Using various learning modalities to help kids realize their full potential in an international school develops social and emotional learning skills, college and career-ready capabilities, and problem-solving abilities.
This stresses the student’s role in the learning process by allowing them to explore, ask questions, and express their thoughts in school. Inquiry-based learning employs a variety of methods, including guided learning and small-group discussions to develop abilities in applying reasoning to obtain conclusions.
Inquiry-based learning, despite its complexity, can be easier on teachers, somewhat because it transfers some duties from teachers to students, but largely because yielding authority interests students.
It’s not easy for inquiry-based teachers to do what they do; it’s just disguised, and some people conflate the two. Students develop their own talents as content-area experts while teachers hide the tactics they use to stimulate inquiry.
Types of Inquiry-Based Learning
1. Confirmation Inquiry-Based Learning
Secondary school students are given a question, an answer, and a means for obtaining the response in a confirmation inquiry. In order to understand how this strategy works, students employ critical thinking and investigative abilities.
2. Open Inquiry-Based Learning
Students offer original questions that they investigate using their own techniques, then present their findings for discussion to broaden their knowledge base. This is done often in schools.
3. Structured Inquiry-Based Learning
Students are given an open question and an investigative strategy in a structured inquiry. They employ this strategy to arrive at a fact-based judgment.
4. Guided Inquiry-Based Learning
Students work in groups to devise inquiry methods and practise problem-solving abilities in order to answer an open question.
Why Inquiry-Based Learning is Important?
1. Prepares the Brain to Learn
Students absorb information better throughout the day if they begin class with a short task. Curiosity is piqued by an activity that requires children to ask a question at the start of class, which prepares their brain for learning through mental stimulation.
2. Offers In-Depth Understanding
Inquiry-based learning allows students to connect what they’ve learned on their own. Instead of remembering and recalling rules, ideas, or formulae, their curiosity helps them engage and achieve a deeper knowledge of topics and content.
Most students understand why the rule or formula works, how the idea was produced, and when they may use the rule, formula, or idea after going through this procedure.
3. Develops Skills
Students improve their comprehension, critical thinking skills, and communication abilities through inquiry-based learning. Continuous use of their cognitive abilities benefits them not only in class but in everyday life as well.
4. Creates Ownership
Students investigate topics that interest them in addition to others, reinforcing their learning autonomy. They learn and engage in the way that suits them best. The use of open questions in schools encourages students to solve problems using their own ways and thinking patterns, putting them at the center of the experience.
5. Increased Engagement
Students are encouraged to immerse themselves in the learning process using this active learning strategy. They establish connections, ask questions, and learn more efficiently when they reach their findings as a result of their investigation of many topics.
6. Polishes Learning
By allowing students to explore issues on their own and create their own learning process, inquiry-based learning infuses joy and engagement. Transferable skills are taught to students, reinforcing initiative and self-direction.
They learn how to ask questions, debate subjects, collaborate on tasks, collaborate with others, and come to their own conclusions. Self-guided inquiry and analysis based on tasks they complete are used to synthesize this growth.
7. Inculcates a Love of Learning
Students in schools become more engaged when they have control over their learning process, which helps them build a passion for discovery and higher-level learning.
Also Read: Does School Prepare Students for the Future?
8. Promotes Deeper Curiosity for Learning
That’s because the practice of asking open questions and solving them in unique ways empowers students to take charge of their own education. They should be able to grasp a subject using their own methods and thinking processes, barring any glitches.
Experiential learning promoted in schools, in which students are at the center of the learning process, follows the same premise. They won’t be forced to go through a procedure they don’t understand, maybe leading to an illogical conclusion.
9. Makes Learning Rewarding
Inquiry can assist pupils in recognising the fundamental benefits of learning. It demonstrates to pupils how rewarding the act of discovery is, as well as the value of theorizing a new method or coming up with a unique conclusion.
As a result, they learn to value the learning process rather than parental or teacher approval. This suggests that a simple inquiry exercise can boost a student’s appreciation for learning.
10. Develops Self-Direction
Inquiry-based learning can help students enhance a variety of transferable abilities, including initiative and self-direction. Examining the steps of the inquiry process reveals this. Students learn how to ask questions, research, debate, collaborate and come to their own conclusions.
Self-guided inquiry and analysis synthesise this development, even if students can develop these abilities individually through various activities. Such abilities will be essential not only as children progress through the grades in schooling but also as they enter high school and beyond.
11. Works in any Classroom
Teachers in schools can benefit from inquiry-based learning since activities can be repurposed for practically any classroom.
It doesn’t matter what grade you’re in or how skilled you are. This is because you may adjust the pace and content to meet the needs of pupils and appeal to those who find traditional lessons difficult to understand.
You can also use an inquiry exercise as a “minds-on” activity, review, entire lesson, or solo project, and offer exercises with vastly different content and investigative methodologies. Any relevant idea should be reinforced and expanded upon if pupils have shown interest in it.
12. Provides Differentiated Instructions
Running an inquiry-based learning task will allow you to use differentiated instruction tactics to appeal to your students’ various learning styles.
Students can work independently or in small or big groups. Methods like discussion and guided research are commonly used in inquiry. Text, music, video, and virtual or physical manipulatives such as building blocks can all be used to provide content.
Inquiry activities can help you satisfy your students’ individual learning requirements and preferences by providing a variety of content and processing options.
Conclusion
There are ways to help you run an inquiry activity successfully, just like any other teaching style. These techniques will also help you and your school students reap the full benefits of inquiry-based learning.
Structured or guided inquiry exercises can help students understand areas they struggle with by allowing them to process information in various ways. They should be able to apply their own methodologies to examine facts that would otherwise be too difficult to analyze if they were investigating a subject you pose.
As a result, they’ll most likely come to conclusions that they understand as found by schools following this methodology. You can then talk about your findings and fill in any gaps in your knowledge to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Observing students throughout the activity can also teach you about their learning styles, which can help you tackle more challenging subjects in the future. Teachers in schools take the opportunity to watch student behavior while writing report card remarks.
