When I reflect on my learning in the past few months I can identify the stages of Carol Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP):
I primarily pursued the first question, and questions that subsequently emerged such as:
The follow up questions stemmed from the original exploration of big ideas and served to refine the direction of the inquiry. The other two questions, about collaboration and the use of ICT in inquiry learning were not addressed in the re-search process because I was focused on finding out about big ideas in inquiry learning. In the initial formulation of my questions, I felt as though I had skipped Kuhlthau’s initiation stage and moved straight to selection. However, I had been lulled into a false sense of security because I hadn’t factored in the concurrent inquiry, which was investigating and applying expert searching strategies, of which I was no expert at the outset! It is this experience that bests exemplifies how my expert search process aligns with Kuhlthau’s ISP. Being aware of the six stages of Kuhlthau’s ISP, I predicted I would progress through each stage over time. However, I soon came to recognise that as I conducted re-search using different platforms, and experimented with new search strings and operators, I experienced the entire process in the production of each blog post. The dip in confidence, with feelings of confusion and doubt were heightened when I was using unfamiliar platforms such as A+ Education and ProQuest, and while they were still present, were not as apparent using Google, Google Scholar or Social Media platforms. There were benefits of repeating the cycle of the ISP, especially the fact that I was able to enact the presentation stage and put my learning to use, specifically applying search strategies, which consolidated and allowed me to extend on the knowledge gained in each cycle. There were other parallels between the action I was taking and what I was learning about. Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design, resonated with me as I appreciated that I was progressing through a sequence of learning that was designed with a goal of understanding in mind. Every stage of the re-search process was designed to deepen my understanding. As I read about the importance of formulating inquiry questions, I valued the role that the questions I had formulated played in my own inquiry. The pre-search phase of each re-search sequence was important to establish prior knowledge, which informed the search through language selection and I was able to make connections between existing knowledge and learning discoveries. Both of these stages of inquiry feature in many inquiry models. The re-search process, inquiring about inquiry, has increased my metacognitive understanding about the inquiry process, as an inquirer, and importantly as an educator.
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As I have explored inquiry learning, the re-search process has resulted in improved search skills and a deepening understanding of why teachers should incorporate broad themes and big ideas in the design of inquiry learning? This question piqued my interest and was pursued because the precept is seemingly at the core of inquiry learning. The scope for inquiring about this inquiry question has expanded because, the more I have learned, the more questions I have – one such related thread has been about the role of questions in probing for deep understanding of big ideas.
The incorporation of broad themes and big ideas is an important aspect in the design of inquiry learning. Advocates of the notion that we have moved from the information age to the conceptual age emphasise the need to counter the constant overload of information by focusing on the understanding of big ideas or concepts (Short, 2009). To manage the overcrowded curriculum Perkins (2012) somewhat provocatively suggests that 90% of curriculum currently taught should be reconsidered as it is possibly a waste of time. The alternative proposal is to identify what is important to learn and plan teaching and learning around understandings of wide scope or big ideas. Core curriculum can be used strategically to build student understanding of big ideas. Wiggins and McTighe (1998, pp. 10-14) advocate that teachers should draw big ideas or key understandings from content descriptors and plan lessons that will assist students to develop an understanding of the big idea. When implemented at a macro school-wide level, interdisciplinary learning can deepen student understandings of big ideas through the exploration of the same concept. The New York City Department of Education describes this potential in a Social Studies Project Based Learning unit on the American Revolution, which focuses on conflict and change. The Language Arts department could concurrently explore the theme of conflict and change through the public’s reaction to new art styles and forms and science teachers might study conflict and change in the animal kingdom. “This interdisciplinary approach will lead students to a multi-faceted and deeper understanding of conflict and change as well as knowledge in all three content areas” (2009, p. 12). This approach is supported by Wiggins (2010) who agrees that when students understand a big idea or concept a mental schema is created that allows learners to transfer understanding across different contexts. If understanding of big ideas is the purpose of an inquiry, questions are the vehicle that delivers understanding. However, not all questions are equal. The type of question asked can determine the depth of intellectual thinking in an inquiry. Cam (2006, p.34) suggests a model for sorting questions to identify questions that could sustain an in-depth inquiry. While Sigel (cited by Elias, 2014) supports using a variety of question types, he goes further to suggest that the way questions are asked is important, specifically the use of follow up questions to probe for understanding. So there it is ... just some of the reasons why teachers should incorporate broad themes and big ideas in the design of inquiry learning and even some tips about how to do it. References
Cam, Philip. (2006). 20 Thinking Tools: Collaborative Inquiry for the Classroom. Camberwell, Vic.: ACER.
