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"As an administrator, whenever I walk into a teacher's classroom, one of the first things I almost always subconsciously look for is whether or not the students are engaged in inquiry. However, telling a teacher, "Your students need to engage in more inquiry," is comparable to letting a comedian know she needs to be funnier or asking a pizzaiolo to make a better dough. And, vague directives in the absence of explicit instruction typically generate anxiety. To avoid these anxieties, and for progress to actually take place, we need to drill down to the nitty gritty and be as explicit as possible. In other words, we need to be explicit about being explicit and leverage specific strategies to comfortably move forward for the benefit of our students. With these thoughts in mind, I've been obsessing over inquiry's common denominators - the strategies or drivers we should always consider when implementing an inquiry-based lesson. That being said, here are the six drivers of inquiry-based learning. And, while I don't think every lesson or activity must have all six, I do believe that once we (and our students) become comfortable with an inquiry approach, all drivers will naturally find a way into learning experiences on a regular, if not daily, basis."

"Inquiry-based learning is more than asking a student what he or she wants to know. It's about triggering curiosity. And activating a student's curiosity is, I would argue, a far more important and complex goal than the objective of mere information delivery. Nevertheless, despite its complexity, inquiry-based learning can be somehow easier on teachers, too. True, it's seemingly easier because it transfers some responsibilities from teachers to students, but it's really easier because releasing authority engages students. Teachers who use inquiry-based learning combat the "dunno" -- a chronic problem in student engagement.  Let's face it, when you ask a student something like, "What do you want to know about _______?" you are often met with a shrug, or a, "dunno." Inquiry-based learning, if front-loaded well, generates such excitement in students that neurons begin to fire, curiosity is triggered, and students can't wait to become experts in answering their own questions."

"Learning through inquiry is not a new concept - at all. Much of the more general life- learning that we do as humans is based on inquiry. Here's a basic example: As a baby, you saw a 'thing' across the room. Your little brain wondered what it was, so you crawled over to it and inspected it. You looked at it, touched it, and determined you wanted to play with it. While babies may not be able to construct thorough explanations and communicate their questions and findings, the inquiry based learning concept is definitely there. As babies grow and turn into students, this style of learning can serve them well, especially in science. The handy infographic below takes a look at the steps of learning through inquiry, as well as some statistics on the importance of science education in the future. Keep reading to learn more."

"What is an inquiry diary? Essentially, it is a large book (or digital equivalent - but more on that later) into which the inquiry is recorded as it unfolds - one of those big, spiral bound sketch books is ideal. Some teachers construct a diary for each inquiry while others use a single diary for the whole year. Some teachers reserve the diary for documentation of the unplanned, 'spontaneous' investigations that occur throughout the year (such as the sad death of the preying mantis at St. Fidelis Primary early this year!). Entries can be made at various times throughout the process - daily, weekly, sporadic or regular. The teacher often scribes students' suggestions or invites a small group to work on an entry. Importantly, the diary gives us an opportunity to reinforce the language of inquiry and the transferable skills and strategies that are being used within it. They can be as simple or as detailed as suits. "

"Our PYP evaluation went really well and it was gratifying to hear the evaluators' positive observations of our school. They talked about our dynamic learning spaces, the energy of our teachers and learners and the respect that is evident between staff and students. They were impressed by how articulate our students are and the openness of our teachers. It was clear to them that the entire school community has a deep understanding of the PYP philosophy and that we have a strong culture of learning. Almost all their recommendations are things on which we are either working already or have identified for action through the self study. There's only one thing I found jarring in their feedback and it relates to my beliefs about inquiry learning. They noted that neither students nor teachers seem able to identify what particular inquiry cycles we follow. They said the children to whom they spoke didn't seem to be aware of the specific 'stages' of inquiry and that most teachers couldn't articulate how an inquiry cycle directs our planning. To be honest, I'm glad."

"Over the summer, I had a fascinating conversation with a group of educators. After spending several days discussing ways to encourage student inquiry, a technology specialist raised a pointed question: "What if the librarians already have a district-approved research process? Does what we're doing conflict?" As I pondered her question, I realized a fundamental problem: inquiry and research had somehow morphed into synonyms. Instead of answering her question, I posed another one: "Can students do research without inquiry, or inquiry without a formal research process?""

When we adopt an inquiry stance towards learning, we start to see things differently. Taking an inquiry stance towards learning involves a shift in mindset and practice for both student and teacher. It allows us to move beyond doing inquiry towards being inquisitive.

