EDIM 513 Week 1_ Inquiry Based Learning

This past year, a select few of us at my High School were chosen to go through a training on Inquiry Based Learning. The training in my opinion was a primarily a large waste of time. I'm not trying to say that what we learned wasn't valuable, but how the training itself was run was very counter productive. 75% of it consisted of us being in small groups and writing on large paper tablets describing what we thought was Inquiry. We even did a 3 hour long experiment that ended with the instructors telling us that the project we just did wasn't actually Inquiry (well then why did we do it?). In just a few hours of reading about what it truly is, obstacles that the students and teachers will have to overcome, and how to effective carry out an Inquiry lesson, I feel so thankful that I took this course.

I currently teach an Honors level Introduction To Engineering and Design course that consists of several math, problem solving, and 3D computer modeling units. Through my past experiences of Inquiry training, I have altered the majority of the curriculum's projects into guided Inquiry Based Learning projects. Before, my lessons and assignments were very straight forward with what needs to be taught and accomplished. The majority of thinking was based on reading directions. Now my lessons rely more on applying and expanding upon past knowledge or demonstrations. My assignments have become more student based with them learning the content on their own prior to demonstrations, working at their own pace, and searching the answers to their own questions.

Introducing Inquiry Based Learning for the first time though is new for all. I will definitely have to agree with this week's readings though when it discusses the feeling of being uncomfortable for both the students and teachers. What the reading doesn't mention though is the discomfort and lack of understanding it brings the parents and guardians of the students. Not only did I feel this discomfort because of the constant push back from the students, but also the non-stop emails and complaint calls I received from the parents and guardians. With the correct amount of preparation and understanding on the teacher's side of where the students are at in their learning, expectations of the students for the assignment, and what the benefit of Inquiry Based Learning will bring the assignment, the results will speak for themselves.

My main concern though is a mixture of assessment and time. The new teacher effectiveness model heavily relies on a teacher teaching his or her lesson in Inquiry Based Learning format. We all as teachers have curriculum that we must get through. Teaching in this style takes time, sometimes a lot more than it would if the content was taught in a straightforward fashion. How can we as teachers and a district balance the time it takes to achieve what the states are now assessing their teachers on with the lack of time that we have to cover the amount of material that we need to?