Strategies for Inquiry in a Student-Centered Classroom (Part 1)

The National Science Education Standards (NSES p. 23) defines scientific inquiry as "the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. ... Scientific inquiry is a powerful way of understanding science content.

They Gathered Evidence- Now What Do Students Do?

CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning), PBL (Problem-Based Learning), and ADI (Argument-Driven Inquiry) - these acronyms might sound very isolated, but in fact, they all are based around one concept- Inquiry: a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge 

ADI- is explained in detail at the official site https://www.argumentdriveninquiry.com/ -the website offers a plethora of information and lesson ideas, a must visit. 

Also NSTA has amazing books on ADI one for each content area. Although PBL and CER are more well-known, ADI is my favorite for many reasons.

Three Strategies, CER, PBL and ADI

There are many strategies available to help our students become more thoughtful and focused thinkers. The foundation of education is not to just provide information to students- but to get them to analyze and interpret data, in order to, form their own conclusions. 

Our students need to be taught strategies that will help them sift through the barrage of information out there. To weed out the erroneous data and get to the truth. Whether you use ADI, CER or PBL, inquiry will be embedded into the learning, if you make sure these five features are the basis of the activity.

The 5 features of science inquiry (NSES)

• Learner Engages in Scientifically Oriented Questions.
• Learner Gives Priority to Evidence in Responding to Questions.
• Learner Formulates Explanations from Evidence.
• Learner Connects Explanations to Scientific Knowledge.
• Learner Communicates and Justifies Explanation

What do CER, PBL, and ADI Look Like in a Classroom?

The most visual aspect of inquiry science- is students doing science. OR, students researching and applying their knowledge in creative ways. Inquiry requires teachers to be able to excite the students' interest in a topic and then provide them with opportunities to undertake the investigation either by themselves or preferably in collaboration with others. This curiosity and motivation can be integrated into all subject areas, not just science. 

Student-centered teachers carefully guide students as they begin to explore or investigate their topic, being careful not to dominate the conversation. They allow the conversation to be led by students and for the discussion, to take twists and turns, based on the evidence and interest of the students. They give students plenty of time to develop responses or think about the issue more carefully, giving students the time to reflect and think more carefully about the issue.

In my next blog post- I will share a lesson I used this year for each PBL, CER and ADI. Each slightly different but all achieving the same goal: engaging students in higher-order thinking, providing opportunities for problem-solving, evidence gathering and analysis, and cooperation and collaboration.