it on their
12:00own and once they develop the confidence
12:02to find things out on their own
12:03then they're going to be able to find
12:04out so many things so more quickly so
12:06much more quickly
12:07than we could ever just tell them so
12:10um when we tell them to go look
12:12something up in a dictionary
12:14if it's done out of um you know because
12:17we don't care about them then no that's
12:19not good but if we do it out of love and
12:21concern for
12:22what they're going to gain from looking
12:24it up in the dictionary or you know
12:25doing it now it's a google search
12:27then that is uh really good that's
12:29positive and that's moving in the
12:30direction of inquiry based learning
12:33as i mentioned there are two main types
12:36of inquiry-based learning that we're
12:37going to focus
12:38on project-based learning and
12:40problem-based learning as i said i'm not
12:42going to go
12:43too into too much detail about
12:45project-based learning for a few reasons
12:47project-based learning has gotten so
12:49much buzz over the past few years it's
12:52really
12:52it's it's everywhere you can find tons
12:54of information about
12:55project-based learning um in fact i
12:58think that
12:59a lot of people who are just learning
13:00about inquiry-based learning
13:02rush into project-based learning and
13:03there's a lot of potential for it to go
13:05off the rails i've seen it go wrong
13:07i it's gone wrong in my own classes when
13:10i
13:10had students who um had not
13:13learned how to learn through inquiry
13:15when i hadn't learned how to teach
13:16through inquiry
13:17and you start on a project that's going
13:19to take an entire unit several weeks or
13:21a month
13:22on day two you realize that you forgot a
13:25step in the process or
13:26on day two you realize that your
13:29students aren't as prepared for this
13:30type of learning as you thought
13:32it's going to be really hard to get
13:33things back on track so if you if you
13:35really want to jump into project based
13:37learning
13:38um i'm sure there are a ton of resources
13:40out there i want to focus on
13:42problem-based learning because i think
13:43problem-based learning
13:44is really under appreciated it hasn't
13:47gotten the attention that that
13:48project-based learning has gotten
13:50and it's it's a really great first step
13:53now some people don't like it as much
13:55because it doesn't give students
13:57as much choice as much freedom right
13:59because we're creating
14:00the problem for them to solve but i
14:03think
14:04it's the it's the simplest to implement
14:06it can work really well
14:08in a traditional classroom using a
14:09traditional curriculum
14:11so the easiest way to bring
14:12problem-based learning to your classroom
14:14is to use the workshop model the
14:17workshop model was
14:18originally developed by john vandewall
14:20as the math workshop model
14:22but since then it's been expanded and
14:24used for
14:25really any subject the basic idea
14:29is that workshop lesson has three parts
14:32i call them inspire inquire and reflect
14:36the first step is inspire and this
14:38should be the shortest part of the
14:39lesson
14:40the big difference between a traditional
14:42lecture and the workshop model
14:44is that the the lecture
14:47portion of the workshop model is is very
14:50quick
14:51and we really want to make sure that
14:53we're not explaining
14:54the content right we're not telling
14:56students how to do something we're just
14:58getting them excited for it right so we
15:00can do things like telling them
15:01why the learning is is relevant to the
15:04real world
15:05we can activate prior knowledge things
15:07that they already know
15:08or we can connect it to things that
15:10they're interested in so really what we
15:12want to do is just kind of get them
15:13quickly about the learning that they're
15:15about to experience
15:16the second part inquire is where the
15:19real learning happens
15:20and if we've planned our activity well
15:23during this time
15:24we're really just acting as a
15:25facilitator so we're going to present
15:27students with a challenge with a problem
15:29to be solved
15:30ideally put them in small groups but it
15:32can also be done independently
15:35and then they're just going to go with
15:36it and as the instructor we can kind of
15:39hover around we're gonna
15:40we're gonna look at what they're doing
15:42and again
15:43if we see students struggling that's
15:46okay
15:47that's called productive struggle we're
15:49trying to generate productive struggle
15:51they may even make mistakes and we
15:53actually don't
15:54correct those mistakes during the
15:56enquire phase we might
15:57ask them questions i mean in extreme
16:00cases if students are just totally lost
16:02and they can't get started
16:03we might modify problems for them but we
16:05really want to avoid
16:06giving them the answers we want them to
16:09try to
16:10figure it out and this is the challenge
16:13because we need to ask good questions we
16:16need to ask questions that are
16:18in students zpd or their edge of
16:21understanding right so if we can ask
16:23them questions that are right on their
16:24edge of understanding
16:25they can either figure out using what
16:27they already know or we can provide them
16:29resources that they can refer to to help
16:31learn them
16:32then we've done a great job generating
16:35inquiry third part of the lesson reflect
16:37is just as important
16:39as the inquiry this is the part that
16:41often goes out the window because the
16:42bell rings and we're done
16:43so if this happens the first time you do
16:45a problem-based lesson
16:46don't worry it's happened to me a
16:48hundred times but
16:50when the lessons are really good we plan
16:52well enough
16:53that we give students the time and then
16:55we bring it back for reflection
16:57there are a number of forms that can
16:58take that can be a gallery walk where
17:00students hang their work around the room
17:02and everybody walks around
17:03and um you know makes notes or gives
17:06feedback to different students work
17:08it can be a presentation where different
17:10groups share their work and the other
17:11students in the class give them feedback
17:14it can even be just a sit down and do a
17:16written reflection
17:18if at all possible these should all
17:20happen
17:21at the same time the reflection is
17:23really where students
17:24cement their knowledge it's also the
17:26time as the teacher where you might give
17:29direct factual instruction so if
17:31students get up at the end
17:32and they have an answer that's clearly
17:34wrong we'll see if anybody else can
17:36fix it for them but if not then we
17:38provide the direct instruction
17:40the advantage over explaining it at the
17:42beginning is that they've had some time
17:44to play with it they've had that time
17:46for that productive struggle
17:48and the productive struggle makes them
17:51more receptive like they're more
17:53interested in the learning because
17:54they've tried to do it on their own
17:55and they're more able to process the
17:58information that you give them because
18:00of the time that they've had engaging in
18:01the hands-on activity
18:04[Music]
18:07so i hope this video has clarified the
18:09basics of inquiry-based learning
18:11and gotten you excited to try it out
18:12with your students if it has i'd really
18:15appreciate if you hit that like button
18:17and subscribe to our channel and if you
18:19love this video please share it
18:20if you'd like to find more information
18:22or support about bringing inquiry based
18:24learning to your students here are three
18:25places you can go
18:26first is a blog post i wrote about
18:28planning inquiry based lessons in three
18:30parts
18:31and it includes a free downloadable
18:33template for planning your own
18:34inquiry-based lessons
18:35you'll find that at room to discover.com
18:38lessonplans
18:40next if you want to buy fully completed
18:42lessons with student
18:44materials lesson plans key all of that
18:47you can find those on our online store
18:50at
18:50roomtodiscover.com tpt
18:53and finally if you're looking for
18:54professional development our workshops
18:56page will show you
18:57what we have upcoming as well as custom
18:59sessions that you can
19:00schedule most of these are going to be
19:03specific to
19:04a particular subject area math literacy
19:06and so on
19:07so thank you for watching and thank you
19:09for giving your students the room to
19:22discover
19:27you

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