So far in the first week of my new course, I have gained a better understanding what inquiry based learning actually is. Before, I had only a vague understanding of the concept and very limited experience with it in the classroom. I'm confident that by the time I finish the course, I'll feel much more comfortable attempting to implement inquiry based instruction in my own classroom.
Perhaps the biggest revelation I had this week was that hands-on instruction does not necessarily equal inquiry based learning. When it comes to student engagement, educators like to throw around terms like "hands on" and "student-centered," but I now understand that it takes more than that to truly constitute inquiry based learning.
I learned that inquiry based learning isn't just letting students "run free" with their education; it actually involves quite a lot of work and planning on the part of the teacher. The teacher must continually assess their students throughout the process and adjust the activity or help guide students towards an end goal. With inquiry based instruction, teacher involvement can vary. I can see teachers of younger elementary grades having to provide more support and modeling than secondary teachers, although teachers of any age or grade level would need to model and practice the process with students first, since inquiry based learning is a departure from the traditional "stand and lecture" method of teaching that most students are probably used to.
As I begin my journey into developing a plan to implement more inquiry based learning experiences for my 6th grade students, the main questions I have are related to the fact that I teach in a cyber school. I am wondering if there will be a difference between inquiry based learning in a cyber school and a brick-and-mortar school. Is it "easier" to implement in one setting vs. the other? With my students working on their own at home, at different paces, and on different lessons, how can I effectively implement inquiry based learning in my class that also allows for collaborative work? Since I will be teaching Science this year, I think that subject area will lend itself particularly nicely to inquiry based learning. I am hoping that by the time I finish my final blog post for this course, I will have found the answers to my questions and will be able to put them into practice!
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