In the not-so-distant future, I will be a practicing teacher. I will have a classroom full of students who will be holding me accountable. I will have a principle and colleagues who will also be holding me accountable. But most importantly, I will be holding myself accountable. When I think about what this will look like, I wonder what my classroom will look like. How can I create an effective classroom environment? More specifically, what does an effective science classroom look like?
When researching this idea, I came across an article that focused on an inquiry-based classroom. What is an inquiry-based classroom? The article describes this as a form of learning that develops an understanding through using mental and physical skills to gather evidence about the natural world. The article also points out specific teacher/student behaviors that should be present in the classroom. There were several student actions that stuck out to me. The first action was that students should be engaged in exploration of materials. I think it is so important for students to be engaged in the classroom. I think it also motivates them to further investigate the content. The second student action was that the students should be working collaboratively. Students need to understand that scientists are constantly collaborating and science is a collaboration of ideas.
This article touched on the idea of student engagement in the classroom. I want to dig a little deeper for my next blog post.
To see article click here.
In your post you state, " The first action was that students should be engaged in exploration of materials". I think this is very important in an inquiry based classroom. The students should be able to explore the lesson, and the materials the lesson uses as well.
ReplyDeleteShannon-
ReplyDeleteI think the way a classroom is designed can set the classroom up for success or it could also create some issues. That is why I think it is a great topic to research. All students learn differently, so as an educator it is important that you know each of your students learning styles, for it will help you better design your classroom around your students learning types. Having a wide variety of materials is always a great way to set your classroom up for success because you will always have something for the students to engage in. If a student finishes before the others or you are working with a small group of students, having extra learning materials will help the students stay busy while learning and not distracting others.
I agree that students need to be actively participating in the exploration of materials. Learning about abstract concepts is very difficult and if the students can work in groups to explore concrete examples, the concept will be actually learned by the student not a short-term fact that the student memorized.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think back to the scientific information that I have retained, very little of it came from the classroom I don't think any of it came from reading about it or having someone tell me about it. The information that I truly learned instead of memorizing came from actual, hands-on experiences.
Great article!
The article states, "Learning through inquiry not only means that students learn with understanding, so that their knowledge is applicable, but also that they learn about learning." this expresses so many of our students goals, but the "learning about learning. " especially.
ReplyDeleteI am figuring out that the lesson I have to plan for the practicum classroom is tough, because, well, frankly, the planet stuff is wither just fact, or frankly, over my head conceptually, much more a fourth grader. But I think by teaching them how to frame their learning and research, I may at least be accomplishing this goal.
I actually focused on effective teaching of science for my research. I came across an awesome video that laid out what a classroom should look like that is effectively teaching science and science inquiry. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z96whXyetow) That is the link to the video. I think incorporating science inquiry into the classroom allows students to dig deeper into what they really want to know. They are asked scientific questions and given what they know and the research they will do, they will be able to answer those questions as opposed to the teacher coming out and telling the class what the answer is. It is important to get students thinking and doing so they are getting the most out of their learning.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post and the great article on inquiry-based classrooms. I think for many of us, including myself, we have been throwing around the terms "inquiry based" without much of a true definition of what it means. Of course, we have covered the majority of the elements in class discussions, but I appreciated this article.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in middle school, I remember my teachers saying that we were doing inquiry-based units, but had no idea what that actually meant. But, what I do remember is the hands-on, very collaborative work that was so different than my prior learning experiences.
I think these are great insights on how to know if you are effectively implementing an inquiry based classroom. I think these qualities are important in classrooms because if your students are working together they are learning together and from each other which can be more effective than listening to a teacher lecture. It also is teaching them to be accountable for their learning, which makes learning more important to them!
ReplyDelete