Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Fall 2017
Education 378
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Abstract
Education is a field that is extremely important, which is why people are always
trying to improve and refine it. As a result, techniques and pedagogies change
frequently in an attempt to keep up with the evolving profession. One of the more recent
trends in education is the practice of teaching through inquiry. Inquiry based lessons
involve, the creation of a classroom where students are engaged in essentially open-
ended, student centered, hands-on activities. There are four more specific types of
inquiry, but for the purposes of this paper, we will focus on structured inquiry defined
well as the procedures, and materials, but does not inform them of expected outcomes,
(Colburn, 42).
During my time observing at Bronx High School of Science, I noticed that a lot of
the lessons I saw fit under the category of structured inquiry. Students were often given
problems to solve, after the teacher had gone over the procedures to do so. This kept
the students engaged and forced them to think, without creating an environment where
students became so frustrated with solving problems that they became discouraged and
structured inquiry into the lesson plan I developed on the introduction to imaginary
numbers.
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Introduction
Over the course of my math career, I have had many teachers who have been
incredibly helpful, and who have helped shape the type of teacher I want to be.
Unfortunately, as with many other students, I have had teachers who have not been as
helpful. While these teachers may have made learning more difficult, they also have
impacted how I want to teach, and how my pedagogy has been formed.
The best teachers Ive had have been able to balance lecturing, notes, and
examples in such a way that makes the material make sense. The most important part
of the lesson plans of these teachers, have been the examples that they give and the
way in which they deliver them to the class. The teaching style in which these example
questions are posed are known as teaching through inquiry. Inquiry lessons have many
aspects to them, but the most important aspect is that the students be involved and are
able to work through problems on their own. When students take on a more involved
role in the classroom, they naturally put forth more effort, which in turn leads higher
There are four types of inquiry, (confirmation, guided, open, and structured),
noticed that a lot of the lessons used the structured style of inquiry. This style involves
the students finding the outcome after they are given a question and method. Students
should be given time to struggle through their solutions, as well as their use of the
specified method. I believe that this method is highly effective for mathematics classes
because it allows for the teacher to get through the material in the Common Core
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standards, while at the same time allowing for students to experience an inquiry based
classroom.
Research
The first thing I wanted to research, was what exactly a teacher needs to be able to do
Primer by Alan Colburn, there are a few things that a teacher can focus on when
developing their lessons. The first is to ask open-ended questions, which force students
to think about concepts, and possibly help the teacher to gain insight into what students
already know about the topic. Teachers should also avoid telling students what to do or
how to do it. This allows for students to feel free to move in whatever direction they feel
best. And lastly, in my opinion, the most important thing brought up in this article is for a
every classroom, but in inquiry lessons may require the students to be a bit more
disciplined so that they do not become distracted or stray from the task at hand
(Colburn, 44).
aspects of it, and what others had found on the topic. One of the first research articles I
came across that I found helpful, was by Sarah Schmid and Franz X. Bogner, titled
Abilities of Content Knowledge. Schmid and Bogner claim that, learning is the product
participation of the learner. In a math setting, this active participation can take on many
forms. It could be as simple as students helping the teacher solve an example problem,
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or as complex as students designing and carrying out an experiment that uses the
Some schools, like Bronx High School of Science, may have highly motivated
students who would do quite performing an experiment. While on the other hand, there
may be schools in which students may be less motivated, and thus stray from the task
at hand when carrying out their experiment. People who oppose structured inquiry may
use these schools as examples of why structured inquiry wont work, and why it should
may not always be an effective use of time, but argue that there are other ways that the
students could be actively engaged. Instead of an experiment, perhaps the students are
given a practice problem to be worked on in small groups. Students here would still be
required to think critically and make use of key ideas and concepts. The good thing
about having such a broad range of options for active participation is that it allows for
Furthering the idea that structured inquiry is scalable, Heather Banchi and Randy
Bell explain how, most students, regardless of age, need extensive practice to develop
their inquiry abilities, in The Many Levels of Inquiry. Developing inquiry includes critical
thinking, problem solving, and ability to struggle; all of which are important components
to all aspects of life; not just mathematics. Banchi and Randy do a great job in
describing structured inquiry, however they classify it as, lower-level [inquiry], and in
the process attach a negative connotation with it. I believe that although structured
inquiry is not as extravagant as open inquiry, where students, have the purest
opportunities to act like scientists, it still provides many benefits, such as developing
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explanations for concepts, and further, is something that could theoretically be used in
every lesson, where as teachers may have a more difficult time incorporating open
While there are many who support teaching through inquiry, this paper would be
incomplete if it did not address those who criticize and oppose this style of teaching.
