Inquiry-based Learning

          Inquiry-based learning is a teaching style in which students are involved through reflection, asking questions and forming their own theories.  In these ways, it differs from a typical classroom.  Instead of teachers transmitting information they believe the student needs to know, an inquiry-based learning classroom allows students to solve and reflect on the problem-solving process while focusing on the question, “how did we come to know that?”  This is accomplished by a hands-on approach where students learn by doing and are encouraged to ask questions.

          There are many benefits to inquiry-based learning including the development of creative thinking skills, collaboration skills and problem-solving skills which students are able to apply to future problems.  Each lesson focuses on the four important outcomes of inquiry-based learning:   1) information-processing skills, 2) habits of mind, or "ground rules," 3) content understanding, and 4) conceptual understanding.

          I have used inquiry-based teaching personally in my classroom.  In my United States History class, I have students discover the colony of Jamestown and create an informational packet through a Web quest.  All of the information is found online by the student.  Each time new evidence is discovered, the student must explain how and why we know this information. Also, in my Western Civilization class, I have students discover an assigned city through resources provided by the library.  Some of these resources are text based but others are physical things that students can see, feel and sometimes taste, such as learning why a particular food or method of constructing houses is common to a geographic area.  Next to every item is the question, “why?“.

          Both inquiry-based learning and historical thinking have a place in all of my social studies classes.  Students have positive reactions to these lessons and feel that the projects have meaning and are not just memorization of terms.  Inquiry-based learning can also be used to give students the skills needed to succeed in the real world and solve problems on their own.

Here is a link to a great web quest on the colony of Jamestown: http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/