AEE Reading Reflection #4: Inquiry Based Instruction

Inquiry based instruction is a combination of student interest and prior knowledge incorporated into the scientific method. It requires critical thinking but provides the opportunity for the teacher to serve as a facilitator and students learn from others on different levels because of their individual strengths and weaknesses.The teacher is able to help guide thinking and scaffold the student to think critically.

As students work through inquiry based instruction they are:
1) Questioning
2) Investigating possiblities
3) evaluating evidence to create predictions
4) analyzing the data collected with prior knowledge
5) identify results and findings 

The teacher should implement inquiry based instruction between the mid-point and end of instruction so that the students have prior knowledge and are able to analyze the situation with more detail and thought.

The teacher should:
1) start inquiry process
2) promote student dialog and discussion
3) make the transition from classroom discussion to small group and vise verse
4) clear up misconceptions and scaffold thinking 
5) model the scientific method
6) utilize student experience and knowledge allowing them to expand on their horizons

As a teacher, inquiry based instruction should be gradually introduced so the student builds up the level of thinking desired. Starting with more structure that utilize more step by step instruction is a place to start so the students understand how this type of thinking works. Next, more guided instruction should be implemented by providing materials and procedures but allowing the student to design the methods. As the students experience advances more open instruction can be done. This is when materials are provided and very basic instruction. Lastly, the learning cycle allows more detailed concepts to be incorporated with only vital procedures being known. This will maximize critical thinking and force the student to design the plan.

I think it is important to gradually build up to the different types of inquiry learning so the students are trained to develop their critical thinking. To help teach students how to collect accurate data and interpret it, pre-designed tables could be presented to efficiently collect the data. I think this is a good tactic however I find it to be similar to the problem solving approach and I'm not completely sure how to distinguished the difference based on the topics I am thinking of.