EDUC5485 - DTL

Case Study Two - Inquiry Learning in Science

Source: (Mount Alvernia College, n.d.-a)

Mark Thomas
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Case Study Two - Inquiry learning in Science

About this Illustration of Practice

In a year eight science elective the teacher uses an inquiry model to explore key
aspects of what scientists do. Students choose an inquiry question in an area of
science that appeals to them. They then conduct their experiment and evaluate their
findings in order to develop a presentation to communicate their results and analysis
(Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, n.d.-a).

Introduction

The development of critical evaluation skills requires educators to develop their

students capacity to see the world from the viewpoint of others, to understand
human weaknesses and injustices, and to work towards developing cooperation and
working with others (Hattie, 2012, p. 4).

This paper will discuss and analyse the case study referred to above. Inquiry Based
Learning (IBL) will be defined, critically reviewed, strengths and weakness
discussed, contemporary issues surrounding the adoption of IBL in schools
highlighted and suggestions for improvement presented.

1. Describe and explain the learning and teaching situation

The video footage for Case Study 2, Inquiry Learning in Science, presents a
classroom of Year 8 female students in a Queensland, non-government, Catholic
Year 7-12 school, Mount Alvernia College.

The school had a School ICSEA value of 1082 in 2016 (refer Appendix 1 for an
explanation of the ICSEA value) and an Indigenous student population of 1%. This
value indicates that the school draws students from of all academic abilities from a
range of socio-economic backgrounds (Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leadership, n.d.-a).

The teacher in the video, Mr Julian Blewitt, appears to be passionate about teaching
middle-school girls (Years 7 10) and the use of inquiry based, student driven
learning. Blewitt argues that its not about whether the girls investigations work but
that the girls are fully engaged in the learning process (Blewitt, 2014).

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The school is participating in the Thinking Science Australia (Mount Alvernia College,
n.d.-b) program which has 5 core elements (refer Appendix 2 for more detail):

i. Concrete preparation
ii. Cognitive conflict
iii. Social construction
iv. Metacognition
v. Bridging

The program is based on a field of work called Cognitive Acceleration developed at

Kings College London, UK, and is a method for the development of students'
general thinking ability (or general intelligence) (Kings College London, n.d.).

2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of this experience for the student(s)

The pedagogical approach to teaching and learning used by Blewitt can best be
described as Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and is regarded by some as best practice
for middle school science students (Olagoke, Mobolaji, & A, 2014, p. 15).

IBL places students questions, ideas and observations at the centre of the learning
experience (Olagoke et al., 2014, p. 15) and originates from constructivist theories
of learning. Modern constructivism theory, a blending of work first developed by
Vygotsky, Piaget and later Dewey (University College Dublin, n.d.), posits that
learners construct their own knowledge from social and contextual experiences, in
groups learning from each other, rather than being instructed on a topic by a teacher
in isolation from other learners (Kanselaar, 2002, p. 1). Constructivists argue that
one should allow the learner to define their own learning objectives; that knowledge
emerges from constructive interaction between the teacher and the student or
between collaborating students (Kanselaar, 2002, p. 1).

There are a number strengths of IBL. Primarily, students are actively engaged in the
learning process instead of passively listening to the teacher speak and taking notes.
Learning is scaffolded where new knowledge links to and builds on prior learning.
The role of the teacher is to create these links and to establish a culture where
ideas are respectfully challenged, tested, redefined and viewed as improvable,
moving children from a position of wondering to a position of enacted understanding
and further questioning (Olagoke et al., 2014, p. 15).

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A significant strength of IBL is that learning occurs, through metacognition, in a real-

world context, where students can relate to a topic and provide meaningful input to
the discourse. Bennett suggests that we also begin to see the gradual release of
responsibility, as students independently utilize the skills and strategies for acquiring
knowledge and understanding (Bennett, 2015, p. 388).

There are some identified weaknesses of IBL. It requires scaffolding, preparation

and a lot of time. Group work can be tricky to implement as students need the self-
efficacy and skills, both technical and social, to benefit from a safe, group work
learning environment (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2015, p. 227). In addition, students
can perceive that their workload increases under IBL creating student resistance
(Justice, Rice, Warry, & Laurie, 2007, p. 57).

Finally, inquiry tasks set by the teacher must be carefully considered and cater to the
level of students prior learning. Too simple and the students may become bored and
disengaged. Too complex and the student will lose interest (Simon, 2000, p. 118).

3. Critique your own personal response to this learning experience

My high school days were in the first half of the 1980s. Access to information was
primarily from what the teachers taught us from text books. However, on reflection,
Biology with Mrs Young stands out as we did a lot of field based investigation work.
We visited wetlands, took readings, counted bugs, measured growth rates - learning
was very inquiry based. I still remember today the content and apply it to my world
on a regular basis.

For me, IBL makes a lot of sense for todays teaching contexts. Students are
bombarded with information and knowledge due to the ready availability of data
through online sources. The worlds most popular internet search engine, Google,
has become a verb where people Google it to find information (Schwartz, 2006).

Global access to the internet has reached 3 billion people and by 2020 this is
expected to reach 3.8 billion (Marketline, 2016b, p. 13). In Australia, 86 % of the
population had access to the internet in 2015 (Marketline, 2016a, p. 9) (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 2017).

Almost half of all people in the US get their news from the social media platform
Facebook and since Facebook moved their Fake News screening from people to an

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algorithm in 2016, fake news on Facebook has exploded (Greste, Cohen, & Davies,
2017).

Teachers are no longer the repository of information that must be passively

transmitted to students. Today, the challenge for teachers is to facilitate authentic
learning by helping students filter out the irrelevant, unfactual noise and discover
concrete, relevant knowledge and apply this to solving real-world problems.

4. Provide an overview of how this learning and teaching experience might be

enhanced/improved

Traditional teaching and assessment pedagogy is structured such that the teacher
delivers information and then to test whether the student has learnt anything a
summative assessment is performed and graded. This approach today leads to a
disengaged, bored student and learning is limited to remembering content to pass an
exam.

Simon states that any effective approach to learning must both lead the horses to
water and get them to drink. Human beings have a great ability to avoid tasks,
especially demanding tasks, that they dont see any point in doing. Learning must be
motivated by making it meaningful and even fun (Simon, 2000, p. 118).

The Case Study video captures this concept of making learning meaningful and fun.
Students are clearly attentive to Blewitt and respond well to his directions and praise.
At the beginning of the lesson he states that the students have done some
outstanding work over the term (Blewitt, 2014).

One should be cautious to attribute student engagement to IBL in the class setting in
the video as it could be possible that the girls appear to be attentive for the sake of
the video cameras in the room. In addition, the school is a girls-only school and
anecdotal evidence suggests that single gender girls classrooms require less
behaviour management than mixed gender or boys-only classrooms (Thomas,
2017).

However, a major study in US concluded there is little evidence of an advantage of

SS [single sex] schooling for girls or boys for any of the outcomes (Pahlke, Hyde, &
Allison, 2014, p. 1064). The study did concede that single sex schooling showed a
medium advantage in middle school for girls, for both mathematics and science
performance (Pahlke et al., 2014, p. 1065).

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From the evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the girls in the video are
genuinely engaged in Blewitts science class and that IBL is the contributing reason
for this. Certainly, Blewitt himself seems convinced of the benefits of IBL.

An obvious point of improvement for Blewitt is his tendency to stand behind his desk,
hands in pockets, whilst addressing the girls. This is evident in two scenes and it
conveys insecurity to the girls. He should be moving around the classroom so the
girls remain focused on him. Blewitt is also very serious and does not smile. Smiling
conveys warmth to a nervous child and helps them relax. Body language is very
important with 55 % of communication coming from non-verbal elements (Ward,
2012, p. 2).