Elias, M. (2014, July 14). The Importance of Asking Questions to Promote Higher-Order Competencies. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/ Perkins, David. (2012, May 18). Interview with David Perkins [video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/_CAdXXekKKM New York City Education Department. (2008). Project-Based Learning: Inspiring Middle School Students to Engage in Deep and Active Learning. Retrieved from http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/teachandlearn/project_basedFinal.pdf Short, Kathy G. (2009). "Inquiry as a Stance on Curriculum." Taking the PYP Forward. Melton, Woodbridge U.K.: John Catt Educational. Retrieved from http://www.ibmidatlantic.org/Inquiry_as_stance.pdf Wiggins, J. (2010, June 10). What is a big idea? Authentic Education. Retrieved from http://www.authenticeducation.org/ae_bigideas/ Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Curation
While inquiring about inquiry, my re-search uncovered these resources, which I found to be useful to develop my understanding and address my inquiry questions. When you click on a link, if it does not open automatically, you may need to click on the 'view original' button.
Until recently, I divided my Social Media platforms into two groups, my personal networks and my professional networks. Facebook has connected me with friends and Twitter has connected me with fellow educators. However, the lines are blurring and I'm not sure that I like it. Facebook was once my downtime - but it too has become a forum for professional connections, even the official platform for a postgraduate course. Given the potential to glean professional learning from Facebook and Twitter, it is with interest I continue my quest by searching Social Media.
Pre-Search
Before I started any re-search, I established my prior knowledge about Social Media platforms. With teenage children, I thought I was quite in tune. I could easily name six different platforms that I have used personally (a few just to keep track of my children!)
Search Tip
Using the Google Search engine, the search term define followed by a key word or phrase will produce a definition in the search results.
Social Media: "The collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.(WhatIs.com) Several of the key words in the definition of Social Media resonate with my growing understanding of inquiry learning, most obviously collaboration. Rather quickly, my initial six forms of Social Media seemed paltry and were dwarfed by the ever expanding Social Media beast, as depicted in 'The Conversation Prism' pictured below. For the purposes of manageable re-searching using Social Media, I will be selective in the platforms I use. YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing website, created in 2005. What did we ever do before YouTube? I hadn't considered YouTube as Social Media, but it is an online communication channel that allows content sharing and interaction. Many people have their own YouTube channel, even me! YouTube is frequently used as a source of information, where tutorials can be found on just about anything.
My re-search focus was How can broad themes and big ideas be incorporated in the design of inquiry learning? I included the search term "concept based learning" because of my own professional context at an International Baccalaureate school, where big ideas are framed through a conceptual lens.
"Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues." (WhatIs.com)
I "liked" one of the Facebook pages (so far) and I look forward to posts from the Inquiry Based Learning and Teaching page appearing on my Facebook newsfeed.
Storify - curating Social Media
Storify is a social network service that allows people to create stories by curating posts from social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I have used Storify to collect a sample of tweets about inquiry learning.
Twitter Storify Tips
Within Storify there are options to search many different Social Media feeds to select content for a Storify story. I decided to focus on Twitter. Given my prior knowledge about how hashtags work in Twitter, to group tweets, I presumed using a # would provide me with results pertaining to inquiry learning. I attempted the search #inquirylearning and compared it to the search inquiry learning. I gained a similar quantity but differing results. Many of the results did not inform my understanding of inquiry learning, as they were things such as photographs of people presenting about inquiry learning. The most useful tweets often contained links to websites. I then discovered an option to refine the Storify search according to type of tweet (all, tweets with link, tweets with media). I selected 'tweets with link' and this produced a wealth of tweets that directed me all over the web, uncovering many different, mostly relevant resources. Results can be viewed using this link to the Story produced using Storify, or they are displayed below.
