How to Create a Culture of Inquiry

I've experienced and heard other teachers say that it can be hard to spark students' enthusiasm for a project. I think it goes deeper than the project at hand. Do you agree? How do we create a culture of inquiry so minds are eager to learn? And at the project level, what are good ways to engage prior knowledge and pique curiosity for the learning ahead?

Tags: pbl

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Permalink Reply by Shane Krukowski on February 2, 2010 at 11:09am

Silence is often scary in the world of teaching. As educated adults, we often confront the scare of silence from our students by inserting our own ideas or over-engineering a project for students. Although well intentioned, this often creates a compliant, semi-engaged culture.

So part of my response here is to say, let students crystalize their ideas even if it's painful and not in the ondemand way desired (at least to start).

The attached two person role play script is a simple exercise I've used to help talk about the topic and explore ways to cultivate conversations of inquiry.

Attachments:

Student-Advisor Conference Script.pdf, 91 KB

Permalink Reply by Sherri Johnston on February 2, 2010 at 11:52am

Sylvia Chard's Project Approach (University of Alberta) suggests that the beginning of any project should be spent building student interest and activating background knowledge. She suggests that 25% of a project should be spent in this phase before moving into fieldwork/investigations and then sharing newfound understandings. I think this phase is usually rushed or skipped and we move students directly into "answering the big question". Busy teachers would say they barely have any time to fit in a project much less provide discovery time at the beginning. I would argue that this element is directly related to student engagement.

As for a culture of inquiry, take any given day and see how many questions and "I wonder" statements arise. We don't model or value questions. We value linear learning. How we do we create this culture? I believe it starts with teachers and educating parents to foster it at home as well.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on February 2, 2010 at 12:00pm

Re your points from Sylvia Chard (I love her), I agree that the 'getting minds ready' stage is overlooked, and it's a big reason projects fall flat. I have a great story I'll share in the Webinar about a chem teacher who used a really simple prop, a willow branch, to get his students intrigued about an upcoming project.

And as far as developing a culture of inquiry, I agree asking more "I wonder" questions should be encouraged. All day all the time and not necessarily loaded down with "oh now we have to go study this". Wondering can be an end in itself, and it makes minds flexible with practice. It will be interesting to talk about how to foster the same culture at home... interesting concern.

Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on February 2, 2010 at 1:07pm

One of my favorite project examples is also quite simple--at least on the surface. It was facilitated by an early elementary teacher who noticed that her students were not exhibiting much curiosity in class discussions. Her usual prompts--"What do you wonder about this?"--were greeted with silence. So, she decided to stage an impromptu exercise in inquiry. The road right in front of the school was undergoing construction. Each morning, she would walk to the construction site with her kids and ask, "What's different today?" At first, the kids were buzzing about the big earth-moving equipment and the chance to get outside during class time. But before long, and with this wise teacher's coaching, they started to get more observant. The teacher also took digital photos so students could refresh their memory (What did things look like last week? Let's look...).
Eventually, this turned into a terrific project about how the immediate neighborhood had changed over time. By taking time to create a shared experience and ignite curiosity, she eventually managed to get her students to think critically about an abstract idea (change over time). It's a powerful example of why it's worth investing time to get minds ready.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Gant on March 1, 2010 at 7:29am

Yahoo, Sherri! You have hit upon THE ISSUE that is my recent soapbox, working with teachers in PBL environments.

Here is my current message: start a project or inquiry with a conversation, NOT the project description. Through a conversation, you can get at student interest, start to understand their prior knowledge, and you prime the pump for presenting the central question of the project so that it will be best received. Teachers who do this are finding that their students are much more engaged at project inception, and they are much better at charting their course for solution to the problem.

Here is a sweet little technique that I used regularly to get students engaged. Start with a straw poll in the classroom that will eventually lead to the inquiry/project. Have an investigation into Newton's second law? "What's the better car? Dodge Viper, or Shelby Cobra?" This can lead into the question - what about a car allows it to win a race...leading into the affect of mass and force on acceleration.

Doing a project on GMOs? "What's better? Doritos, or Homemade tortilla chips?" This can lead into conversation about Frito-Lay's decision NOT to use genetically modified corn in their products due to public pressure in the 90s, leading to an investigation of what science tells us about the effect of GMOs on health (which in turn creates a need to know about genetics, transcription, and translation)

I don't know that I agree with the 25% figure, but I will say that time spent getting the students riled up about an issue is golden, and can sustain much more focussed work.

Permalink Reply by Shane Krukowski on March 1, 2010 at 7:40am

Very well said Kevin! Agree 100%! This seems especially challenging with those in traditional 50 min class schedules. Do you see the same?

Permalink Reply by Kevin Gant on March 4, 2010 at 8:05pm

Absolutely. In my experience, project work rarely fits well into small chunks of time, especially if there is collaboration required. I see the highest success at PBL in schools where classes are afforded longer periods of time, so that students can really choose their own paths/activities at various points in the project. Shorter periods of time tend to require a more teacher-centered approach, in order to make that time "count".

Permalink Reply by Nick Ryan on March 2, 2010 at 4:40pm

I love your insight, Kevin. When projects flow naturally out of real world situations (including a simple conversation) they feel much more natural. I rarely see individual student projects succeed when the topic is created and distributed by the advisor. The best projects I've seen have all come out of sitting around with my students and "shootin' the bull."

Permalink Reply by Kevin Gant on March 4, 2010 at 8:01pm

Thanks! I have to say that while I did say, "start a project or inquiry with a conversation, NOT the project description."... I must tell you that I still believe that you should give the kids a project description - just not as the opener. I am absolutely in awe of teachers who can get a class of students all doing individual projects. I and the teachers I work with typically create whole-class projects...and in that context, I concur with you; a dialog between the class and teacher can create great stuff.

Permalink Reply by George Mayo on February 3, 2010 at 7:39am

Hello,

One way I try to create a culture of inquiry, or a culture of creativity, in my middle school classroom is to make it a point that I value the work students create. At the beginning of the year I tell my students that in our classroom, we will share many of our projects with the world via the Internet. I also explain that not only do we share our work, but we try to save and archive it to make it accessible for years to come. Students need to know that their work is valued and has a real purpose. The classroom becomes a sort of production studio where the emphasis is on the highest quality work possible. When you put emphasis on the work, and have lots of past examples of student projects to share, it helps to create a buzz, or an energy in your class.

Sometimes I get new students at the beginning of the year who are already aware of some of the past projects we've done. So they are expecting to be able to create and share authentic projects themselves. So the emphasis on student work, and the sharing and archiving of that work, is very important in the process of creating a culture if inquiry in a classroom.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on February 3, 2010 at 11:31am

Student work as keepsakes, I like it. Maybe we should talk about what kinds of work tell the stories of projects best.

Permalink Reply by Shane Krukowski on February 3, 2010 at 11:43am

You've probably seen this list elsewhere, but worth reiterating here.

During initial Project Foundry training, this really helps people see the possibilities.

See attached.

Attachments: