Tip: Inquiry-based Learning > Building Inquiry
Along the spectrum of inquiry (from closed, to mixed, to open), projects can be Confirmation (closed)—Students confirm a principle through an activity when the results are known in advance; Structured (mixed)—Students investigate a teacher-presented question through a prescribed procedure, Guided (mixed)—Students investigate a teacher-presented question using student designed/selected procedures; and completely Open Inquiry—Students investigate questions that are student formulated through student designed/selected procedures (Banchi & Bell, 2008).
Assess where you (the teacher) are at and what your learners are ready for. Consider the following:
- What is the authentic task?
- What are the curriculum-framing questions (CFQs) of the unit? (Check out the previous tip series on CFQs at bit.ly/eMINTS-CFQs!)
- How can I promote student questioning?
- What authentic activities am I including in this unit?
- How will I support my students along the way?
- How will learning be assessed at the end of the unit?
To move a lesson to fully autonomous on the Spectrum of Inquiry, teachers can gradually give the students more control over the key features. With closed projects, the teacher defines the question, process, and conclusion; whereas, an open lesson allows learners to take the reins to define the question, process, and conclusion. The process can be gradual to scaffold students to more autonomous learning.
View previous tips on the Spectrum of Inquiry: bit.ly/eMINTSInquiryTips!
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