What better place to pursue a quest, now I'm starting to feel like a searching pro than ProQuest? The quest is to find answers to the questions:
Search TipsAs ProQuest Education is an American database, search terms need to reflect American language preferences. For example elementary rather than primary. When using this database, there are many searchable fields to narrow your results. One such proximity operator that I found useful was the indexing tool SUBJECT.exact. The use of quotation marks around search terms negated lemmatization whereby the search engine only looked for exact matches of the search terms. Alternatively, if you want the search engine to look for variables of a key word, such as mouse and mice, do not include quotation marks. The proximity operator NEAR/4 allows for the combination of words within a specified proximity of one another. When examining the search results, it is advisable to look at the suggested related items. When using a database such as ProQuest, another tool available to the searcher is the thesaurus. The thesaurus is valuable as it suggests synonyms for key words. Unfortunately for my search, the suggestions were irrelevant. For example: My second search string which was following up on the relationship between student questions and engagement (see below); the thesaurus suggested related terms for question as interviews, polls & surveys, responses and for engagement I was heading into military air strikes and friendly fire territory. Although this is how the prospect of inquiry teaching may feel at times ... this is not what I was after! Search string and resultsSUBJECT.exact("Inquiry method") AND SUBJECT.exact("Elementary schools") This search string yielded 27 results, including one of particular interest. A dissertation by Diaz (2011) analysed the use of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH). The SWH is a framework for instruction based on providing multiple opportunities for students to develop conceptual understanding. A key component of the SWH involves student-generated questioning. As my re-search questions pertain to the role of student-generated questions, I followed up on this model. "science writing heuristic" (question NEAR/4 student NEAR/4 engagement) Two results were forthcoming from this search string. One by Chin and Osborne (2008), argued that "To nurture the spirit of inquiry in students and cultivate questioning as a habit of mind, a central role for any teacher, therefore, is to foster a classroom environment where it is intellectually, socially and academically rewarding for students to pose thoughtful questions." Indeed, I do feel like a search pro thanks to the success experienced using ProQuest Education. I have found articles that relate directly to my inquiry questions. ReferenceChin, C., & Osborne, J. (2008). Students' questions: A potential resource for teaching and learning science. Studies in Science Education, 44(1), 1-39. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057260701828101#abstract
Diaz, J. F. (2011). Examining student-generated questions in an elementary science classroom (Order No. 3461111). Available from ProQuest Education Journals. (879631950). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/879631950?accountid=13380 As I progress with my inquiry about inquiry learning, I can relate to the rollercoaster of emotions described as typical during an inquiry process in Kuhlthau's Information Search Process. During the task initiation phase I was feeling uncertain, my thoughts were vague and lacked direction. I was floundering in a spiral of confusion, frustration and doubt. But, optimism emerged, as I experienced a modicum of success using Boolean operators to frame search string algorithms. Although my emotions have been in a state of flux through the trial and error (!) process of conducting an inquiry, I am moving forward with improved search skills and confidence to experiment with new search strategies, even with growing excitement. My initial re-search was informed to a great extent by the works of Wiggins and McTighe, and has led me to a new inquiry question. What role do questions play in fostering student understanding of big ideas? To expand my knowledge base, I am interested in learning about questioning from sources other than Wiggins and McTighe. To further my re-search and to hone search skills, I will be using the A+ Education database, which provides access to articles from Australian education journals. Of course people from outside of Australia publish in Australian educational journals, so I will have to be strategic in my searching to exclude Wiggins and McTighe. PRE-SEARCHBefore tapping into the A+ Education database, I considered the things I thought I already knew about questions or questioning and recorded them on a mindmap (below). I had a metacognitive revelation during this process when I was wondering how I know what I know. I realised I was making predictions and connecting to my prior knowledge. I recalled a presentation by David Hornsby where he described the relationship between inviting student predictions and an increase in student engagement in a reading task. I presume the same would apply at the commencement of an inquiry. If students ask and speculate about possible answers to questions before the finding out stage, there could be a positive correlation to student engagement in the inquiry. This is a thread I will follow during my A+ Education database search.
