TEACHING SCIENCE

THROUGH INQUIRY
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OVERVIEW
We live in a world of incredibly fast-moving science, where information and
knowledge are constantly pushing back the boundaries of the human mind.

We pose a lot of questions about the material world and investigate the
same.

In doing so, learners acquire knowledge and develop a rich understanding of

concepts, principles, models and theories.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
“All the world is a laboratory to the
inquiring mind.”
-­‐Martin H. Fischer

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 OBJECTIVES OF THE SESSION

1. Describe the features of an inquiry-based science

lesson.
2. Appreciate the importance of inquiry in teaching
science.
3. Compare the traditional science instruction and
inquiry-based learning.
4. Explain each of the four levels of inquiry.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FACT OR BLUFF?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TASK 1:
Tell whether the statement is a fact or a
bluff.

TIME ALLOTMENT:
5 secs per statement

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FACT OR BLUFF

Teachers must always apply the scientific

method in order to make their lessons
inquiry-based.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FACT OR BLUFF

Inquiry-based instruction must make the

learners generate and pursue their own
questions.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FACT OR BLUFF

As long as there are hands-on activities

in a science class, there is inquiry-based
learning.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FACT OR BLUFF

Evidence is important when doing

inquiry.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
FACT OR BLUFF

Inquiry is only for high achieving

learners.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 WHAT ARE THE
DOMINANT ACTIVITIES
IN AN INQUIRY-BASED
CLASSROOM?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 DOMINANT ACTIVITIES IN AN INQUIRY-BASED
CLASSROOM

“The creation of a classroom where students

are engaged in essentially open-ended, student-centered,
hands-on activities.”

• Questioning
• Investigating
• Using evidences to describe, explain
and predict
• Connecting evidences to knowledge
• Sharing of findings
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING
finds its antecedents to…

CONSTRUCTIVISM
(Piaget)

EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL
LEARNING DEVELOPMENT
(Dewey) (Vygotsky)

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 WHY IS INQUIRY
IMPORTANT IN
TEACHING SCIENCE?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IMPORTANCE OF INQUIRY IN TEACHING
SCIENCE
• Prepare learners to live in a world
that is non-static.
• Enable learners to cope with changes
that will increase in complexity
throughout their lives.
• Provide learners tools for continuing
to learn.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IMPORTANCE OF INQUIRY IN TEACHING
SCIENCE
• Attain important outcomes in the
classroom.
• Develop useful problem solving skills.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IMPORTANCE OF INQUIRY IN TEACHING
SCIENCE

We dream of Filipinos who passionately

love their country and whose values and
competencies enable them to realize
their full potential and contribute
meaningfully to building the nation.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 HOW DOES INQUIRY-BASED
INSTRUCTION COMPARE TO
TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING

Indicator Traditional Inquiry-Based

Science Learning
Instruction
Content Focus What we know? How we come to
know?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING

Indicator Traditional Inquiry-Based

Science Learning
Instruction
Role of Teacher Teacher gives Teacher acts as
information facilitator of
about “what is learning.
known”.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING

Indicator Traditional Inquiry-Based

Science Learning
Instruction
Role of Learner Learner receives Learner
information. constructs
knowledge.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING

Indicator Traditional Inquiry-Based

Science Learning
Instruction
Assessment Focus Content Skills
understanding development in
addition to
content
understanding

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING

Indicator Traditional Inquiry-Based

Science Learning
Instruction
Goal In-school success In-school success
and preparation and preparation
for the next grade for life-long
level. learning.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED
LEARNING

Indicator Traditional Inquiry-Based

Science Learning
Instruction
Use of Resources Limited to what is Use resources
available in class. beyond the
classroom.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
WHAT ARE THE FOUR
LEVELS OF INQUIRY?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 LEVELS OF INQUIRY

1. LIMITED or CONFIRMATION/
VERIFICATION INQUIRY – learners are
provided with the question and procedure
as well as the results, which are known in
advance.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 LEVELS OF INQUIRY

2. STRUCTURED INQUIRY – introduce learners

to the experience of conducting
investigation or practice a specific inquiry
skills.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 LEVELS OF INQUIRY

