WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

Will I Use Be Able to Use An Inquiry-Based Approach to Learning?

Since finishing my undergraduate engineering degree over 20 years ago, I have
considered starting a career in teaching more than once. For various reasons, however, I did not
head down the path to becoming a teacher until now. During that time, my experiences have
shaped my ideas about the teacher I hope to become.
I would like to teach middle school science and I want my classroom to be a place where
the students ask most of the questions. My job as a teacher will be to guide students as they use
the scientific method to address their questions while learning the content required by state
standards. I would like to use an inquiry-based learning approach because it fits well with my
experiences, my philosophy about science education, and my commitment to being a lifelong
learner (What Is Inquiry, 2014).
In this essay, I cover my experiences that led me here and relate them to my interest in an
inquiry-based learning approach. Then, I discuss how well I think inquiry-based learning
addresses student diversity, encourages students to set their own learning goals and analyze their
own data, contributes to a positive culture and climate, and facilitates the integration of
technology. I also examine the role of lesson plans in a student-centered classroom. Finally, I
outline my plan for developing and then refining my skills so I can try to become the teacher that
my future students deserve.
My Path to Here
After completing a Master of Science degree in Earth Science, I worked as a consulting
engineer for over five years. As a Masters student and a professional scientist, my job was to use
science to address problems and answer questions. This affected my ideas about what science is
and what science education should be. Neil deGrasse Tyson summed it up perfectly when he

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

said, science literacy is the person who knows how to question the world around them (Basler
and Bartel, 2009). I think that science education should focus less on acquiring knowledge and
more on nurturing students natural curiosity and this is the reason that I would like to use an
inquiry-based approach.
My passion for science education was ignited by an incidental conversation that I had
quite a few years ago. My mother, who is a very smart woman, once told me in an offhand
comment that science was beyond her (Judith Detchon, personal communication, 1999). I replied
by telling her that it was not beyond her; she just thought it was (Judith Detchon, personal
communication, 1999). This conversation left me thinking that it should not be this way.
Everything that we learn early in our lives is through experimentation. I began to wonder at what
point people lose confidence in their innate science abilities. While staying home to raise our two
children, I began working at the preschool that they attended. I worked at the school in two
capacities: as an associate and then lead teacher in a 2s classroom and also as a science teacher. I
developed science lessons for the kindergarten students and also launched an afterschool science
club for four- and five-year olds. I continue to teach science at the preschool and my belief that
scientific inquiry is a natural ability has been strengthened into conviction as I learn from
working with these young children.
Unfortunately, many older students and adults feel intimidated by science, and I think it
must be a result of how they were taught science in school. In my experience, science education
tends to focus more on science as a body of knowledge and less on science as a way of
investigating and seeking to understand our world. I believe that learning science should not be
intimidating and should feel accessible to everyone. I am interested in inquiry-based learning
because I think it will nurture students natural inquisitiveness. I hope to use this approach to

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

teach students how to use science as a tool to address their questions methodically. In the
following sections, I will discuss many additional benefits of inquiry-based learning that are
important characteristics of any effective learning environment.
Inquiry-Based Learning: Student Diversity
As teachers, we need to understand diversity because we will use that understanding to
foster inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards
(CCSSO, 2011, p. 11). Lynch (2014) recommends handling economic diversity by creating a
classroom that gives students as much control as possible and lets students interests drive the
curriculum (p. 80). In my classroom, I expect to take an inquiry-based approach where students
ask and address their own questions as much as possible. I believe that an inquiry-based
approach will address diversity well. First of all, diversities of various kinds will be
accommodated because the students will be framing the questions themselves, through the lenses
of their individual diversities. In addition, students will be driving the curriculum by asking
questions and following their curiosities.
Inquiry-Based Learning: Student Ownership of Learning
When students set their own goals and use their own data to analyze their progress, they
take ownership of their learning. When students take ownership of their learning, they become
self-directed (Mindshift, 2014). With an inquiry-based approach, the students will set their own
learning goals by asking questions and will therefore become more self-directed. Another way to
foster students ownership of their learning is to have them use data to monitor their progress
toward a learning goal (Mindshift, 2014). It is important for students to use their own data
because it also leads to a growth mindset (Mindshift, 2014). It is not clear to me, at this early
stage of my education, what the most effective way will be to include formative assessment in an

