Inquiry-Guided Instruction

by: Misti Anderson, DeeDee Allen, and Maria Oliver-Hoyo

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Inquiry-guided instruction (IGI) has the potential to greatly enhance the learning experience for both educators and students. Although studies show the benefits of IGI, implementation presents its challenges. Issues include the balance of content material and the thought process, teaching strategies, and specific challenges of IGI in the lecture and laboratory formats.

Details

Type Journal ArticlePub Date 5/1/2004Stock # jcst04_033_06_20Volume 033Issue 06

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Kristina Ashe

Review for Inquiry Guided Instruction

The main concepts addressed in the Inquiry-Guided Instruction article are defining inquiry, the challenges of inquiry based learning and methods of teaching inquiry to overcome the challenges. Oliver-Hoyo et al. (2004) suggests that inquiry is a collection of qualities a person possesses to include curiosity, an inquisitive nature, and self-discipline in one's teachings. These qualities work alongside content to enhance the nature of learning and develop independent thinkers that can assess the world outside the classroom. Throughout the article, the learning process is viewed as a partnership between the student and teacher where the teacher is more a facilitator of learning by probing students with questions. One challenge that is created by inquiry-guided instruction (IGI) and is addressed in the article is the idea of students asking for the correct answers upon completion of an assignment. By implementing the IGI method students are encouraged to use the best approach to a problem and are provided with credit for a solid understanding of the concept regardless of the end result. Implementing the IGI method into a science classroom appears to provide students with a deeper level of understanding while also encouraging students to embrace hard work by applying their understanding to real world scenarios. I realized some of the teaching strategies that are the most effective at implementing IGI are already being used in my classroom and encouraged by my course team which makes adopting inquiry instruction less challenging and more of an attainable goal. One way I plan to implement inquiry instruction is by providing students with real world situations that promote application of content knowledge. It is only half the puzzle to know the right terminology; a student can complete the whole puzzle when they can apply the terminology and back up their answer with sound reasoning. This is often probed by the question of why before a student is provided any feedback on if an answer is headed in the direction of mastery. IGI also lends itself to student-led learning by promoting collaboration to answer questions followed by justification and experimentation. The labs that are conducted within my classroom will evolve into more inquiry based labs by either offering the intended result to students through a challenge question and leaving the methods open for discovery or by providing the intended procedure and encouraging students to hypothesize the results and evaluate the data collected. Both methods allow students to justify their decisions and consider where experiments may have variables that were missed. Additionally, it allows for student struggle which is vital to learning. Since the current student will be running the world one day, I look forward to seeing the additional growth that inquiry based learning will spark both inside and outside of the classroom.

Debbie Bowles

Review for Inquiry Guided Instruction

The article that I chose for review is titled Inquiry Guided Instruction. This article first defines what inquiry guided instruction consists of. Inquiry guided instruction must be implemented in the classroom by educators and students must be willing to reciprocate the learning. Inquiry guided instruction is used to increase learning for all students involved in hands on learning processes while exploring and using critical thinking skills. Students must be curious and self taught while making inquiries during scientific exploration. The authors of the article make note that there are correlations between what is taught and what is learned during scientific inquiry. Strategies need to first be implemented by the teacher and students must learn through the implementation of these strategies. Educators need to be able to encourage learning and guide the students through the process of learning. However, students need to be able to conduct an independent investigation of answering questions and problems during the learning process. The article also makes note that teachers need to be motivated and excited about encouraging learning of all students. In my opinion, students will not be excited to learn if the teacher is not excited themselves. Teachers need to be able to ask and promote questions that encourage critical thinking of the students. The students need to be able to take responsibility of their learning, but first guided by the teacher. This inquiry guided instruction process is teamwork within the children and the educator. According to the article, at first the students will struggle during inquiry guided instruction. However, if the inquiry guided instruction is implemented correctly by the teacher, the outcome will be rewarding for all parties involved. In order for this program to be successful, the instructor must implement the instruction successfully. Successful implementation involves three steps. The teacher must clearly establish expectations. The students must know what is expected of them throughout the process. The teacher must also use consistent teaching strategies such as collaboration. Students oftentimes learn more from one another and collaboration is key when creating a successful learning environment. The third step of successful implementation is using reflective teaching strategies. The teacher must be open to receiving effective feedback from students and using this feedback for tweaking the implementation process. Although there are many pros to inquiry guided instruction, there is a con when implementing inquiry guided instruction. The biggest challenge is the length of time that this process takes. In order to successfully address the content and thought process of all students, time is consumed when asking those questions and allowing for efficient time of exploration within inquiry guided instruction. I feel that the authors of this article did an excellent job of explaining and addressing effective inquiry guided instruction. The article defines the instruction and tells what is expected from the teachers as well as the students. Strategies and challenges are also addressed very well within the article. I now know what successful inquiry guided instruction entails in the classroom, and it will be easier to put into action now that I have read the article.

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Debbie Bowles

Review for Inquiry Guided Instruction

Hilary Pinter

Inquiry Guided Instruction Ideas

Oliver-Hoyo, Allen & Anderson (2004) provide their readers with some clear strategies on how to implement Inquiry Guided Instruction (IGI) in the classroom. First and fore most they... See More

Oliver-Hoyo, Allen & Anderson (2004) provide their readers with some clear strategies on how to implement Inquiry Guided Instruction (IGI) in the classroom. First and fore most they tell us that IGI “demands two conditions. First, teachers much have the motivation and enthusiasm to promote questions. And second, there must be a shift in the meaning and responsibility of learning” (p.20). Once instructors are willing to step out and try inquiry guided instruction in their own classrooms, the authors describe a variety of tips and strategies that can be used to support successful implementation. I found one of the strategies to be particularly interesting. The GOAL protocol encourages students to “gather information, organize an approach, analyze the problem and learn from their efforts” (Oliver-Hoyo, Allen & Anderson, 2004, p.21). I like that the expectation for this protocol is that students spend time analyzing and learning from the work they have done throughout the inquiry process. Additionally, this protocol encourages instructors and students to allow for ample collaborative work time. One of the most important pieces of IGI is the opportunity for students to process and discuss their thinking and learning. Another helpful portion of this article is how the authors chose to address the issue of time in an IGI classroom. Time is the enemy for many teachers. The authors do not suggest that inquiry guided instruction will save time. To the contrary, they suggest that more time will be required. However, they provide the suggestion of having students take on ownership of their learning and learning vocabulary, content terminology and facts about the content on their own time. Additionally, it is stated that “instructional materials (should be) compatible with the inquiry method” (p.22), so that students are not spending unnecessary time locating materials or information to guide their inquiry. Overall, this article is very helpful to those looking to use Inquiry Guided Instruction in their classroom. I appreciated the ideas presented in the article. Although I had originally searched for an article more specific to elementary aged students, many of the suggestions and ideas offered in the article are easily transferable to younger students and more simpler experiments. Oliver-Hoyo, M., Allen, D. and Anderson, M. (2004). Inquiry-guided instruction: practical issues of implementation. Journal of College Science Teaching, 30(6), 20-24.

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