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Quality Inquiry Questions: a difficult genre

In a previous Humsteach postings I explored the Nature of inquiry ('what direction with inquiry'). In this Humsteach posting I will explore the need for and nature of inquiry questions in the curriculum documents of the Australian Curriculum: Geography.

“The purpose of an inquiry question is more important than its form. They are about meaning-making and not knowledge acquisition.” Wiggins and McTighe

Part 1

Inquiry learning is:

• research focussed
• real/authentic
• constructivist
• process based
• scaffolded
• about promoting, enhancing and guiding student learning
• the art of questioning – good questions
• problem based learning

and …

• does not hand over responsibility for learning to the students
• provides searching questions and guidance
• promotes engagement
• involves the development of scenarios for stimulus
• involves inquiry based decision making

What do all these mean?

It all sounds great but are there any downsides to inquiry based learning

Part 2: In the Australian Currciulum

A contentious aspect of the development of the Australian Curriculum: Geography has been the need and desirability of developing inquiry questions throughout the F-10 curriculum. Over the past two years, they have been in, then out, then in and then … etc. The reason for this vacillation lies firstly in the conflicting views over the inquiry questions. One argument against them is that they will unnecessarily guide the approach (encourage a teacher directed approach) to the curriculum and take away the opportunity for students to develop their own inquiry questions. On the other hand, some have thought that the inquiry type questions are necessary because they will provide a source of inspiration for teachers to develop high quality geographical inquiry which may be beyond students in the first instance and be required to guide the ‘non-geographer’ geography teacher. The other reason for the in and out scenario for the inquiry questions is that it is extremely hard to develop high quality questions which focus on conceptual understandings rather than just finding answers to content.

This impasse set me on a quest to find out what is being said about developing high quality inquiry questions. This in turn led me directly to the learning design and backward planning gurus of Wiggins and McTighue.

The following thoughts have been inspired by their work, my own experience in schools and as a curriculum writer in developing ‘questions beyond the worksheet’. It is certainly worth having a good read of their work on learning design and consider the need to start with the end in mind. In the case of the Australian Curriculum: Geography, that end in my view should be the Achievement Standards.

If I was to develop the Inquiry questions for the year levels of the curriculum the question should be crafted to:

· inquire into the big ideas and understandings of the year level

· provoke discussion as an open question (never to be a closed question inviting a yes/no response)

· limit reference to specific content. To do so one needs to blur their eyes to the content. And focus on the learning/assessment requirements (achievement standards in the Australian Curriculum).

· involve a degree of contestability – making balanced judgements based on content studied

· make connections to prior learning and possible future connections in the curriculum narrative.

· stimulate and focus thinking,

· not require prescriptive answers.

· provide opportunities to open up inquiry with multiple pathways of thought

· not be a checklist of the facts to learn.

· enable the students to extend the question and in turn own the inquiry.

· focus on meaning-making and understanding and not the recall of facts

· the question should raise further questions – not just an answer.

· be rhetorical to promote thinking.

· 3-4 fundamental understanding questions per unit.

· accessible in terms of language to students and the ‘non-geographer’ teacher.

· recognisable in the Content Descriptions and Achievement Standards of the curriculum.

· identify the relevant concepts for the unit in the questions.

· be conceptual and abstract requiring the teacher to model and develop contexts to demonstrate – not teach them through content questions.

In essence the questions developed must be crafted so that the teacher can understand them – hence these questions are primarily focussed on the teacher to design their program.

To help with developing ‘more than worksheets’ questions I have gathered this list of lead-in phrases – they may serve to steer us away from the ‘teacherly’questions as Wiggins and McTighe call them.

To what extent…?

What makes …?

How can ...?

When is it …?

Why should …?

Why would …?

How does …?

How do you know …?

How is …?

What do …?

When should …?

When is …?

How would …?

What should …?

How much does …?

Is there a …?

How well …?

In what ways might …?

What would happen if …?

Under what conditions …?

On balance …?

Why …?

Why would one say that …?

Why do you think that …?

How would you respond …?

Who is …?

Evaluate …?

Analyse…?

How accurate is the …?

How well can …?

When do you …?

Having said all that, it is a huge challenge to develop high quality inquiry questions based on these premises. When writing the questions one often falls back into old habits of focussing on the content of the curriculum, rather than the understandings based on the concepts. I defy anyone to create excellent question without trialing them with teachers and students as they become familiar with the curriculum content.

Inquiring about inquiry in AC: Geography and History

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The same but different

Inquiry is the preferred methodology in the Australian Curriculum: History and Geography.