FindingsMy confidence deteriorated and frustration levels skyrocketed - that was my first finding! It was very time consuming attempting to thread together an effective search string that produced results for my inquiry question. The need to broaden, then narrow for relevance resulted in cognitive drain and not many results. I felt like a gold miner hitting rock bottom, when I finally struck gold. My final search string provided only six results, but all were relevant and informed my question. One article in particular by Phil Cam (2006) described the importance of teaching students how to ask questions that would lead to inquiry. He has developed the Question Quadrant for this purpose. Student questions are categorised, in collaboration with the students. Over time, Cam found that students increasingly posed questions that were open-ended and addressed big ideas or concepts that required inquiry. Even though I eventually found some relevant sources of information, my initial inquiry question remains largely unanswered. What role do questions play in fostering student understanding of big ideas? The additional question I posed during the brainstorming process of this inquiry phase also remains unanswered. Do student-generated questions influence student engagement in an inquiry? I am wondering if a database that is not restricted to only Australian published journals may yield greater results using the same or similar search threads. To infiniti and beyond... ProQuest Education, here I come. ReferencesCam, Philip. 2006. Introductory Toolkit. In: Cam, Philip. Twenty Thinking Tools. Camberwell, Vic.: ACER Press.
Who would have thought that while learning to refine a search engine query I would discover that I was applying 'Boolean logic' that was developed in the 1850s by mathematician and philosopher George Boole? Such an unlikely revelation sparked my interest in Boolean operators, which I have found to be extremely useful tools when combining key words to broaden or narrow search results.
I refined my search results, by experimenting with the logical application of Boolean operators, and the careful selection of key words or phrases in search strings, while finding out about this inquiry question: How can broad themes and big ideas be incorporated in the design of inquiry learning? These are the key words I selected to begin the search: big idea, inquiry learning, primary / elementary, education Choosing key words that are relevant, broad, yet not too broad is important to refine search results. FUN FACT
A website called 'Google Fight' allows you to enter two search terms, to determine which term has the highest visibility, calculated by the number of results returned on Google and also the number of times each query is typed in a month.
Once the key words are chosen, the way the words are combined also matters.
Key Findings
Many results were postings by schools describing how big ideas are used in curriculum design. Additional key words emerged as I read through selected results, highlighting the importance of using synonyms to broaden search results. These included: problem-based, project based, conceptual understanding, central idea, PYP, IB and several names such as Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins, Lyn Erickson. One result linked to a PDF extract of a chapter from the book 'Taking the PYP Forward' entitled 'Inquiry as a Stance on Curriculum' written by Kathy G Short which provided a rationale as to why big ideas are incorporated in inquiry learning:
FUN FACT
After recognising the benefits of including synonyms in search terms, I explored the website Instagrok, which is a wonderful way to generate an interactive mind map that incorporates synonyms. This could inform the selection of key words for an internet search. Click on the image below to open up a 'Grok' showing stems from 'inquiry learning'. Have a go at sliding the difficulty setting to see the results change.
inquiry learning | Learn about inquiry learning on instaGrok, the research engine:http://www.instagrok.com/results.html?query=inquiry+learning&share_id=_&result_id=JUfVat0ZSECOzGvkBpU5&action=view
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
The Google Search results included a suggestion at the head of the page of scholarly articles using the same search string. I followed this link and was directed to Google Scholar. Isn't Google clever to make such a useful suggestion! I presume the suggestion arose as I had included recognised academics in the search query. The 1860 Google Scholar offerings were starkly different to the 111 000 listed on the Google search results. As the name suggests Google Scholar allows users to find scholarly literature. Restricted access to full transcripts of some results listed on Google Scholar may be an issue for users without access to an academic library database.
Findings
My second search term included the names Wiggins and McTighe because in my initial Google search these names emerged in association with "big ideas". In the initial Google search results were more informal text types such as a blog post written by Wiggins. However on Google Scholar the text types were more formal, including the first Chapter of the Wiggins & McTighe publication 'Understanding by Design'.
