Students at International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools undertake six inquiries each year as part of the Primary Years Programme (PYP). The purpose of this Year 5 inquiry was for students to gain an understanding of the central idea: ‘Significant events have an impact on a community’. The focus of the inquiry was provided by the key concepts of Change, Causation, Perspective, and the lines of inquiry:
The collaborative planning that occurred between the classroom teachers and the teacher-librarian in the Year 5 inquiry resulted in an inquiry that was a rich learning experience for the students. The teachers strategically planned a series of inquiries, within the overall inquiry, to scaffold the student experience throughout the Information Search Process. The first inquiry was modelled by the teacher-librarian and related to The Overland Telegraph, the second was a guided inquiry in the classroom exploring the Gold Rush, both of which preceded an independent student inquiry on a significant historical event determined by individual student choice. Because of the incorporation of both teacher-initiated guided inquiry and a student open inquiry, the overall Year 5 inquiry about how significant events have an impact on a community is classified as a coupled inquiry (Dunkhase, 2000; Martin, 2001 as cited in Martin-Hansen, 2002). At this school, Year 6 students undertake a substantial open inquiry in the final year of the Primary Years Programme. The scaffolding provided in this year 5 inquiry prepares the students for the greater independence required in an open inquiry. When planning the Year 5 inquiry the teaching team were guided by the IB Primary Years Programme Planner. The PYP planner is a document that has many similarities to Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design planning framework, both of which are based on a backward by design approach to planning. Eight questions frame the PYP Planner, and the questions inform teacher planning:
The first four questions provide an overview of the Year 5 inquiry. There are several prompts under each of the key questions to further guide teacher planning. The questions are answered below, and associated learning experiences are detailed. 1. What is our purpose?Central Idea: Significant events have an impact on a community. **Students unpack the Central Idea using the 'Flat Chat' strategy - a silent written conversation, where students brainstorm what they know about key words. (See below) Summative Assessment Task: Students choose a significant event from Australian history and create a visual representation (mindmap/flowchart) to identify and describe the impact on the community. To demonstrate an appreciation of different perspectives of this event, they will write a first person account (diary entry of approx. one paragraph) from four different people. Flat Chat, Unpacking the Central Idea Photographs: Louise Cullen 2. What do we want to learn?Concepts: Change, Causation, Perspective Lines of Inquiry:
**In the planning phase of the inquiry, teachers pose subject or topic-specific questions that are designed to guide the inquiry and lead to an understanding of the central idea. This is a similar approach to the use of Essential Questions by McTighe and Wiggins (2008). Teacher Questions: What is a significant event? What is a community? How do significant events have an impact on a community? How has Australia developed over time? Who are the people involved in significant events? How has Australia changed? Why has Australia changed? How do different people view change caused by a significant event? **Australian Curriculum Humanities and Social Sciences content informs teacher planning at this stage. As the PYP is a concept-driven curriculum, of particular interest are the Australian Curriculum identified concepts for developing understanding which include: "sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance." There are also several pertinent knowledge and understanding content descriptors that provided direction for this inquiry including: “The impact of a significant development or event on an Australian colony (ACHASSK108)” “The nature of convict or colonial presence, including the factors that influenced patterns of development, aspects of the daily life of the inhabitants (including Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples) and how the environment changed (ACHASSK107)” There are also inquiry and skills content descriptors required for students to access the knowledge and understanding content, or explore the concepts: “Locate and collect relevant information and data from primary and secondary sources (ACHASSI095)” “Examine different viewpoints on actions, events, issues and phenomena in the past and present (ACHASSI099)” 3. How might we know what we have learned?Establishing Prior Knowledge: Students study an Australian Bureau of Statistics animated graph depicting the growth of the Australian population from 1788 - 2007 and the changes on the colony, state and territory boundaries on a series of maps of Australia. Students consider events that may have triggered changes in population growth and to the boundaries on the map of Australia and add these to a class padlet. Looking for: breadth / accuracy of knowledge of significant events in Australian history and any student misconceptions. Assessment of student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry: Formative Assessment tasks: Gold Rush Journal Entry, Mid-inquiry Reflection on Understanding of the central idea, Timeline events through conceptual lenses, 4. How best might we learn?The teachers planned for two inquiries to steadily build student independence before the third inquiry, an open-inquiry within the overall Year 5 inquiry. Each of the three embedded inquiries were structured using the Gourley Inquiry Model. As in the case of the Year 5 inquiry, it is common for several inquiries to be operating sequentially or concurrently within a larger inquiry. Human Systems Dynamics in Education define such inquiry cycles as Adaptive Action Cycles. This simple three step cycle is a deliberate learning process which asks What? So What? Now What? It recognises the constant cyclical nature of inquiry, which was evident throughout the Year 5 inquiry. Teacher modelled (collaborative) inquiry about The Overland Telegraph: Tuning in Students connect key words related to The Overland Telegraph to predict a significant event (indicates level of prior knowledge) Finding out Watch 'Constructing Australia: Wire Through the Heart' which begins "It was a moment that changed Australia..." Sorting out