Reflection: Transitioning from Knowledge to Synthesis

As a result of this course, there are some striking revelations I had about the teaching of literacy skills. It is made clear that not any question can form basis for a research project, not any question will lead to deeper learning. Asking a good question is a big challenge by itself. According to Dr. Thornburg (2004), “a good question is one for which: we do not know the answer, the answers are defensible, the door is opened for in-depth research and projects, the focus is on causes, and other questions emerge” (p. 3). Some strategies are helpful in making questions to serve more as research starters. “One approach is to formulate questions of sufficient depth to allow for new observations… Even on topics for which answers are well known, creativity can be encouraged” (p. 3). Then as the learning process goes, new questions come up naturally, knowing that it is very important to be careful to not let new questions pull the learners from their main quest. And “once the hook is set, the process of finding answers to these questions will naturally lead to greater in-depth exploration of the subject, often to levels beyond those expected of the school’s curriculum” (p. 7).I also learned using the “topic + focus” strategy (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 134) to locate target information more quickly. In addition to this strategy, I learned some interesting strategies like using the indexes or site maps. Another two strategies I learned were using “multiple words” and using –minus to remove some useless information.

The experience I had in this course by creating the “Inquiry-based Unit Plan” will influence my teaching practice in the classroom. I learned the steps and I have been in the process of developing a unit plan to conduct a research, assisting students in conducting an Inquiry-based research, assessing students’ work throughout the process of a guided inquiry and evaluating/grading the final product. From my experience in this course, it is made clear that “Project-based learning fosters students’ creativity and critical thinking, encourages responsibility for their own learning, and allows them to express their learning in diverse and meaningful ways” (Laureate Inc., 2009).

A professional development goal I would like to pursue is to learn strategies for choosing meaningful research topics in Mathematics, and create a folder containing Inquiry-based research ideas for different classes (Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus).

References

Eagleton, M. & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program eight. Inquiry-Based Projects [Motion picture]. Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Thornburg, D. (2004). Inquiry: The art of helping students ask good questions. (Executive Briefing No. 402). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/inquiry.pdf