Inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based learning is often described as a philosophical and pedagogical response to the changing needs of the information age, but its roots are much deeper. It assumes that all learning begins with the learner. That is, what people know and what they want to learn are not just constraints on what can be taught; they are the very foundation for learning.

Aspects of this idea appear in the earliest writings on education, including Plato/Socrates in the West and Confucius in the East, but is more commonly traced back to Rousseau and Pestalozzi. Its fullest articulation can be found in the writings of John Dewey, whose wisdom derived in large part from his ability to see the unity across the social work of Jane Addams, the schools work of Ella Flagg Young, and the pragmatist philosophy developed by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James.

Relevant readings are listed with each of the links below.

1. Current problems with teaching and learning
   1. What’s wrong with education today?
   2. What assumptions do we make about teaching and learning?
   3. Must we obsess about student test scores?
2. Inquiry-based learning
   1. What is inquiry-based learning?
   2. Inquiry-based curriculum
   3. The Inquiry Cycle
3. Process inquiry
   1. How can we create contexts to support inquiry-based learning?
   2. Cases
      1. The Quill greenhouse project in Hartford
      2. The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog
      3. Make your own electronic whiteboard
4. Inquiry in diverse settings
   1. How can inquiry be supported in libraries, museums, and other settings?
   2. How can inquiry be fostered in formal learning settings?
   3. What is the relation of learning to work and play?
   4. What tools, media, resources, or environments support learning?
   5. How does art help us make sense of experience?
   6. Learning from graveyards
   7. Bridge to College
5. Substantive inquiry
   1. Situation and inquiry
   2. Case study of learning
   3. Stepping into a photo story [part I] [part II]
   4. How does learning connect with life?
   5. How do we construct knowledge?
6. Teacher as inquirer
   1. What role should a teacher play to facilitate learning?
   2. How can we view the process of teaching as inquiry into learning?
   3. How effective is inquiry-based learning?
   4. How can we do research on inquiry-based learning?
7. Inquiry as life
   1. How do we connect the means and ends?
   2. The school as social center
   3. Lycksele learning centers
   4. John Dewey in Turkey: Lessons for today

This page has the following sub pages.

• How does learning connect with life?
• Inquiry references
• What assumptions do we make about teaching and learning?
• Other definitions of inquiry-based learning
• What’s wrong with education today?
• How do we connect the means and ends?
• How can we create contexts to support inquiry-based learning?
• How does art help us make sense of experience?
• How do we construct knowledge?
• How can inquiry be fostered in formal learning settings?
• What tools, media, resources, or environments support learning?
• What is the relation of learning to work and play?
• What role should a teacher play to facilitate learning?
• How can we view the process of teaching as inquiry into learning?
• How can inquiry be supported in libraries, museums, and other settings?
• Effectiveness of inquiry-based learning
• Digital literacy definitions
• Challenges to inquiry-based teaching
• Progressive educators
• Situation and inquiry
• What is inquiry-based learning?
• Inquiry-based curriculum
• The inquiry cycle