“Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” It is the latter part of this statement that defines the foundation of inquiry-based learning.

Inquiry begins with the desire to discover and to find out through questioning. However, effective inquiry is much more than just asking questions.  It is the process of finding information and converting it into useful knowledge. It involves developing skills and attitudes that permit the learner to seek answers to questions while forming a new knowledge.

The old paradigm of transmitting information from teacher to students, who were often regarded as empty vessels needing to be filled with the wisdom of the teacher, has often proven to be inadequate. In a world where information is readily available, inquiry is important in the generation and transmission of knowledge. It is also essential for education, because the fund of knowledge is continuously increasing and facts are constantly changing. The schools must therefore, change their focus from “what we know” to an emphasis on “how we get to know.”

An important missing piece in many modern schools is a simplified and coherent process for constructing knowledge of a specific subject from lower grades to upper grades. It is often difficult for the students to understand how various areas within a particular subject relate to each other. This difficulty becomes more apparent when the students try to find out the relationships between the various subjects that they learn at school.

One of the main differences of the Inquiry-based method from traditional teaching methods is that the emphasis in not only put on the transmission of subject- related knowledge or curriculum material, but rather on setting this knowledge into a wider conceptual framework. It also places emphasis on the development of skills that are required for the processing of information. This enables students to see relationships and reach conclusions that might not necessarily be readily apparent. These students are also more likely to process this newly constructed knowledge into a more accessible, transferable and applicable form to be used in a variety of situations.

Having reached this stage, it becomes easier for students to learn new information, because the new knowledge can be more easily integrated and inter-related within the existing knowledgebase. Inquiry-based learning is often described as a cycle or spiral, including the formulation of a question initiated by curiosity, investigation, creation of an appropriate solution or answer, discussion and reflection on the outcome. Students, who actively go through this cycle in part or whole  are developing useful problem-solving skills. These skills can be applied to “need to know” situations that students will encounter in the future both at school and at work.

There are obviously challenges that have to be addressed in order to provide a useful framework for the development of effective inquiry-based learning, and before students can successfully engage in meaningful investigations. Among them are;

·        motivation,

·        the accessibility of the tasks (Is it at all possible to perform the task that the investigation requires?),

·        sufficient background knowledge to formulate meaningful questions (Is this made possible by the educator?),

·        the ability to manage extended activities

·        the need to work within the practical constraints of the learning environment (e.g. the availability of learning resources and timetable constraints)

Inquiry-learning can be applied to all disciplines or subject areas. People need various perspectives for viewing the world. These views could include scientific, artistic, economic, historic, and other perspectives. While subjects should interrelate, certain “ground rules” must be applied to insure the integrity of the various subject areas and their worldviews. These “ground rules” provide the unique perspective of each area. For instance while subjective interpretation and formation of opinion are often tools for the study of literature, verification of data is what the sciences demand.

We may conclude, that within the framework of an effective inquiry-based learning, students have the opportunity to develop the initiative, problem-solving, decision-making, and research skills needed to become life-long learners. They become familiar and competent in a variety of further skills such as communication skills and teamwork, presentation skills, using technology, media and more. A main benefit that inquiry-based learning offers is the development of habits of mind that can last a lifetime and guide learning and creative thinking.

This article was submitted by Mrs. Zarin Buckingham the director of Forel International School with branches in Bratislava and Trnava.