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

inquiry-based classroom. It is also possible that, in an inquiry-based environment, the data used
by the students will need to be more than simply formative assessment results, as described by
Mandinach (2013). Clearly, this is an area where I need to learn more. My plan for addressing
these issues and any other gaps are covered in a later section.
Inquiry-Based Learning: Culture and Climate
A basic tenet of my inquiry-based classroom climate will be that asking questions is
valued and that all questions are valid (Ferre, 2015, p. 3). I will also work hard to create a
supportive climate where students feel welcome and that it is safe to ask questions (Ferre, 2015,
p. 2). These are qualities listed by Lynch (2014) that are shared by classrooms with cultures and
climates that are conducive to learning (p. 276).
Inquiry-Based Learning: Technology Integration
The students that will be in my classroom will be digital natives whose lives will already
be integrated with technology (Lynch, 2014, p. 290). I would like to use technology in every
possible way that I am aware of now and, also, in ways I will learn of by asking my students. I
envision my students using computers and the Internet to research and fine tune the questions
that they want to ask. I imagine my students will use diverse digital methods, such as
Smartphones, cameras, video recorders, spreadsheets, word processors, or databases for
collecting information and data while pursuing their inquiries. If we participate in any citizen
science projects, we will record our data in a virtual environment. When it comes time to
summarize and present their findings, I hope my students will be as creative as possible. I would
like to see them create podcasts, a web log, a web page, a video, a digital presentation or, even
better, I hope that some students will present their work in ways that I have not thought of.
Inquiry-Based Learning: Engaging Lesson Plans

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

Structuring lessons that are engaging and that meet state standards while using an
inquiry-based approach is an area I am unsure about. My vision of inquiry-based learning is not
an unstructured classroom without any guided learning, but rather an environment where
learning is driven by students inquiries. An engaging lesson begins with an anticipatory set to
grab the students attention (Moschetta, 2013). My sense is that a classroom that allows students
to learn based on their natural curiosities has an anticipatory set built into every lesson. Another
component of an engaging lesson plan that I think is already part of an inquiry-based approach is
differentiation (EEI Observation Worksheet, n.d.). I expect I will need to nurture that
differentiation by helping students set achievable, yet challenging inquiry-based goals.
Future Work
In my inquiry-based classroom, I will not only expect my students to ask the questions. I
will ask myself questions every day about how I taught, how my students learned, and how I
could improve as a teacher. I will use the Standards Continuum Guide For Reflective Teaching
Practice (2012) to guide this aspect of my self-reflection. In addition, I will use video for
assessment and self-assessment as much as possible from the very beginning. I will also make it
a priority to find a mentor teacher, ideally one who uses an inquiry-based approach. Mentor
teachers are very important because they provide valuable help to new teachers and are a key
reason why new teachers remain in the profession (Lynch, 2014, pp. 321 and 345). Since climate
and culture are slow to evolve, I hope to rely on my mentor for help fostering a positive climate
and culture in my classroom. During my practicum and student teaching, I would like to improve
my understanding of diversity by finding opportunities to learn from teachers in schools that are
very different from the ones I have been in to date.

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

Aside from these general learning objectives, I will also address specific ones as I try to
shape how I will use an inquiry-based approach. My first objective is to learn as much as I can
about inquiry-based learning. My second objective is to address the issues that arose while doing
this preliminary assessment of inquiry-based learning. Engaging students by having them use
their own learning data is an area where I need to do more research. I would like to know what
types of formative assessments work best in an inquiry-based classroom because they are key
data that students need to monitor their learning. I would also like to learn what other types of
data students could use to track their progress in an inquiry-based learning environment. Another
topic that I need to focus my learning on is the elements of essential instruction and creating
engaging lesson plans. I am confident there is a way to include all the elements of essential
instruction using an inquiry-based approach, but I need to learn how to do it.
Conclusion
Science is about asking questions, which is why I think an inquiry-based learning
approach is well suited for science education. My experiences as a scientist and a preschool
educator have convinced me that middle school students can reconnect with their natural science
abilities if we nurture their curiosity and allow it to drive their learning. I believe I will be able to
use an inquiry-based approach in my classroom, but I have more learning to do before I am
comfortable enough to try it out.

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

References
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Council of Chief State School Officers. (2011, April). Interstate Teacher Assessment and
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Essential Elements of Instruction (EEI) Observation Worksheet. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://d2l.pima.edu/d2l/le/content/391165/viewContent/1173368/View?ou=391165

Ferre, L. (2015). Cultures of Curiosity. M5A1 Submitted for EDC 250 at Pima Community
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Lynch, M. (2014). The Call to Teach: An Introduction to Teaching. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson.

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO LEARNING?

Mandinach, E. (2013, September 17). Data literacy vs. assessment literacy. [Web log post].
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Mindshift. (2014, September 8). Making Students Partners in Data-Driven Approaches to

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Moschetta, H. (2013, September 5). Student Centered Learning With Madeline Hunter's Model.
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Standards Continuum Guide For Reflective Teaching Practice (2012). Phoenix, AZ:K-12 Center.

Stephenson, N. (n.d.). Introduction to Inquiry Based Learning. Retrieved from

http://www.teachinquiry.com/index/Introduction.html

What Is Inquiry? (2014). Galileo.org. Retrieved from http://galileo.org/teachers/designinglearning/articles/what-is-inquiry/