Science Faculty Development Workshop:
The Limits of Inquiry:
what is it?
when to do it?
what do they get from it?
Brian White; Biology department.
x7-6630
brian.white@umb.edu
Thursday July 9, 1998
10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Learning Center Room 1
Goals:
There has been extensive discussion of inquiry-based teaching in General
Education courses. This type of teaching involves more open-ended activities and
therefore less guidance than traditional classroom exercises. It is important,
therefore, to:
- be clear about what inquiry-based teaching is - in general and in your
classes.
- have a clear idea about the dynamics, benefits, and limitations of inquiry.
- be aware of the different priorities and pitfalls of inquiry-based teaching
This session is designed to shed light on these questions by having the
participants engage in an exercise that lies in the middle of the "inquiry
spectrum"; in between fully open-ended/student-driven inquiry and guided
inquiry. We will then compare this experience with published reports as well as
our own ideas.
Syllabus:
- Before the session:
- As an introduction to and an example of inquiry-based teaching, please read
the following article before the session and consider the "Questions for
Discussion" below.
- "Inventing Graphing: Meta-represenational Expertise in Children"
- di Sessa, et al. Journal of Mathematical Behavior10:117-160 (1991)
- Copies of this article can be found on the shelves opposite my office door
(W-3-003).
- Introduction - 10 mins
- A brief introduction to inquiry-based teaching. What is "inquiry-based
learning"?
-
Questions:
- What is "inquiry-based learning"?
- Is "Inventing Graphing" inquiry?
- Inquiry Exercise - 45 mins
- Participants will work in groups of 2 or 3 to solve the following problem:
- The table below is a list of the high tides for the month of June 1998.
| DATE |
DAY |
HIGH TIDE
|
|
DATE |
DAY
|
HIGH TIDE |
| 1 |
Mon |
4:36
|
|
17 |
Wed |
4:38 |
|
|
17:18 |
|
|
|
17:18
|
| 2 |
Tues |
5:37
|
|
18 |
Thurs
|
5:42 |
|
|
18:15 |
|
|
|
18:17
|
| 3 |
Wed |
6:37
|
|
19 |
Fri |
6:47 |
|
|
19:09 |
|
|
|
19:17
|
| 4 |
Thurs |
7:35
|
|
20 |
Sat |
7:51 |
|
|
20:00 |
|
|
|
20:15
|
| 5 |
Fri |
8:27
|
|
21 |
Sun |
8:52 |
|
|
20:46 |
|
|
|
21:12
|
| 6 |
Sat |
9:15
|
|
22 |
Mon |
9:50 |
|
|
21:29 |
|
|
|
22:06
|
| 7 |
Sun |
9:59
|
|
23 |
Tues |
10:45 |
|
|
22:08 |
|
|
|
22:58
|
| 8 |
Mon |
10:40
|
|
24 |
Wed |
11:37 |
|
|
22:45 |
|
|
|
23:49
|
| 9 |
Tues |
11:18
|
|
25 |
Thurs
|
12:28 |
|
|
23:20 |
|
26 |
Fri |
0:39
|
| 10 |
Wed |
11:55
|
|
|
|
13:17
|
|
|
23:56 |
|
27 |
Sat |
1:28
|
| 11 |
Thurs |
12:32
|
|
|
|
14:07
|
| 12 |
Fri |
0:33
|
|
28 |
Sun |
2:18 |
|
|
13:10 |
|
|
|
14:56
|
| 13 |
Sat |
1:13
|
|
29 |
Mon |
3:08 |
|
|
13:51 |
|
|
|
15:46
|
| 14 |
Sun |
1:57
|
|
30 |
Tues |
4:01 |
|
|
14:36 |
|
|
|
16:37
|
| 15 |
Mon |
2:45
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15:26 |
|
|
|
|
| 16 |
Tues |
3:39
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16:20 |
|
|
|
|
- Your task is to predict the times of the high tides on July 4 as accurately
as possible.
- These numbers will be in a Microsoft Excel file; each group will have
access to a computer for data analysis.
- Discussion - 1 hour
-
- A discussion of each group's predictions & methods.
- A discussion of the connection between this exercise and inquiry-based
exercises in the participants' classes. See questions below.
Questions for discussion:
regarding this exercise:
- What was the purpose of this exercise - what did you get out of it?
- What did you learn that you could not have learned in any other way?
- How would you build on this; where would you go from here?
regarding your courses:
- Given these two examples, what do you mean by "inquiry" in the
context of your classroom?
- How do you choose an appropriate task for the students?
- Must the students succeed in the task for the exercise to work?
- How open-ended should the task be?
- How should the discussion be structured?
- How should the "right answer" be handled?
- How much time should the exercise take?
- What can/can't (should/shouldn't) be taught by inquiry?