Refer back to key words and explain connections Making conclusions Students explain the impact The Overland Telegraph had on Australia in general, then the impact from different perspectives Going Further Connect to Burke and Wills expedition Reflecting/Taking Action Teacher led discussion identifying the interconnectedness of Australian history. Further questions - Given we didn't know about The Overland Telegraph and it had such a significant impact on the Australian community, what other events have helped to shape Australia? Teacher-initiated student inquiry on the Gold Rush Tuning in Establish prior knowledge **Students record 'What do I think I know?" about the Gold Rush (see below) Gold Rush Tuning In - 'What do I think I know?' Photo: Louise Cullen Finding Out Web-based research about Gold Rush, (mini-lesson on note taking, plagiarism); Expert Jigsaw groups form to research different aspects of the Gold Rush Sorting Out Jigsaw groups re-form and collate information (see below) Jigsaw Expert Group Collation of Research Photo: Louise Cullen Making conclusions Identify and describe the Gold Rush from one perspective **Students selected one perspective to recount, in one diary entry, life during the Gold Rush (see below). Student diary entry from an indigenous perspective Photo: Louise Cullen Going Further Excursion to Birrigai to experience life on the goldfields and develop an understanding of the events leading up to the Eureka Stockade uprising (see below); View the documentary ‘Eureka Stockade’ (note taking). Student Gold Field / Eureka Stockade experiential role play Photos: Louise Cullen Reflecting/Taking Action Australian Gold Rush: Reflection Pyramid **Students reflected on the Gold Rush Research using the prompts: What have I seen? What have I heard? What will I ask now? How does this connect to our central idea? (see below). Student reflection on Gold Rush Research Photo: Louise Cullen Student selected significant event Tuning in Working in small groups, students access www.austhistorytimeline.com, select three events from Australian history, and use the key concepts describe the cause of the event, the change that the event caused, and the various perspectives on the event. (See below) Students tuning in to historical events Photo: Louise Cullen Finding out Working independently, students select an event and conduct research so they can explain the significance of the event and write a diary entry from four different perspectives. While seeking differing perspectives on significant historical events, it was important that students evaluated the sources of information carefully, adopting the role of text analyst or text critic when accessing sources of information. They had to consider who had produced the text and for what purpose, often they were looking for what was missing from the text as much as what was explicitly stated (Luke & Freebody, 2002). Conceptual lenses were applied which allowed students to interpret text with a different focus. This positioned the inquiry within the Transformative Window in the GeSTE Windows Information Literacy model (Lupton & Bruce, 2010). Sorting out Draw out perspectives from the research Making conclusions Write diary entries by applying research findings Reflecting/Taking Action Summarising understanding about the Central Idea Journal entries and student reflection Photos: Louise Cullen ReflectionReflecting, during and upon conclusion of an inquiry is an expectation for teachers involved in the PYP programme. Considering a range of inquiry-related theories and models has been enlightening in the reflection process. As a consequence many recommendations have emerged that may improve learning outcomes. On a personal/professional note, as the teacher-librarian collaborating on the Year 5 inquiry it is apparent that the primary focus of library lessons concerned inquiry content, for example learning about The Overland Telegraph. In the teacher-librarian role, expertise in the area of information literacy should be the primary contribution, albeit contextualised through relevant content. A shift is required in future inquiries and the teacher-librarian is the staff member best equipped to identify and address the needs of students in the zone of intervention in information seeking, as described by Kuhlthau. Although the inquiry was judged to be positioned in the Transformative Window of the Lupton & Bruce GeSTE Information Literacy model , which is inclusive of the Situated and Generic windows, the difficulty experienced by some students when conducting research (according to SLIM survey responses) indicates that greater attention to the skills and processes in the Generic window was required. As Gourley's inquiry model is being used as a framework for the inquiry process, it is recommended that the prompts in the Finding Out stage of the inquiry are explicitly shared with students and enacted during the inquiry. The prompts include:
"Typically by the end of Year 6, students:
Question Matrix to support student generation of questions ConclusionThere are many positive aspects to the Year 5 inquiry. The inquiry was well structured, using a recognised inquiry model, addressed curricula requirements, maintained student interest and providing scope for student choice. However, the inquiry analysis has highlighted areas where the inquiry could improve. In particular, an increased focus on addressing information literacy, to assist student research skills within an inquiry, and the use of a questioning framework to assist students to generate rich inquiry questions are recommended. ReferencesInternational Baccalaureate Organisation (2007) PYP Planner. Cardiff: International Baccalaureate Organisation.
Kuhlthau, Carol. (2010). Guided inquiry : school libraries in the 21st century School Libraries Worldwide, 16 (1), 1-12. Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari. A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. SantaBarbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. Lupton, Mandy and Bruce, Christine. (2010). Chapter 1 : Windows on Information Literacy Worlds : Generic, Situated and Transformative Perspectives in Lloyd, Annemaree and Talja, Sanna, Practising information literacy : bringing theories of learning, practice and information literacy together, Wagga Wagga: Centre for Information Studies, pp.3-27. Martin-Hansen, L. (2002). Defining inquiry: Exploring the many types of inquiry in the science classroom. The Science Teacher, 69(2), 34-37. Short, K. (1997) ‘Inquiring into inquiry’. Learning 25(3), 52–54.
0 Comments
|
Louise CullenInquirer Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|