Guided Inquiry is about exploring ideas rather than accumulating facts.
Over the past 8 weeks
or so, I have worked with another teacher to guide 57 year 7 students in their
inquiries into the fascinating world of Ancient Rome.
As the word ‘inquiry’
suggests, there was a great deal of emphasis on questioning
and, in particular,
open, higher order (Blooms) questions. The students really enjoyed delving deeper into
their areas of interest using questions, rather than trying to find a series of
superficial, lower-order answers.
We used The
Question Formulation Technique several times at critical junctures throughout the inquiry process.
Strong critical thinking is dependent upon asking questions and this technique
allowed students to improve the quality of their questions, prioritise them and
use the questions of their peers as a springboard for thinking critically.
As teacher-observers,
we were pleased to witness the sense of relief when students realised they weren’t
being judged on what they knew; but rather by their capacity to engage with and
get excited about Ancient Rome. The QFT process gave them a freedom to explore
Ancient Rome without a fear of failure.
Wherever possible, we reinforced the
idea that there is no such thing as a silly question. Kids need to know that asking questions is
fundamental to learning.
The inquiry process
encouraged students to move from closed (lower-order) to open (higher order)
questions.The effectiveness of this strategy came through in the reflection
survey completed at the end of the unit. 91% had a firm grasp of what a higher
order question was…… “A question you can’t easily Google the answer to Miss!”
We worked with
students to refine their inquiry questions and used peer assessment and ‘critical
friends’ to test that each question was indeed, higher order on the Bloom’s
scale.
Our focus on the questioning process was vindicated by the calibre of
Inquiry Questions produced.
Some of the questions
included:
- · What did it take to become a great Roman emperor?
- · Were the Romans inventors or merely developers?
- · How did the social hierarchy in Rome operate?
- · Why didn't children in Ancient Rome have any rights?
- · Why have Roman roads been able to last so long?
- · What were the most effective strategies used by the Roman military?
Another interesting outcome was the level of engagement experienced through the ‘Inquiry Circle’ activities. Students were split into groups and each student was given a role to play and questions to answer. Their investigations culminated in a game of Roman ‘Hot Potato’ where each team pitted their collective knowledge against the others.
Student responses to the Inquiry Circle’s question in the second survey
are summarised below.
1= Not at all, 2= Not really, 3= It was OK, 4 = I Liked it, 5= Loved it (can we do more?)
As educators, these
results reinforced for us the concept of learning as a social process.
The
collaboration that occurred was interdependent – each student had a role and the
success of the entire group depended upon their efforts.
The ‘social’ aspect
of the inquiry was also incorporated at the Create
and Share stage where students had to present their findings to a ‘critical
friend’ from another class. Using a marking rubric and Inquiry Question
checklist, students acted as both presenter and assessor.
Metacognition was also a
key factor at this point. Students had to explain to their ‘critical friend’ how
they came up with the inquiry question. They also had to explain where they
found primary and secondary sources and reflect upon how they might have improved.
As predicted, this use of assessment as
learning (peer assessment) proved very effective. Interestingly, 46.2% of
students indicated that this form of assessment challenged them to think more
deeply than regular research assignments submitted to be marked by teachers.
Despite these
encouraging results, our Guided Inquiry experience was not all smooth sailing. We
did have a yearly exam to contend with mid-unit which shifted our focus and in
some cases, students found it hard to cope with this new style of self-directed
learning. We learned also that the size of the Inquiry Circle groups is
critical (no more than 4) and that more explicit modelling of note-taking strategies
would be beneficial before starting
the unit.
Overall though, HSIE
and Guided Inquiry seem to be a natural fit. The process forced students to
engage at a deeper level to construct a personal understanding of Ancient Rome. Far from presenting a
‘copied and pasted’ power point, students participated in some real learning.
I look forward to
spreading the ‘Guided Inquiry’ good news story with other faculties. Science - I have you in my sights.
