Inquiry-based learning is an instructional approach in which the teacher serves as a facilitator for the students as they pose questions and seek their answers. In this approach, instructors ask their students “to respectfully challenge, test and redefine ideas” (Tophat, n.d., para. 1). Both instructors and students are responsible for learning, making this an approach rooted in the constructivist learning theory (Crombie, 2014). Christi Alper of Edutopia (2018) states, “Inquiry-based instruction is a student-centered approach where the instructor guides the students through questions posed, methods designed, and data interpreted by the students. Through inquiry, students actively discover information to support their investigations” (para.2).
Inquiry-based instruction seeks to fire the imagination of learners. As co-facilitators in the construction of knowledge, students become excited about learning. “When you ask a student something like, ‘What do you want to know about _____?’ you’re often met with a shrug or ‘dunno.’ Inquiry-based learning, if front-loaded well, generates such excitement in students that neurons begin to fire, curiosity is triggered, and they can’t wait to become experts in answering their own questions” (Wolpert-Gawron, 2016, para. 4).
Crombie (2014) describes three levels of inquiry, ranging from teacher-directed to less: structured, guided, and open. At the structured level, the teacher provides the question for research and the methods the students will use to investigate this question. At the guided level, the teacher still poses the question, but the students have more agency in exploring it. Finally, the open level provides the students the greatest degree of autonomy as they form the question and determine how to investigate it.
By giving learners a more participatory role in the learning process, instructors are helping their students to build critical thinking skills and become autonomous learners. This approach promotes curiosity in learners, deepens knowledge about the course topics, and encourages students to own their learning (Gradepowerlearning, 2018).
For more information about inquiry-based learning, please watch this video created by Scott Crombie for the Inspiring Science Education Project: Scott Crombie Inquiry-based Learning.
To see inquiry-based learning lessons in action, please view this video from Edutopia: Edutopia Inquiry-based Learning in the Classroom.
References
Alper, C. (2018, August 17). Embracing inquiry-based instruction. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/embracing-inquiry-based-instruction
Crombie, S. (2014, May 26). What is inquiry-based learning? [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=u84ZsS6niPc
What is inquiry-based learning (and how is it effective)? (2018, April 3). Gradepowerlearning.
https://gradepowerlearning.com/what-is-inquiry-based-learning/#:~:text=Inquiry%2Dbased%20learning
%20is%20designed,students%20a%20love%20of%20learning.& text=At%20GradePower%20Learning%2C
%20we%20believe,on%20the%20path%20to%20success.
Tophat. (n.d.). Inquiry-based learning. https://tophat.com/glossary/i/inquiry-based-learning/
Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2016, August 11). What the heck is inquiry-based learning? Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-heck-inquiry-based-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron