edim513 is not my first experience with inquiry. I have had professional development sessions and a couple of Exploratorium workshops on inquiry. What this week did was reinforce some of the material that was presented in those previous experiences.
The two discussion activities completed this week helped to accentuate the needs for differentiation in curriculum and presentation. Looking at the responses to our memorable/best learning experiences, it becomes apparent that there are many preferred ways of learning. In our transition to inquiry-based activities, it must not be forgotten that direct instruction, auditory, and visual learning are still valid methods for some learners.
The other discussion thread, which asked us to differentiate inquiry from non-inquiry activities, shows that there is no clear cut definition or example of classroom inquiry. Inquiry is a type of approach, but it can vary in its degree of implementation. A single activity can also belong to multiple degrees of inquiry based on the advanced knowledge and preparation of the students.
As we continue this course, I am prepared to learn more examples and key components of inquiry. Although I have already been exposed to it, and have integrated some inquiry activities into my classroom, there is room for more growth. I would like to explore more ways to engage the students. I would like to evaluate cohesive ways of transforming the entire content into a dynamic experience rather than a set of activities dispersed throughout a mostly direct instruction course.
In the next few weeks, I expect to engage in the material and learn from other experiences to improve the degree of learning in the classroom. My goal is to use the learning from this course to reinforce the learning goals of my courses rather than completion goals.