3. GUIDED INQUIRY – the questions are still

provided by the teacher. Learners
generate an explanation supported by an
evidence they have collected.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 LEVELS OF INQUIRY

4. OPEN INQUIRY – learners have the

opportunity to act like scientists, derive
questions, design and carry out
investigations as well as communicate
results of an investigation.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
LEVELS OF INQUIRY

http://portal.ou.nl/documents/7288585/0/Levels+of+Inquiry+Based+Learning.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
WHAT IS INQUIRY
THEREFORE?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY DEFINED

• Process of seeking truth, information

or knowledge by questioning.
• A dynamic approach to learning that
involves exploring the world, asking
questions, making discoveries and
rigorously testing those discoveries in
search for new understanding.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 HOW WILL YOU
RELATE INQUIRY TO
LEARNING?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY AND LEARNING

• A dynamic approach to learning that

involves exploring the world, asking
questions, making discoveries and
rigorously testing those discoveries in
search for new understanding.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES
OF A CURRICULUM
DESIGNED UNDER
INQUIRY-BASED
APPROACH?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY-BASED CURRICULUM

• Recognizes learners’ drive to learn,

engages learners in central concepts
and principles, leads learners to in-
depth exploration of authentic and
important topics, uses performance-
based assessments and encourages
collaboration.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY-BASED CURRICULUM

• The K to 12 Science Curriculum is

learner-centered and inquiry-based,
emphasizing the use of evidence in
constructing explanations.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
WHAT IS INQUIRY-
BASED LEARNING?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

• Development of critical thinking skills

while learning science.
• Learner-centered instructional
method that is based on substantially
increased learner involvement in the
learning process.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
POINTS TO CONSIDER:
1. Were the learners engaged in
scientifically oriented questions?
2. Were the learners provided opportunity
to prioritize evidence?
3. Were the learners given the time to
formulate their explanations?
4. Were the learners provided the means to
evaluate their explanations in the light of
alternative explanations?
5. Were the learners asked to communicate
and justify their proposed explanations?
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
READY FOR THE
WORKSHOP?

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
…the biggest
challenge is to be
learner-focused

• (Photo Credit: BEST-CI Program)

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
“People learn best not by being told, but
by experiencing the consequences of
their own thoughts and actions.”
-­‐Training House, New Jersey

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
“Let us help one another in developing
Filipino learners not just with the mind of
a scientist but also with the heart of a
missionary.”
-­‐Jade O. Alberto

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
REFERENCES
Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. (2005). Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry. Colorado: BSCS.
 
Gall M. (1970). Gall M.D. (1970). The Use of Questions in Teaching. Review of Educational Research. 40, 707-721 retrieved
from http://rer.sagepub.com/ content/40/5/707.full.pdf
 
Harlen W. (2014). Helping Children’s Development of Inquiry Skills. Inquiry in Primary Science Education, 1 , 5-19 retrieved
from http://prisci.net/ipse/papers/%20IPSE%20Volume%201%20No%201%20Wynne%20Harlen%20p%205%20%2019.pdf
 
Llewellyn D. (2011). Differentiated Science Inquiry. California: Corwin. National Research Council (2000). Inquiry and the
National Science Education Standards. Washington: National Academy Press.
 
Ostlund K. (1996). Rising to the Challenge of the National Science Education Standards. Fresno, California: S & K Associates.

 
Padilla, M. (1990). Research Matters to the Science Teacher. NARST.
 
Waite-Stupiansky, S. (1997). Building Understanding Together: A Constructivist Approach to Early Childhood Education. New
York: Delmar Publishers
 
Witt C & Ulmer J (2010) The Impact of Inquiry Based Learning on the Academic Achievement of Middle School Students
 
Shymansky, J. A., Kyle, W. C., & Alport, J. M. (1983). The Effects of New Science Curricula on Student Performance.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20, 387-404.
 
Shymansky, J. A., Hedges, L. V., & Woodworth, G. (1990). A Reassessment of the Effects of Inquiry-Based Science Curricula
of the Sixties on Student Achievement. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27(2), 127-144

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION