What is Inquiry?

Samantha Lee

Westfield State Elementary Education Student

Runner

Big Sister

Future Teacher

         When I become a classroom teacher, I want to encourage my students to be active in their learning. Learning by doing will encourage my students to retain important information and experiences. My classroom will be centered on student's experience, using effective questions to guide my students through discovery. 

Inquiry based activities give students an opportunity to take ownership of their learning, constructing knowledge through questioning and exploration. Lessons are student centered, holding each student to a high expectation of involvement and responsibility. An initial interest in an inquiry learning style developed early in my college education experience, sparking my desire to develop my own engaging teaching style. I believe that students should be immersed in their learning, asking questions and making discoveries in order to construct understanding. Based on my research, I hope to prove that inquiry is an effective method to reach these goals for student achievement. My work will uncover how teachers implement this style. As I research, I will search for techniques teachers use to ask expert questions and make decisions each moment about what questions will probe student’s thinking and abilities. A goal for my research is to determine what teacher skills are necessary to reach success within inquiry teaching. In addition, I will determine how student expectations and classroom communities impact the effectiveness of inquiry.

I hope that this research project will allow me the opportunity to discover effective methods and pedagogy that support inquiry based learning.

Photo Link: http://www.mrsplemonskindergarten.com/2014/09/positively-pinspiring-inquiry-and.html