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:
What do I want to know about this topic? How do I know I know it? What kinds of resources might help? How do I know the info is valid? Does my research raise new questions? And, in a nod to digital and social media, How do I use media to express my message?
According to Indiana University Bloomington, Inquiry-based learning is an "instructional model that centers learning on a solving a particular problem or answering a central question. There are several different inquiry-based learning models, but most have several general elements in common:
Learning focuses around a meaningful, ill-structured problem that demands consideration of diverse perspectives
Academic content-learning occurs as a natural part of the process as students work towards finding solutions
Learners, working collaboratively, assume an active role in the learning process
Teachers provide learners with learning supports and rich multiple media sources of information to assist students in successfully finding solutions
Learners share and defend solutions publicly in some manner"
"We've clarified the difference between projects and project-based learning before. Projects are about the product, while project-based learning is about the process.
Projects are generally teacher-directed, universal, and tangent to the learning, while project-based learning is student-centered, personal, and the learning pathway itself. Put simply, it is an approach to learning rather than something to complete."
Collaboration is among the most-often promoted fluencies of 21st century learning (along with creativity and communication). However, there are very few frameworks or models that exist to support the development of better collaboration forms. As it is, in many K-12 learning environments, collaboration is limited to teacher-created grouping, or more scattered project-based learning groups that converge on a single project and thus a single goal.
"Traditional American classrooms tend to fit a particular mold: Students face the front of the class where teachers lecture.
Students take notes, finish assignments at home, and hope to memorize enough information just long enough to pass a test.
Engagement and passion are often in short supply - among students and teachers. The system does not necessarily accommodate all learning styles, and even those who fair well may be missing out on other important work-life lessons, like how to creatively solve problems, stay focused, work as part of a team, and organize their thoughts in a way others will understand.
This is where project-based learning enters the equation."