"In 2011 I wrote a post entitled Using Teaching as inquiry to guide an elearning action plan, looking at how the inquiry cycle enables teachers to integrate e-learning in such a way that it focuses on the student needs over the e-learning tool itself. In 2012 I revised this model. The inquiry cycle continues to inform the elearning action plan, but this time with a focus on how thinking skills can be developed, using collaborative practices and differentiation, and how this can be supported through the integration of ICT in and beyond the classroom. "

"Making inquiry meaningful can accomplish many important things within our teaching practice. As educators, I believe that the minute we sit down to plan and map out the learning experiences of our students, we are engaging in our own journey of inquiry as our minds are deeply engrossed in opening the doors of learning. Our own journey of inquiry can have such a profound impact on the learning journeys that we help promote within our students. "

"Recently we took at look at the phases of inquiry-based learning through a framework, and even apps that were conducive to inquiry-based learning on the iPad. During our research for the phases framework, we stumbled across the following breakdown of the inquiry process for learning on 21stcenturyhsie.weebly.com (who offer the references that appear below the graphic). Most helpfully, it offers 20 questions that can guide student research at any stage, including:"

"As a learning strategy, inquiry-based learning is all about learners constructing their own understanding and knowledge through asking questions. Unlike traditional learning methods that focus primarily on drills, memorization and rote learning, inquiry-based learning is essentially student-centered. It starts with posing questions and directly involves students in challenging hands-on activities that drive students to ask more questions and explore different learning paths. In today's post, we have assembled a collection of some useful web tools and apps that support the ethos of inquiry-based learning.  Using these tools will enable students to engage in a wide range of learning tasks that are all driven by a sense of inquiry and questioning."

"For subjects like math and foreign language, which are traditionally taught in a linear and highly structured context, using more open-ended inquiry-based models can be challenging. Teachers of these subjects may find it hard to break out of linear teaching style because the assumption is that students can't move to more complicated skills before mastering basic ones. But inquiry learning is based on the premise that, with a little bit of structure and guidance, teachers can support students to ask questions that lead them to learn those same important skills - in ways that are meaningful to them."

"We've talked about how and when to use inquiry-based learning-and apps for inquiry-based learning, too. What we haven't done-explicitly anyway-is looked at the reasons for doing so. While the benefits might seem obvious (student-centeredness, critical thinking, self-directed learning, etc.), the graphic above by famed sketch-noter Sylvia Duckworth based on a session by Trevor Mackenzie captures a lot of these ideas in a single visual."

"For subjects like math and foreign language, which are traditionally taught in a linear and highly structured context, using more open-ended inquiry-based models can be challenging. Teachers of these subjects may find it hard to break out of linear teaching style because the assumption is that students can't move to more complicated skills before mastering basic ones. But inquiry learning is based on the premise that, with a little bit of structure and guidance, teachers can support students to ask questions that lead them to learn those same important skills - in ways that are meaningful to them."

"The interest in inquiry-based learning seems to ebb and flow based on-well, it's not clear why it ever ebbs. In short, it is a student-centered, Constructivist approach to learning that requires critical thinking, and benefits from technology, collaboration, resourcefulness, and other modern learning skills that never seem to fall out of favor themselves. Regardless, St Oliver Plunkett Primary School has put together two very useful images that can help you populate your iPad-or classroom of iPads-with apps that support both inquiry-based learning (the second image below), and a more general approach to pedagogy based on Apple's uber-popular tablet (the top image)."

"If science is inquiry and inquiry is a fire, when does that fire start? When the world talks about STEM education for the most part they talk around elementary teachers rather than to elementary school teachers. This should not be seen as an insult or slur upon our value, but as a matter of course. Most "real" science does not start until middle school or even high school, and for school in poverty perhaps not even then. However, with the need to develop more students ready to step into STEM careers, and the corresponding efforts to grow educational foundations in those area elementary science will play a pivotal role."

The model of inquiry I chose to use was the LADDER model, which I developed several years ago in an attempt to create a model which had an easy to understand language that both students and teachers could understand.

"It takes time to build up a strong inquiry-based teaching practice, to learn how to direct student questions with other questions, and to get comfortable in a guiding role. But when Laufenberg talks about what it takes, she makes it sound easy. We've broken her advice down into digestible tips for anyone ready to jump in and try for themselves."

"Historical inquiry helps make history class exciting. History teachers can use primary sources in creative, exciting ways to make history come alive. Many people in history might be dead, but your teaching doesn't have to be. Let's dive in. What is historical inquiry? How can it be used to teach history? How can you use technology, creativity, and exciting projects to teach history? Here's how."

"Welcome to this first post in a series that promotes student inquiry in PBL and STEM. This series is dedicated to helping educators create a student-centered Driving or Investigative Question… which is so important in STEM and PBL. You will discover multiple resources and ideas in this series, along with some great ideas for finding student success in student owned inquiry. In this first post, I would like to build the idea of what makes a Driving or Investigative Question important in student centered learning, and how it can uncover important standards. "