One such paper that does so is Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not
Sweller & Richard E. Clark. In the article, the authors argue that inquiry is no better than
direct instruction, and that in some cases it could be worse when students acquire
account the development of the student outside of the content area. Critical thinking and
problem solving are life lessons that students are able to practice within an inquiry
based lesson. Further, the teacher should dismiss any misconceptions that students
may develop, and if the teacher fails to do so, then whos to say that these teachers
It wouldnt make sense to argue that direct instruction does not have its place
within the classroom, and as would the argument that every lesson should be 100%
inquiry based. Through my time observing and the research Ive conducted, I would
argue that the best lessons blend both aspects in a timely and effective manner.
specialized form of inquiry-based learning, and are some of the most intense and
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rigorous educational programs one could enlist in (Healey,4). There is always a demand
for doctors, and recently there has been a great demand for engineers, and so it is
teaching practices so that they are somewhat familiar with it if/when they move on the
something that takes a bit of getting used to, so the sooner we expose our youth to it,
Constructing a Plan
Armed with this research, and my observations in the classroom, I set out to
design a lesson plan that effectively used structured inquiry concepts. The lesson was
lesson plan, I tried to use as much structured inquiry as possible, however I felt it critical
to set some time aside for direct instruction. I planned to use this time to introduce that
students to use this information to come up with answers to what ! and ! equal. I had
given students a problem and a method in which to follow, and allowed them time to
think and come up with a solution on their own. I believe that this is a better method
than simply telling them that ! = and ! = 1, because going forward they will be
asked to find things like !" and need to do so by rewriting it as products of powers of
that they already know the value of, similar to how they used and ! to find ! and ! .
I also allowed time for students to explore a number of example problems that included
working with .
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Being that this is an introductory lesson, my first impression was that it would be
difficult to implement inquiry, and that I would end up spending a lot of time on direct
instruction. However, once I got to work on my lesson plan I noticed that integrating
inquiry was easier than I imagined. As it was stated before, one of the goals is to get the
students involved and actively participating, and so I did so by allotting time for them to
solve problems, share answers with the class, and help me work through some example
Reflection
Overall I think that the lesson plan I created was an effective one. Considering it
was an introductory lesson, I felt that the extent to which I could challenge the students
was limited. Also, the application of imaginary numbers is difficult to see in upper level
mathematics (I have not come across it in my three years of math classes at Manhattan
College) as well as in the real world. Nevertheless, I think that my use of practice
problems was an effective integration of structured inquiry that allowed students time to
learn how to work with this newfound idea of imaginary numbers. As mentioned prior, I
did use some time for direct instruction, however that was simply to set up the inquiry
Imaginary numbers dont come up often in many every day situations, so it would
have been difficult to come up with real life examples where students could collect and
analyze data. Understanding this reality, I tried to choose sample questions that
incorporated things students had already learned, such as factoring, so that the
Conclusion
Math is tricky. Its tricky for students to learn, and it can be tricky for teachers to
teach. People have different views on what should be taught, and how it should be
taught. As the research in this paper demonstrates, there are conflicting views on
inquiry style teaching, however I maintain that it is a style that students can benefit
greatly from. Too often teachers will give definitions, concepts, or theories, without an
example or practice problem to detail how it can be applied. For me, a definition or
theory without an example paints an incomplete picture. Anyone can read a definition
and make some sense of it, but have they really learned anything. Students need to be
able to work with concepts, and think through problems they face when trying to answer
questions. Direct Instruction has its place in education, however, when teachers rely on
it for every lesson they develop, the student is robbed of their ability to practice critical
thinking and problem solving. They may be attentive for a class period or two, but week
after week, month after month, they will begin to lose interest, and passively sit through
class waiting for the bell to ring. Incorporating inquiry into lessons is an excellent way to
Bibliography
Banchi, H.,& Bell, R. (2008).The many levels of inquiry. Science and children, 46(2), 26.
Healey, M. (2005). Linking research and teaching exploring disciplinary spaces and the
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during
Schmid, S., & Bogner, F. X. (2015). Effects of students effort scores in a structured