Re: Inquiery based learning

[Derek Chirnside <d.chirnside@PHYS.CANTERBURY.AC.NZ>]

David Emigh wrote:
> I am posting this to several lists and I know that many of you are in all three
> and I hope you do not mind the cross posting too much.  This is actually
> related to the planetaria notes on the astro-list.
>
> A week or two ago I got up with my daughter (5:30 in the morning) and while she
> got ready for school I watched a "Teacher to Teacher" program on Nick.  The
> show was hosted by Don Herbert (sp?) (Mr. Wizard).  It was on an "inquiry based
> learning" experience to learn stuff about wind.  It gave one teacher's
> experience with this particular curriculum.  The show was obviously designed to
> praise this form of learning science, but all I saw was a bunch of second
> graders wasting a couple of hours to learn that wind blows, that it is all
> caused by hot air rising, and that if you give a young kid a glass of water and
> a straw and tell him to blow on the water you get a mess.
>
> Inquiry based learning is designed, I believe, to let kids explore nature with
> a little guidance (actually very little if what I saw was correct) and come to
> their own conclusions (sort of).
As with any buzz word, 'inquiry learning' means a lot of different
things to different people.

Here (ie in the schools in my town) , a conservative view is more like
this:

"Inquiry based learning is designed to let kids explore nature with a
clear and specific guidance to help them come to scientific conclusions
- and get rid of their misconceptions along the way"

What it is not:
*Fuzzy activities towards ill defined goals.  (Sometimes it is like this
in practice)
*Telling the kids what they need to know somekies called the
"Transission" or "Bucket" method of teaching.



> Does anyone know more on this and are you as
> appalled as I am? If not, what are the genuine strengths of this system (no
> edubabble please)?  I am getting bright students in my college classes who have
> absolutely no science background what-so-ever.  Almost all of the finger
> pointed around here goes to the middle schools (the local bastions of esteem
> education), but I wonder if their elementary school science education is blown
> on hours wasting learning lite.
>
> David Emigh

How do you teach David?
It's obvious this programme put you off.  It sounds like it would me to.

Have you visited any local schools?

have you got a decent local science teachers group?

Regards,

Derek


--
Derek Chirnside         d.chirnside@phys.canterbury.ac.nz
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Currently on loan from Shirley Boys High School

Ph: +64 3 364 2987 Ext 7561
Fax: +64 3 364 2469
chirnsideD@mars.shirley.school.nz will find me after hours