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Inquiry-Based Learning and Teaching

By: peacefieldhistory6 Comments

Inquiry-Based Learning

My teaching philosophy and goals have evolved many times over the years. Most transformative has been my change to inquiry-based learning.

What is Inquiry-Based Learning?

Essentially, inquiries surrounding a compelling question. This question must be specifically worded so that students could provide a complete evidence-based argument from many directions. The questions can be extremely broad. An example of a broad question might be – “Why do we have laws?” Questions can also be more specifically tailored, like, “Who should be blamed for the outbreak of the Civil War?”

Given the multitude of standards required at the state level, I’ve found that it’s most possible for me to include more structured inquiries in my class. This means that students that are given a question surrounding a specific time period and topic. The formative lessons they complete build their content knowledge and help them to answer the compelling question.

As always, I have students build their content knowledge through interactive primary and secondary source analysis. Students are provided with a task through each formative lesson to ensure that they are building their content knowledge about the topic. Sometimes, these tasks can act as mini-inquiries in themselves if I ask the students to analyze the evidence surrounding one specific historical event. I usually have three or four formative lessons before having students address the compelling question. 

By the time students have reached the point in the Unit where they might complete a summative assessment, students have gathered enough content knowledge and points of view to develop their own argument. I’ve had students argue their compelling question through a variety of assessments, including essays, designing a monument, and mock trials. 

Why I Love Inquiry-Based Learning

With inquiries, students can tangibly see that history isn’t settled or dead. Although there is a multitude of evidence surrounding historical events, historians still argue about that evidence. Inquiry-based learning mimics that authentic historical inquiry.

I used to have students write simple DBQ essays, and they were incredibly boring, both for the students to write and for me to grade! With basic DBQs, students were simply showing that they comprehended the historical documents and that they could summarize. While those are important skills, they challenge students at a very basic level. I could see that many of my high-level students were really bored by DBQs, and worse my student came to think that comprehension was all that history was. Ugh.

Now, students really think about how history occurred, who changed its course, and the way in which it should be remembered. They tackle all kinds of historical thinking through inquiry, and they still gain content knowledge through the process.

I’ve also found that inquiries combine really well with differentiation. For SPED students I think about how they can still address the compelling question at their level. I might reword the question more simply, or require less detail in their summative assessment. Formative lessons can be modified also by requiring less detail or have students spend their time reading and comprehending information instead of collecting that information. I can reach SPED students at their level of understanding, and still challenge all my students with critical thinking. Inquiry-based learning has been one of the best changes I’ve made to my teaching practice.

(If you’d like to see some example inquiries, check out c3teachers.org, or Bruce Lesh’s book Why Won’t You Just Tell Us the Answer? I also have four inquires including on the on the events leading to the Revolutionary War, one on Andrew Jackson, one on Shay’s Rebellion, and on one Westward Movement.)

Have you tried inquiry-based learning in your classroom?  


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Comments

  1. 3

    Abena says

    June 2, 2019 at 5:50 am

    Do you teach world history? If so, it’d be great to hear more about the questions you use and how you structure your inquiries. Happy to share back of course! I’m currently working on an inquiry around the concept of identity, using Zheng He’s connections with Malaysia to create my case studies.

    Reply
    • 4

      peacefieldhistory says

      June 2, 2019 at 10:47 am

      Hi Abena! Basically, the formative lessons involve having students interact with the content more specifically. Although the summative assessment might have a more open-ended question, the formative lessons are more content specific. Then, when students go to answer the summative questions, they’ll have enough information to craft their answer.

      Reply
      • 5

        Abena says

        September 18, 2019 at 1:06 am

        Thanks for the reply. I am fairly new to SS, and a colleague sent me some DBQs – I teach Grade 7 so definitely want to make them more interesting. I like the CSI idea so thanks for the inspiration!

        Reply
    • 6

      peacefieldhistory says

      August 21, 2020 at 9:40 am

      Hi Abena! I don’t teach World History, however, I could certainly write about this topic. I’ll add it to my blog list. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Reply

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I had a small win this Friday, and I needed it thi I had a small win this Friday, and I needed it this week. I told my AP students that I was excited about this quiz idea, and they laughed. Honestly, there’s not much to look forward to in a pandemic, and if an exciting quiz is it, well so be it. 

I took the idea of hexagonal review and turned it into a quiz. It was assigned in Google Slides, and I could see the minute they start editing, and the minute they finished. This also worked remotely, and it even worked for my students who have iffy internet. Zoom in to read the directions, and let me know if you have questions. (My Kardashian example is an inside joke with my AP kids.) 

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You are watching an insurrection. This is domesti You are watching an insurrection. 
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𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴???? ⁣ 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴???? ⁣
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I don't think we should be first on the list by any means... however, when I see teachers from other states getting that coveted shot in their arm, I wonder when it will be our turn. ⁣
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I just want some information.⁣
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This post might be two days late, but that's becau This post might be two days late, but that's because I'm all about finding "balance" this year. Balance between...⁣
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work/life⁣
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I can over think everything at every moment of the day. This year, I just want to live and savor the days instead. (This might just be because I'm 40 now, but I see those days as they pass, and they are fast y'all.)⁣
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Accurate. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to t Accurate.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those who celebrate in this season! I’m just trying not to eat ALL the spinach and artichoke dip that I made... #selfcare #thedipistheselfcare
My students have been playing "For Crown or Colony My students have been playing "For Crown or Colony?" over the past week, and I needed a new way to make sure that they were understanding/paying attention to what they were learning from the game. I wanted this check-in to be quick, easy to mark, and with minimal clicking on my part. @Padlet came to my rescue. Here's how I set it up.⁣
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1. I posted a question with directions. My post was the only item visible on the page.⁣
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Allison⁣
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So basically today was about how much I look like So basically today was about how much I look like my Bitmoji. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #greatkidslongyear #iteachmiddleschool #socialstudiesteacher #iteachhistory #hybridteaching #socialstudies #bitmoji #teachersofinstagram
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The day after the President told teachers that the The day after the President told teachers that they were focusing too much on slavery in our history, we talked about slavery in my AP class. Why? It's a HUGE part of U.S. History, and not shocking, it also a HUGE part of my curriculum. Slavery comes up often in my classes because it's so fundamental to our development as a country. I'd traditionally done this lesson as a silent conversation, however, I decided to have my hybrid class use Jamboard instead for this lesson.  I gave them 8 "thought provoking" prompts. They had to respond using the ideas they generated by reading two articles (Nash and Kendi). Then, they had to respond to a classmate's posts on each slide. ⁣
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Image from @theimpeccablewoman
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Get some rest this weekend!
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I hope your day was good also, and if it wasn’t, I hope it gets better soon!
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