Inquiry-Oriented Lesson/Laboratory Characteristics and Framework

The teacher:

• presents lessons that are student-centered (teacher builds on knowledge students bring to or develop from the learning situation; teacher helps students construct meaning from experiences; focus on student as active inquirer rather than passive receiver of knowledge).
• focuses on one or more questions as the active mode of inquiry (lesson, many guiding questions; lab, one guiding question).
• encourages student thinking and questioning.
• engenders debate and discussion among students.
• provides a variety of levels and paths of investigation.
• is a mentor and guide, giving as little direction as possible.
• shows an active interest in students and promotes an active quest for new information and ideas.
• avoids appeals to authority and avoids acting as an authority figure.
• maintains a classroom atmosphere conducive to inquiry.
• places emphasis on "How do I know the material of this course?" rather than "What must I know in this course?"
• uses appropriate questioning skills such as wait time, variety, distribution, and formulation
• responds appropriately to what students have to say or do that contributes to lesson
  

The students:

• make observations and collect data.
• formulate predictions based on observations and create and conduct experiments in order to validate conclusion.
• work out relationships of cause and effect.
• relate independent and dependent variables to establish meaningful relationships.
• use reasoning ability.
• make decisions and draw conclusions on the basis of data.
• defend conclusions on the basis of data.
• interpret collected data or observations.
• devise their own way to report their findings to class members.
  

Inquiry Lesson Framework

Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards also propose the following elements as components of inquiry-based instruction (see Table 2-7). Note that these phases essentially constitute a learning cycle.

Phase 1: Students engage with a scientific question, event, or phenomenon. This connects with what they already know, creates dissonance with their own ideas, and/or motivates them to learn more.

Phase 2: Students explore ideas through hands-on experiences, formulate and test hypotheses, solve problems, and create explanations for what they observe.

Phase 3: Students analyze and interpret data, synthesize their ideas, build models, and clarify concepts and explorations with teachers and other sources of scientific knowledge.

Phase 4: Students extend their new understanding and abilities and apply what they have learned to new situations.

Phase 5: Students, with their teachers, review and assess what they have learned and how they have learned it.