Science Inquiry = Discovery and Imagination

Traditional teaching established today’s methods. The first structured education system was initiated by the ancient Sumerians. The primary method of instruction was to have student memorize. The traditional method of memorization evolved with the addition of physical discipline as evidenced by clay tablets found in an Egyptian archeologist site. One tablet reads “Thou didst beat me and knowledge entered my head” (Longstreet & Shane 1993). Children were taught to memorize as a way of learning by early European monks and this method became prevalent in Europe and North America. Traditional methods include but aren’t limited to lectures, memorization, and note taking (Knowles, 1980). These methods continue today.

While I do believe in the the conceptual and factual knowledge that is found in science, it is not and should not be the only method to which our students learn. Inquiry-based methods, on the other hand, have been used in classrooms in recent times.This pedagogical method advocates student learning via observation and concrete experiences instead of rote memorization. It has been supported by educators and theorists such as Johann Paestalozzi and Herbert Spencer (DeBoer, 1991). Inquiry is defined in many different ways, each with the same objective. According to Kauchak and Eggen 1998, “Inquiry is a process that gathers facts and observations and uses them to solve problems. Inquiry is particularly valuable for giving students practice in defining problems, gathering data to solve the problems and developing their higher-order and critical thinking abilities.” Inquiry has an array of instructional prospects in its arsenal (Colburn 2004).

Research has shown that one way to enhance content knowledge is through relevance.
Students are more motivated to connect to the learning process if they have an individual interest in an activity (Dabbagh, 1996). In one study, when asked to rate various geology labs, students gave a high rating to those labs that had the most association to topics that the students thought most familiar (Boone, 1995).

I look to explore and share these teaching methods with teachers across the globe.