An area of potential improvement in the classroom is to share the use of iPads such
that their use becomes more collaborative. From the footage, each girl has an iPad.
Buckner and Kim argue that a one-device-per-child model completely eliminates the
opportunity for students to share and collaborate within classrooms or across
multiple classrooms, despite much research on the benefits of collaborative learning
(Buckner & Kim, 2014, p. 100). However, they would applaud the use of mobile
devices (MD) over fixed PCs as they require substantially less infrastructure and
electricity, offering many advantages over traditional computers (Buckner & Kim,
2014, p. 101). In addition modern MDs have similar, if not more, research and
investigative power than fixed computers delivering many software applications, hi-
resolution screens and content rich data (Buckner & Kim, 2014, p. 101).

5. Outline approaches to learning, student engagement and student support

that might be used to improve this experience

The core of Inquiry Based Learning is the process of students raising questions
about a problem or topic. Students who question have higher literacy rates, improved
meta-cognitive skills and comprehension, are able to identify gaps in their knowledge
and generally understand more (Buckner & Kim, 2014, pp. 101-102).

Sylvia Duckworth suggests that there are six questions students can use to guide
their inquiry process (Duckworth, 2017). These are illustrated below in Diagram 1.
Providing students with the right questions to ask is a crucial element in IBL and is
key to creating an authentic learning experience. Bennett states Inquiry-based
learning does not teach the product of curriculum, but rather instructs the process of

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critical thinking so that students may navigate their way into the future (Bennett,
2015, p. 389).

Diagram 1

Source: (Duckworth, 2017)

However, research indicates that students ask very few questions and that the
questions they do ask are more to do with clarification of a task rather than acquiring
new knowledge. In addition, when students do ask questions they are often
discouraged by the teacher who lacks the content knowledge or time to adequately
answer the question (Buckner & Kim, 2014, p. 102). Buckner and Kim argue that
significant evidence shows that most students learn in didactic environments, rather
than those rich in opportunities for inquiry, and the dominant pedagogical practices
are unlikely to alter this reality (Buckner & Kim, 2014, p. 102).

This problem is also identified by Moore. In 1996, the US National Research Centre
published findings on the effectiveness of IBL. Nine years after the publication, the
research findings suggest most teachers are not implementing the reforms (Moore,
2014, p. 22). Moore suggests that teachers not trained in constructivist teaching

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practices were reluctant to incorporate IBL into their pedagogy. Constructivist

teachers generally had less than 10 years of experience. Teachers with more than
10 years of experience tend to use traditional teaching methods. Moore notes that
the research indicates that changing teachers instructional paradigms from
traditional to constructivist methods or inquiry-based methods is not easily
accomplished (Moore, 2014, p. 23).

To address this reality Governments all over the world are contributing to the long-
term re-envisioning of schools with policies that promote competency-based
learning (Adams Becker, Freeman, Giesinger Hall, Cummins, & Yuhnke, 2016, p.
6).

In Australia, since the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young

Australians in 2013, much regulator work has been done to change this reality. The
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) was established,
with the support of all state and territory education ministers, to provide national
leadership for the Australian, state and territory governments in promoting
excellence in the profession of teaching and school leadership (Australian Institute
for Teaching and School Leadership, n.d.-b). AITSL developed the Australian
Professional Standards for Teachers. Standard 3.3, Use teaching strategies, states
teachers should Select and use relevant teaching strategies to develop knowledge,
skills, problem solving and critical and creative thinking (Australian Institute for
Teaching and School Leadership, 2017), clearly a reference to IBL thought.

In addition, Standard 6, Engage in professional learning, is solely devoted to

ensuring teachers engage in professional development to improve their teaching
pedagogies. Standard 6.4 states teachers should Undertake professional learning
programs designed to address identified student learning needs (Australian Institute
for Teaching and School Leadership, 2017).

By adopting the Thinking Science Australia program, Mount Alvernia College is

proactively addressing these initiatives, at least in the science discipline. In addition,
Blewitt has embraced the need to implement Standard 3.3 by using IBL in his
pedagogical style.

Blewitt is practicing constructivism as the students are working in groups, helping

each other learn through social interaction (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2015, p. 219).

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He helps his students with their discovery learning by providing information,

knowledge and direction when needed. Whilst this is not evident in the short video,
IBL requires the teacher to provide scaffolded learning of the more difficult concepts
and skills (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2015, p. 221).

Conclusion

The NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2016 K-12 Edition identifies Deeper Learning (DL)
(the mastery of content that engages students in critical thinking, problem-solving,
collaboration, and self-directed learning (Adams Becker et al., 2016, p. 14)) as a key
trend for education worldwide in the mid-term (the next 3 - 5 years). They suggest
that the main barriers to Deeper Learning in classrooms are government policy
changes and equitable funding, school leadership that enables DL in the classroom,
investment in technology to support DL, the professional development of teachers
and creating authentic learning experiences for students (Adams Becker et al., 2016,
p. 22).

Clearly Inquiry Based Learning, or Deeper Learning, is the major focus of

educational institutions and government alike. Whilst its adoption at the teacher level
has been slow, the Horizon Report sees the problem as a mid-term issue, as a
solvable challenge (Adams Becker et al., 2016, p. 2), that requires support from the
government, school leaders and teachers to solve. It is refreshing to see that at least
at one school, Mount Alvernia College, IBL is being embraced at both the school
leadership and teacher levels.

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Appendices

1. School ICSEA value

What is ICSEA?

The Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) was created by the

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) specifically to
enable fair comparisons of National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy
(NAPLAN) test achievement by students in schools across Australia.

A value on the index corresponds to the average level of educational advantage of

the schools student population relative to those of other schools. Research shows
that key factors in students family backgrounds (parents occupation, their school
education and non-school education) have an influence on students educational
outcomes at school. Research has also shown that school level factors (a schools
geographical location and the proportion of Indigenous students a school caters for)
need to be considered when summarising educational advantage or disadvantage at
the school level.

ICSEA provides a numeric scale that represents the magnitude of this influence, or
level of educational advantage, and takes into account both student and school level
factors. My School visitors can use the ICSEA value to understand the levels of
advantage or disadvantage that students bring to their schooling based on these
factors.

It is important to note that an ICSEA value is not a rating of a school, nor does it
measure or rate its staff performance, quality of teaching programs or nature of
facilities. ICSEA is not a measure of student academic performance and does not
measure school wealth.

Source: (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2015).

2. Thinking Science Australia Principles

The Thinking Science Australia program has at its core five principles.

1. Concrete preparation

Involves the teacher establishing a problem for the students to consider and to
negotiate any associated ideas and terminology needed for the students to
understand the problem.

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2. Cognitive conflict

A process whereby students are encouraged to think about the problem in a way that
challenges their conventional ways of thinking. Students are encouraged to consider
a range of possible explanations for the problem.

3. Social construction

The shared development of explanations of and understandings about the problem

and potential solutions. Teachers play a role in asking probing questions of students
but not offering solutions. Active participation by all students is required, as all are
expected to offer explanations and solve problems.

These processes are supported by the current support and commitment by the
education community in pedagogy: group work, problem-solving and challenging
teaching.

4. Metacognition

Requires students reflecting on their thinking and articulating their approaches taken
to problem solving. This stage enables other students to access other ways of
thinking and evaluating.

5. Bridging

Involves the student and teacher working together to apply the ideas developed in
the lesson to other problems in the real world. Associated science lessons can be
used to help reinforce and remind students about the range of problem-solving
strategies and ways of thinking they have developed.

Source: (University of Western Australia, n.d.)

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