What is it?
Inquiry-based learning is a student-centred approach to teaching and learning where a unit of work is organised around relevant, authentic, open-ended questions.
It is characterised by its emphasis on process, questioning, student voice, building on prior knowledge, active learner involvement, the involvement of internal and external school/community resources, iterative or recursive learning, reflection and deep thinking, ongoing assessment, and learning leading to action (Lutheran Education Queensland, n.d).
There is substantive evidence to suggest that inquiry-based learning is an effective strategy to foster a range of skills and knowledge. Researchers such as Hmelo-Silver, Duncan and Chinn (2007) argue that teachers using inquiry-based learning ‘provide extensive scaffolding and guidance to facilitate student learning’ and that these provisions underpin effectiveness.
However, like discovery learning, the efficacy of inquiry-based learning has been challenged in recent years (Hattie, 2008; Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006; Mayer, 2004). Claims about the ineffectiveness of inquiry-based learning are tied to the false notion of minimal guidance. Detractors suggest that inquiry-based learning does not guide learners ‘as to the content, scope or standards required for satisfactory completion of a task’ (Dinham, 2017, p. 18). This claim is commonly refuted by inquiry-based learning researchers (Di Mauro and Furman, 2016; Furtak, Seidel, Iverson & Briggs, 2016).
Claims about the ineffectiveness of inquiry-based learning are tied to the false notion of minimal guidance.
Inquiry-based learning has been adopted widely by educators and systems around the world. It is employed as a strategy to foster scientific thinking skills such as experimentation, evaluating evidence, and inference. The US National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) emphasise the centrality of inquiry to science learning, both to scientists undertaking research, and to learners’ understanding of scientific knowledge. Inquiry is also helpful to teachers both as a strategy to transmit scientific knowledge and as a tool to talk about the important work of scientists to their learners. Inquiry-based learning is mandated by the Australian Science Curriculum to foster scientific skills (Nichols, Burgh & Kennedy, 2017).
Inquiry-based learning is also used by systems to foster critical thinking, interdisciplinary and social studies learning. Friesen and Scott (2013) said that in Alberta, Canada, ‘most of the major subject-specific curriculum documents contain the term inquiry and it holds a central place in both the science and social studies programs of study’. The International Baccalaureate Organization’s Primary Years Program includes a number of transdisciplinary themes around which units of inquiry are organised (Campbell, Chittleborough, Jobling, Tytler, & Doig, 2014).
The Teaching and Learning International Survey of 34 countries and sub-national identities conducted in 2013 (OECD, 2014) reported that most teachers surveyed believe that it is their role to facilitate students’ own inquiry (94%), and that students should be allowed to think of solutions to practical problems themselves before teachers show them how they are solved (92%).
How inquiry-based learning carries the five characteristics
Inquiry-based learning aligns with learning through play as defined by the LEGO Foundation in the following ways:
- Meaningful. Meaningful, authentic questions are key to effective inquiry-based learning and inquiry skills development (Goldstein, 2016). Relevant, meaningful, and authentic open-ended questions such as ‘how can we turn our classroom into a museum?’ or ‘what does it mean to make a wise choice?’ are at the heart of quality inquiry-based learning (Murdoch, 2014).
- Social interaction. Barron and Darling-Hammond (2008) describe how inquiry-based learning frequently involves learners working in groups or pairs to solve problems, complete projects, or design and build artefacts. Nichols, Burgh and Kennedy (2017) agree that cooperative learning is often built into inquiry to leverage the benefits of peer and group learning to foster social and interpersonal skills.
- Actively engaging. Hmelo-Silver, Duncan and Chinn (2007) describe how learners are ‘cognitively engaged in sensemaking, developing evidence-based explanations, and communicating their ideas’ in inquiry-based learning.
- Iterative. Inquiry-based learning is designed to emphasise exploration, open-endedness and iterative trial and error. Using inquiry-based learning has been found to explicitly recalibrate learner expectations, offsetting anxiety about not succeeding (Fielding-Wells, O’Brien & Makar, 2017).
- Joyful. Fielding-Wells, O’Brien and Makar’s (2017) study found learners revealed their enjoyment of and interest in inquiry-based learning through increased motivation. Motivation inspired learners to learn more; to go beyond the task requirements.
Evidence of impact
A sample of recent evidence of the impact of inquiry-based learning is as follows:
Strong learner engagement and motivation. Alford, Rollins, Stillisano, and Waxman (2013), in their qualitative study of 85 International Baccalaureate (IB) classrooms in Texas, revealed that instruction was active and engaging. It involved learners fostering new skills and understandings of new concepts through processes such as explaining, elaborating and evaluating. Learners were observed spending a far greater amount of time on task in IB classrooms than in classrooms in other observational studies.
Scientific inquiry skills. Inquiry-based learning, and its role in fostering scientific thinking skills, such as experimentation, evaluating evidence, and inference, was tested by Di Mauro and Furman (2016) in a quasi-experimental longitudinal study of fourth grade learners in Argentina. Di Mauro and Furman found that only learners in the experimental group, who participated in guided inquiry-based instruction, were able to reach advanced ability levels in experiment design.
Scientific concepts and skills. Furtak et al. (2016) conducted a meta-analysis of 22 empirical studies regarding inquiry-based learning and found that it is particularly effective when it provides opportunities for learners to learn about and practice:
- The procedures related to scientific knowledge and skills such as experiment design and data collection.
- The nature of knowledge in science; drawing conclusions from evidence and generating and revising theories.
- Working in groups, participating in class discussions and presenting ideas or projects.
Mathematics learning engagement and motivation. Fielding-Wells, O’Brien and Makar (2017) conducted a qualitative study exploring the use of inquiry-based learning to foster motivation and engagement in mathematics learning for 9–10 year old Australian learners. They found that learners in guided inquiry classrooms recalibrated their expectations about learning, accepting trial and error and failure as essential to extend their learning and improve performance. They concluded that inquiry-based learning can promote mathematics learning self-efficacy.
Enabling factors
The specific features of inquiry-based learning that contribute to its effectiveness as a strategy include:
- Planning. Successfully implementing inquiry-based learning ‘requires planning and well thought-out approaches to collaboration, classroom interaction and assessment’ (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2010, p. 213).
- Teacher guidance. The level of teacher instructional guidance required will be determined by both the grade level and depth of scientific knowledge required to solve the problem. In Di Mauro and Furman’s study (2016), the teacher’s role in the inquiry unit was to ‘closely guide’ learners through key questions and interventions.
- Integration. Di Mauro and Furman (2016) found that inquiry-based learning was effective in fostering fourth grade learners’ experiment design skills when it included everyday problems or inquiry topics with low conceptual load, and a combination of independent learner work, teacher guiding questions, and moments of explicit instruction.
- Teacher training. Shymansky, Hedges and Woodworth (1990) found that learners whose science teachers had received training in inquiry-based learning methods outperformed learners in traditional learning environments. The latter were characterised as those that emphasised the knowledge of scientific facts, laws and theories, and used laboratory activities to supplement learning rather than as the basis for learning.
- Program design. Inquiry-based science programs should include short and long-term learning goals, content and curricula aligned with interests, knowledge, understanding, experiences and abilities of learners, and collegiate collaboration across grades and disciplines (National Research Council, 1996).