Weekly Science Reading 7

If you walked into a science classroom that utilized 'inquiry based instruction' what would you see students doing? (key characteristics should be included)

I would see students engaging with a scientific question, participating in design of procedure, giving priority to evidence, formulating explanations, connecting explanations to scientific knowledge, and communicating + justifying explanations. 

What would the teacher be doing?

I would see the teacher pose questions, stimulate discussions, and involve students with important scientific problems.  They also have optimal wait time, silence, and questions, and other techniques that really help to further extend student thinking. The goal teachers who use this form of instruction inspire students to observe and reason, and sharpen their critical thinking + communication skills.  

What are the three main aspects of science lessons the authors use to separate the different levels of inquiry?

The three main aspects include questions, procedures, and solutions. They fit into the different levels of inquiry because some will be given all aspects, some or one of the aspects, or no aspects at all.  

Explain the similarities and differences among the different levels of inquiry.

Similarities include: Actively being student-centered + keeping students engaged not only physically through hands-on but also intellectually. 

Differences include: The amount of teacher scaffold is the main difference. In some levels, the teacher has a core role and is facilitating most of the questions + procedures (such as confirmation + structured inquiry) , while in some levels (such as open inquiry) students investigate their own questions they formulated and use their own designs/procedures. 

If you found a science lesson that was NOT inquiry-based, what could you do to make it more inquiry based?

By making it “inquirized” This is done in 3 steps. This includes: replace, retain and modify and remove. For replacing, you would look at the intro paragraph of a worksheet, which typically gives away the ending, you would replace that statement with a question. For retaining/modifying, you would modify the instructions to be less strict and gives them a target, but letting them take measures to achieving it. For removing, you would remove things such as a data table. The 5E is also essential to incorporate in order to inquirize these concepts.

How does the 5E learning cycle compare to inquiry-based instruction?

It compares in the way that: They have similar phases, and both were designed to be student-centered, and influence science education to become more about exploration then explaining (instruction). Inquiry-based instruction is more focused on students problem solving in a more fluid manner, while 5E is more focused on a step by step process for students to investigate phenomena. They are very similar to one another, but have some differences that distinct the two approaches.

What is confirmation inquiry?

The question, procedure, and answer is known. Closely resembled to IVP almost. Low cognitive building is evident.

What is structured inquiry?

The teacher gives the question and procedure, but no explanations. The teacher provides probing about why a phenomena is occurring and students are expected to construct this explanation from the evidence.

What is guided inquiry?

The teacher gives the question, but no procedures or explanations. Students are expected to design the procedures and verify if their way of investigating aligns with the question the teacher, mistakes are expected here, and student’s should reflect than adapt.

What is open inquiry?

Students design their own question, their own procedures to investigate their question, and construct their own explanation for their question. This is most aligned to the concept of science fair presentations.