In the lecture Adrian said that Inquiry learning is:

• research focussed
• real/authentic
• constructivist
• process based
• scaffolded
• about promoting, enhancing and guiding student learning
• the art of questioning – good questions
• problem based learning

and …

• does not hand over responsibility for learning to the students
• provides searching questions and guidance
• promotes engagement
• involves the development of scenarios for stimulus
• involves inquiry based decision making

What do all these mean?

It all sounds great but are there any downsides to inquiry based learning

Here are the details of how inquiry is addressed in these curriculum documents. Note, that inquiry in geography is different to that described in history. The same but different to keep the disciplines distinctive when using inquiry!

Inquiry in geography: an attempt to articulate and show geographical distinctiveness

“... process of inquiry by which students learn new geographical knowledge and deepen their understanding. This is developed through investigations that involve observations or questions (for example, about environmental, social, cultural and economic features) the collection and interpretation of information to develop conclusions; and reflection on the overall process. Inquiries may be undertaken by individual students, or collaboratively, and may vary in scale, geographic context, and the time taken for the investigation.”

The process of geographical inquiry ... is described in the curriculum under five headings, which represent the stages of a complete investigation. Over each two-year band, students should learn the methods and skills specified. Every investigation need not follow every step; the inquiry process may follow loops, in which students go back to an earlier stage to ask more questions or to undertake more analysis. Furthermore, not all inquiry requires the collection and processing of information, as the starting point could be a concept, or an ethical or aesthetic issue, which can be explored verbally. Many inquiries should start from the observations, questions and curiosity of students.

Observing and questioning: Developing questions about something that has been observed, experienced or thought about.

Planning, collecting and evaluating: Deciding how to investigate a question or find an answer to a problem, and identifying possible answers to test; collecting information from a variety of primary sources and secondary sources, such as text-based resources, statistics, images, maps, aerial photographs, satellite images, samples and objects, fieldwork, sketches, interviews, and reports; and evaluating information for reliability and bias.

Processing, analysing, interpreting and concluding: Making sense of the information gathered through textual analysis and interpretation, by processing it into maps, tables, graphs and diagrams. Identifying order, diversity, trends, patterns, anomalies, generalisations and cause and effect relationships, using quantitative and qualitative methods appropriate to the type of inquiry; and interpreting the results of this analysis and developing conclusions.
Communicating: Communicating the results of investigations using combinations of communication methods (verbal, audio, graphical, visual, mapping and text-based), which are appropriate to the subject matter, purpose and audience.

Reflecting and responding: Reflecting on the findings of the investigation and relating these findings to existing knowledge; reflecting on the process of the inquiry, and on the strengths and weaknesses of the method of investigation chosen; deciding what action is needed in response to the results of the investigation, by applying the criteria of environmental sustainability, economic costs and benefits, and social justice; and reflecting on the actions.

In history inquiry is described as:

One of the aims of the course is to develop student:
• capacity to undertake historical inquiry, including skills in the analysis and use of sources, and in explanation and communication

Historical Skills strand

• The skill strand promotes skills used in the process of historical inquiry: chronology, terms and concepts; historical questions and research; the analysis and use of sources; perspectives and interpretations; explanation and communication.
Inquiry questions

• Each year level from Foundation to Year 10 includes key inquiry questions that provide a framework for developing students’ historical knowledge,and skills

Monday, March 10, 2014

From what direction with Inquiry

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In viewing numerous classroom scenarios on inquiry, we see the principle of inductive reasoning at the center of the teacher’s approach. Students begin with a source – a cup or a dress and their thinking and reasoning is guided to begin firstly with the particular and then branching out to the more general.

Inductive reasoning means restricting oneself to sources and then formulating statements based on them. Sources are used as a starting point to inquiry, - further research will hopefully result from this activity. The kind of research the students will be carrying out will be inductive as they will be establishing facts directly referred to by the sources and they will be making inferences from the sources they are working with and researching further.

Principle number 1. Start with the particular, move out to the general. Otherwise the opposite of this is deductive reasoning which consists in passing from the ‘the universal’ to ‘the particular’. It is less likely that a primary school student will know how to draw conclusions from certain general truths.