Consider an inquiry about extinction (enduring understanding or big idea). Students may learn about extinct species (worth being familiar with), consequences of land clearing / overfishing / pollution (important to know) and research skills (important to be able to do). All of the planned learning in an inquiry is designed to foster an understanding of the big idea of extinction. Without the big idea as the focus, children may become experts on dinosaurs, or dodo birds, or Tasmanian Tigers - all of which are worth being familiar with, but not enduring understandings. However, with the big idea as the focus of an inquiry, learning facts about these extinct animals can lead to an understanding of the concept of extinction.
Further Questions
Wiggins and McTighe have written extensively about the importance of big ideas, but I also noted the mention of essential questions. It seems obvious that questioning is an important component of any inquiry. If it is important, I should know more about it.
To follow up on this initial inquiry, I would like to find out: What role do questions play in fostering student understanding of big ideas? It seems I am on my own quest of Understanding by Design, using the backward design approach. I've realised the starting point is identifying big ideas, now to discover how educators can guide students to construct understanding of a big idea. I am a teacher-librarian at an International Baccalaureate school that teaches the Primary Years Programme (PYP) using inquiry learning pedagogy. While I have training and experience planning for and implementing inquiry-based learning, the very nature of inquiry learning means I continue to learn more about inquiry. The purpose of this blog is to record my growing knowledge and understanding of inquiry learning pedagogy. An initial search using the term 'inquiry learning' in the Google Search Engine netted 181 million results. Obviously I didn't check all the results, but as I scanned the first ten pages many key words (and names) were familiar, which confirmed my understanding of inquiry learning. These words are depicted below in a word cloud, along with words describing the stages of several inquiry models that surfaced during the search. My first experience with inquiry learning was in a Queensland State School that adopted 'Rich Tasks' in an integrated curriculum approach. When I moved to an International Baccalaureate School, and taught the Primary Years Programme (PYP) curriculum, I realised that the Rich Tasks were in fact heavily teacher-directed research projects, rather than inquiries. "The PYP is committed to structured, purposeful inquiry that engages students actively in their own learning. The programme supports students’ efforts to construct meaning from the world around them by:
The IB doesn't mandate or promote any particular inquiry model. I have facilitated guided inquiry using a variety of inquiry models including Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle with six stages 'Tuning in, Finding out, Sorting out, Making Conclusions, Going Further, Reflecting & Taking Action'; The 5Es 'Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate' and John Dewey's Inquiry Model 'Ask, Investigate, Create, Discuss, Reflect'. What I have learned is that while the models may use different terminology they generally follow the same path, a path that reflects the natural inquiry process people employ when conducting purposeful, quest-oriented research, such as when planning a holiday, and the end goal is the construction of understanding by the inquirer. The key message from the International Baccalaureate is that learners are constructing meaning at the heart of the PYP curriculum. Although, I have some knowledge about inquiry learning, there is much to learn. The more I learn, through readings and lectures, the more questions I have. For example, Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari (2007) wrote about the information explosion and the reality that there is too much information to learn. The overcrowded curriculum has long been the stuff of staff room complaints and many teachers look hopefully to inquiry learning pedagogy as a solution. As Kuhlthau et al., (2007), identified a "focus on broad themes and big ideas" as one of the fundamentals in Guided Inquiry, and potentially an antidote to an overcrowded curriculum, it has me wondering: How can broad themes and big ideas be incorporated in the design of inquiry learning? In the LCN616 Week 1 lecture Mandy Lupton (2015) explained that there is an emphasis on collaboration in inquiry learning pedagogy, which prompted this question: What are the benefits of collaboration in inquiry learning? Kuhlthau (2010) discusses the pros and cons of the use of emerging technologies in the education. I am an enthusiastic integrator of tech tools in the classroom, but haven't necessarily considered the pedagogical implications, hence my final questions: What are the pedagogical affordances of using information communication technology in inquiry learning? References:
IBO. (2009). Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education. [image] UK: International Baccalaureate. IBO. (2015). Taught Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.ibo.org/en/ 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. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. Lupton, M. (2015). LCN616 Introduction to Inquiry Learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ESFvEaSB0 |
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