chapter 11- developing the learner’s skills for effective inquiry: examining structured thinking...

Chapter 11- Developing the Learner’s Skills for Effective Inquiry: Examining Structured

Thinking in Social Studies

Learning TopicsThe Role of Inquiry in Social Studies

Knowledge Based SkillsCritical Thinking and Inquiry Skills

Communication SkillsApplication SkillsMetacognition

Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education Canada 11 - 1

The Role of Inquiry in Social Studies

• The way that we view the learner will influence the approaches we take to planning and delivering instruction in our classrooms.

• Students report that they find it valuable when their teachers create classrooms that encourage active involvement, when they understand the usefulness of what is being learned, and when their teachers demonstrate enthusiasm as they teach.

• Using inquiry in the classroom can support students’ engagement because students have opportunities to pursue the study of issues and topics that interest them, within the framework of the topic being considered


Social Studies: Innovative Approaches for Teachers

Sustained Inquiry

Sustained inquiry will require that students: • achieve a high level of knowledge about the topic • think critically about issues • communicate their findings • apply their ideas and findings to produce a product that demonstrates

their learning. • Skills related to attaining knowledge, thinking critically, communicating

ideas, and applying new learning to create an inquiry based product will be the focus of instruction in an inquiry based learning environment.

• The level to which teachers engage their students in inquiry will reflect their view of the learner and their beliefs about the learning process.



Using Various Approaches to Learning

TRANSMISSION, TRANSACTION AND TRANSFORMATION

Transmission – The teacher is the teller; knowledge is imparted; emphasis is on the acquisition of facts and knowledge.

Transaction –The teacher is the coach, guiding the student to develop reproducible and transferrable skills.

Transformation- The teacher is a guide, supporting students’ structured efforts to make meaning and understand new learning; the support that the teacher provides is often referred to as scaffolding.

It is important to recognize that Miller’s orientations talk about how to teach; they are not suggesting different theories about how the student learns. Constructivism focuses on how students make meaning of their experiences, regardless of how those experiences come about.



Models for InquiryThere are various models for inquiry and some have been explored earlier in this text as we examined critical thinking.Common models include variations on the following steps: * identifying an inquiry focus * identifying a problem * formulating a hypothesis * collecting data and evidence * evaluating and analyzing data * testing the hypothesis



Inquiry with Young Children

While inquiry following these steps seems very structured and scientific, inquiry with young children may be less linear.

Some inquiries may follow some of these steps.

Some inquiries may engage these steps in a different order.



Young Children and Knowledge Based Skills

As children develop increasing levels of skill, inquiry will become more intense and fully engaged.

Knowledge based skills that students need to develop include: Descriptions of social structures Legal descriptions of rights and responsibilities Social processes (e.g., elections, ceremonies) Services and securities Roles and historical figures Knowledge of symbols, practices, and places Knowledge of concepts Knowledge of imposed structures used to classify and sort (e.g., physical regions) Knowledge of relationships between the natural and constructed elements of the world Knowledge of environments Knowledge of exchanges, relationships, traditions, and influences Knowledge of theories Knowledge of ascribed attitudes and their origins Knowledge of trends, advances, and patterns Knowledge of the relationships between change and time



Critical Thinking and Inquiry SkillsThe call for strengthened focus on citizenship education in schools has renewed interest in the nature of critical thinking. Critical thinking has been defined by many researchers and organizations. It is a concept that changes with social situations and developing issues. "Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,

applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action" (Scriven, 1996).

"Most formal definitions characterize critical thinking as the intentional application of rational, higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference, and evaluation" (Angelo, 1995, p. 6 ).

"Critical thinking is thinking that assesses itself" ( Center for Critical Thinking, 1996b ). "Critical thinking is the ability to think about one's thinking in such a way as 1. To recognize its

strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, 2. To recast the thinking in improved form" (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996c ).



http://www.utc.edu/Administration/WalkerTeachingResourceCenter/FacultyDevelopment/CriticalThinking/index.html





Critical Thinking is a Way of Engaging Inquiry

Dispositions: Critical thinkers are skeptical, open-minded, value fair-mindedness, respect evidence and reasoning, respect clarity and precision, look at different points of view, and will change positions when reason dictates.

Criteria: To think critically, a person must apply criteria. They need to have conditions that must be met for something to be judged as believable. Although each subject area has different criteria for inquiry, some standards apply to all subjects. "... an assertion must... be based on relevant, accurate facts; based on credible sources; precise; unbiased; free from logical fallacies; logically consistent; and strongly reasoned" (p. 12).

Argument: A statement or proposition with supporting evidence is required. Critical thinking involves identifying, evaluating, and constructing arguments that will stand up to close evaluation of the evidence.

Reasoning: Reasoning includes the ability to infer a conclusion from one or more premises. To do so requires examining logical relationships among statements or data.

Point of View: The way a person views the world, which shapes their construction of meaning, constitutes their point of view. Critical thinkers view phenomena from many different points of view to shape personal understanding.

Procedures for Applying Criteria: Critical thinking makes use of many procedures and processes to apply thinking criteria effectively. These procedures include asking questions, making judgments, and identifying assumptions.

(Adapted from http://www.uts.edu/Administration/Walker Teaching Resource Center/Faculty Development/Critical Thinking/index.html)



http://www.uts.edu/Administration/Walker

Critical Thinking and Inquiry in Guidelines

Critical thinking is often equated to inquiry skills in provincial and territorial guidelines and includes the abilities to:Formulate research questionsUse primary and secondary sourcesAnalyze, classify and interpret informationRepresent ideas in other formats (e.g., graphically)ResearchMake connectionsUse specific vocabulary



Communication Skills Students need to be able to communicate to learn and demonstrate their learning. An examination of the Social Studies curriculum guidelines across Canada yields several common treads that inform how the subject is to be addressed because of its unique multi-disciplinary nature, and the nature of communication skills within the discipline.

These commonalities include: Recognition that Social Studies draws from the approaches of many disciplines An emphasis on historical and geographical content The interconnectedness of people with their environment, including evolving concepts of

global stewardship A focus on using ideas related to self, family, community, country, and world to understand

the present and develop a perspective on the future Guidance for students as they develop a broadening understanding of their role in local

and global contexts through extended experiences that help them construct their reality A vision of the role of Social Studies as one vehicle to manage the development of

students’ citizenship skills for productive participation in a democratic society.Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education Canada 11 - 11


Common Goal of Communication Skills

• What all of these foci have in common is their direction to plan programs that help students construct or develop their own meaning.

• This is constructivism.

• Constructivism is an approach to teaching that focuses on the learner having experiences and opportunities to process and having time and structure to reflect on experiences to draw meaning from them.



Application Skills

By understanding the developmental characteristics of students, teachers can work toward planning applications that suit developmental levels and appeal to the learners.



Sample Applications to Demonstrate Learning



• illustrations • examples

• bibliographic presentations • concept maps

• comparisons • cause/effect graphics

• social action • explanations

• descriptions • opinions

• translations of ideas into other formats • creative interpretations (e.g., art work)

• re-enactments • timelines or other ordering activities

• models • debate

• reports

The Bloom’s Taxonomy Wheel provides more examples of applications.

Metacognition

Metacognition is self-awareness of personal knowledge and skills.

• Once students have had many experiences with inquiry, they can begin to be more aware of the skills they are developing to increase their awareness of their strengths as learners.



Achieving Metacognition through Transformative Strategies

Transformative instructional strategies are those that engage students and promote in them a desire to invest energy and their abilities in the topics of current focus.

Transformative strategies combine all of the techniques that apply to address both constructivism and social constructivism.

To create this type of learning environment for Social Studies, the teacher needs to consider the qualities of an active, transformative learning environment.



Transformative Strategies Students are active. Choice is provided in how to learn and how to demonstrate learning. The classroom is resource rich. Students work in groups often. Groups are flexible, and respond to current learning needs. Talk is valued. Technology is readily available to support students’ investigations. Questions are asked and investigated. Controversial issues are examined. Action in relation to findings is an option. The teacher is modeling, guiding and supporting. Social interaction skills are taught, recognized, and reinforced. Divergence is valued. Depth and breadth in relation to examining a topic are encouraged. Furniture is portable and there to serve the tasks as needed. Students regularly get detailed, positive feedback from peers and teachers to guide personal improvement. Differentiation is always promoted. A positive, respectful tone is maintained at all times. Learning time is preserved from interruption. Large blocks of time are available to promote inquiry. Achievement is shared and celebrated. Parents are welcomed to share in their child’s learning.



Using Correlation Skills in Inquiry

Correlation is an inquiry skill that addresses attention to the question, “What are these changes related to?”

Teachers will have to direct students to avoid overstating the results of a correlation and not confuse correlation and causation.



Sample of Correlation Inquiries for Young Children

• What are mobility patterns across Canada related to?

• What do educational opportunities across Canada relate to?

• What are changes in trade related to?• What are economic indicators related to?



Showing Data with Correlations

• The results of investigations using correlation are often shown in graph format so that relationships can be identified pictorially and points of intersection are readily seen.

• Even very young students can be guided to use correlation to investigate data that relates to their experiences.



Data Graphs and TablesExposing students to the use of tally charts and tables,

bar graphs, line graphs, and pie graphs will help them collect and sort data to engage in the use of correlations.

Electronic software to generate such graphs makes their completion both interesting and easy for students.

Junior students can be taught to use more sophisticated accounting software and spreadsheets to create tables and graphs.



Chapter Review

• Inquiry engages students’ interest.• Inquiry can be open-ended, with uncertain

discoveries during the course of the inquiry.• Inquiry allows students to pursue their own

interests within a topic.• Inquiry skills give students the academic tools they

need to engage rigorous investigations.• Transmission, transaction, and transformation

identify three different orientations to curriculum.Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education Canada 11 - 22


• Transformational orientations to curriculum support sustained, student centered curriculum.

• Constructivism is a transformational orientation which focuses on teaching in ways that encourage students to make meaning from their learning.

• All three orientations to the curriculum have a place in the classroom.

• Approaches should be chosen to create the strongest match with the learning expectation(s) for each lesson.



• Effective elementary Social Studies teachers use techniques that reflect clear learning goals and challenge students’ thinking.

• Sustained inquiry experiences challenge students’ thinking.

• Inquiry can progress through defined steps that mirror the traditional scientific approach.



• Analysis of provincial/territorial guidelines leads to the identification of relatively common lists of knowledge based skills, critical thinking and inquiry skills, communications skills, application skills and metacognitive skills.

• Critical thinking skills are skills linked to values.• Critical thinking is an inherent aspect of inquiry.



• Critical thinking skills are part of the skills of concept clarification, model building, narration, description, map making, comparison, correlation, causal reasoning, and decision making.

• To communicate their learning students must first make meaning of their learning experiences. This meaning making is called constructivism.

• Both cognitive and social constructivism have value in the creation of meaning and the values are linked to incorporating new meaning into reality.



• The accumulation of experiences expands the learners’ attitudes into beliefs and solidifies their beliefs into values.

• Applications should be designed to suit the developmental characteristics of students.

• A wide variety of learning products can be used by students to demonstrate their learning.



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