The second principle that underpins this type of inquiry is active, student centred learning – but well supported and scaffolded by the teacher. It’s what Webster calls “light assistance”. Pedagogically speaking the approach is robust – it sits very much within a context of social constructivism. The interaction between you and the student is crucial even though you may think this approach is all about handing over responsibility for learning to the student. Yes, that’s partly true. Good inquiry methodology results in the interaction between adult and student guiding student thinking (From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side). Teachers have a vital role to play developing effective inquiry learning which includes initiating good questions to research and to analyse and to come up with reasoned meaningful conclusions. By promoting active learning – that is not just doing but thinking-- in classrooms the learning outcomes are more likely to become intellectually embedded says Hutchings, “what we discover, we retain”

The third principle underpinning inquiry learning is the use of open ended questioning, resulting in deep levels of engagement with problems that are likely to be multifaceted and complex. Its nature is exploratory (Hutchings, 2007). Hutchings says that the core of inquiry is the question and it is in the formulation and ‘or the analysis of that question that the important initial intellectual activity takes place. Philosophically it is a Socratic based activity - Socratic perception that our knowledge is formed by questions.

Students participate in acts of discovery, grappling with different ways of looking at ideas and issues and thinking creatively about problems that do not necessarily have simple answers.

The 'Instructional Strategies online' site succinctly sums up inquiry methodology when it says:

Using inquiry, students become actively involved in the learning process as they:

* act upon their curiosity and interests;
* develop questions;
* think their way through controversies or dilemmas;
* look at problems analytically;
* inquire into their preconceptions and what they already know;
* develop, clarify, and test hypotheses; and,
* draw inferences and generate possible solutions.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Curriculum making

Image above: The Geography Association in the UK. An amazing resource and the leaders in the concept of curriculum making.

Related sites to Humsteach blog
Spatialworlds
Australian Curriculum Portal
Geogaction
DECD Learning Resources for Australian Curriculum
DECD Achievement Standards Charts
Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
Geography Teachers Association of South Australia
History Teachers Association of South Australia
History Teachers Association of Australia

Scoop.it

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Adapted from the work of the Geography Association in the UK

http://www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/curriculummaking/curriculummakingexplained

What is curriculum making?

Curriculum making is the creative act of interpreting a curriculum specification or scheme of work and turning it into a coherent, challenging, engaging and enjoyable scheme of work.
Curriculum making is a job that really never ends and lies at the heart of good teaching.

When educators talk about curriculum making we refer to the creation of interesting, engaging and challenging educational encounters which draw upon teacher knowledge and skills, the experiences of students and the valuable subject resources of the subject. Curriculum making is concerned with holding all this in balance and as a teacher you play a key role.

Why curriculum making?

The potential and promise of a subject is compromised if it is seen only as an inert or static 'knowledge-to-be-delivered'. Covering the syllabus is just the mechanics of teaching and is not the same as making the curriculum.

Curriculum making is about bringing a curriculum alive. It is about enacting the curriculum and giving it purpose. Geography and history are resources that can enable students to better understand the world and their place in it. It aims for a deep understanding.

The inquiry-led approach lies at the heart of teaching and learning in the Australian Curriculum: geography and History. Humanities teachers perform a delicate balancing act, drawing upon the student's experiences, the subject resource and their own knowledge and craft skills.

The essence of curriculum making

The following diagram captures the essence of curriculum making. Think of the diagram as a kind of 'corrective', always aiming for somewhere in the middle. Engage with the subject, listen to your students and question the value of what you are teaching.

Diagram from the Geography Association UK

The inquiry approach contains four central aspects including the creation of a 'need to know' through the use of an engaging stimulus. It then develops through the collection and use of data, processing and making sense of that data and finally reflecting on learning in order to apply it to future enquiries.

This process has been captured in a single diagram (adapted from Roberts, 2003).

During the tutorials we have used the deconstructing triangle for geography and history to start the exciting process of curriculum making within the context of backward designing the curriculum.

Useful planning resources

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Useful planning resources

As you embark on your unit planning following our backward design workshop this morning, I would like to point you towards some if these great history and geography planning resources from Australia and the UK that will help you along the way.

* UK Geography Association Think Pieces

* The Work Samples for History and Geography on the ACARA Curriculum Portal

* Education Services Australia GeogSpace and AC History Units sites.

The History site

The Geography site

* The DECD Teaching for Effective Learning (TfEL) and assessment resources for History and Geography
Achievement Standards Chart and activities for Geography

The chart is at: http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/assessment/files/links/AchStnd_Geog_with_concept.docm

DECD in South Australia has recently launched their "Making the Australian Curriculum work for us' resource to support the teaching and learning of the Australian Curriculum: Geography. The DECD site has a range of geography and history bits and pieces to support curriculum planning.

The Story of the learning areas animation. Excellent animation on 'What is Geography for' and 'What is History for?'.

The geography and history curriculum, year by year, all on one page in the Learning Area Explorer.

Bringing it to life resource (BiTL) for history and geography
Geography BitL is meant to be posted any day

More than telling with inquiring

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