Using better search processes

Searching with Boolean operators and using Wonderwheel narrowed the search to just under 3 million items but also uncovered more relevant articles linked to the topic of inquiry-based learning in a social studies/science context. I typed in a combination of search phrases - 

• inquiry-based learning AND models. 
• Inquiry-based learning AND cultural studies NOT science, 
• guided inquiry AND social science, 
• I swaped   the 'i' for an 'e' to see if that made much difference (it didn't)
• i clicked on the wonderwheel button and surfed through many more articles that popped out on the mind map

On the whole, I spent several hours clicking through articles, saving some to my computer to read in full later or summarising key ideas on paper.      

A site called Project Based Learning Space by Haughton Mifflin presented a number of ideas about engaging students with the process and claims that "Projects can thus serve as bridges between phenomena in the classroom and real-life experiences. Questions and answers that arise in daily enterprise are given value and are proven open to systematic inquiry.

• Project-based education requires active engagement of students' effort over an extended period of time.
• Project-based learning also promotes links among subject matter disciplines and presents an expanded, rather than narrow, view of subject matter.
• Projects are adaptable to different types of learners and learning situations (Blumenfeld et al., 1991)."
 

The site also emphasized for me the importance of students being able to generate "artefacts " in their development of knowledge."Students' freedom to generate artifacts is critical, because it is through this process of generation that students construct their own knowledge. Because artifacts are concrete and explicit (e.g., a model, report, consequential task, videotape, or film) they can be shared and critiqued. This allows others to provide feedback, makes the activity authentic, and permits learners to reflect on and extend their knowledge and revise their artifacts."

  http://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/background.html#Students

Further searching uncovered another useful site that summarised a number inquiry models. This site looked promising!!

http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/models.htm

Gathering information for the both the project and the report became overwhelming at this stage. I was clearly moving through Kuhltau's stages at a rapid pace and found myself bogged down in the "selection" phase even though I was still "exploring".  I needed to move away from the computer and into the library where I could touch real things!!

I spoke to our dedicated TL who referred me to some wonderful resources. She, of course, a most valuable resource herself! I also came back to the CMD list and read through each article.

 

Liz the librarian!!

After a lengthy break I returned to the internet and began searching again. Using Google Images to hunt for models turned up some wonderful resources. One such gem was the model below.

I liked the personal reflective steps identified by the model. The list of reflective questions at each stage are useful for clarify the search process and were just what I needed to keep me on task. As I hadn't found specific information on cultural studies I shifted my focus back to inquiry-based learning in general as I felt the content and the context were not as important as the process the students would be working through.

Sources for this compilation

Branch, Jennifer, and Dianne Oberg. "Focus on Inquiry." IASL. 2005. 6 May 2007 <http://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf>.
Murdoch, Kath. Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Armadale, Vic: Eleanor Curtain Pub, 1998.
Stripling, Barbara K. "Inquiry-Based Learning." In Curriculum Connections through the Library, ed. Barbara K. Stripling and Sandra Hughes-Hassell,
3-39. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, 2003.

A link on this page took me to the Kentucky Library which contained another excellent poster for the inquiry process:-

http://www.kyvl.org/kids/homebase.html

This poster is colourful and eye-catching and lower secondary (as well as the visual upper school learners) will find it useful for tracking the stages of the research process. This is one of many American products that I have found in my search for Inquiry Based Learning information and highlights for me that progress that American libraries and schools have made in this field of education. I saved it to my computer and used it in class. The students loved the colour and the interactive nature of the website. They could click on each phase and identify with the questions being posed. I think this really helped them think about their task.