Inquiry Science in a Community of Learners
Paul Jablon, long-time New York City inquiry teacher and teacher educator, begins his session on inquiry curriculum development in science by engaging ISA teachers, as learners, in an inquiry activity from beginning to end. “Info dumps don’t work,” Jablon tells ISA teachers. “Students working to learn does. My responsibility as a teacher,” he continues, “is getting them to work.”
And so the ISA teachers begin to work. They manipulate a piece of equipment and make as many observations about it as they can. Jablon assign each a role, just as he would his own students, teaching them how to work in a group. “You’ll need a starter, a getter, a reporter/observer, and a recorder…” He tells teachers, “Manipulate. Investigate. Question. What did you do? What was the apparatus’ response? Why do you think the phenomenon happened? Do it yourself—individually—write down your conclusions, then compare your findings with the group’s findings. That way, you’re not as likely to be swayed by the dominant member of the group. Begin,” he said.
For minutes the only sound in the room was a soft whoosh and a loud ‘pop’ as teachers worked the apparatus. After five minutes, the teachers began to talk among themselves. Jablon reminded them to work in silence while he circulated among the teams. “Is what’s on your paper detailed observation? No? That’s normal. It’ll take work to get students to understand what’s wanted—ideas and syntax…Kids may write six words, but when you ask them to explain the words, it takes them 15 sentences. That’s what you want. It takes time to develop scientific language—and in the process, they’re developing writing skills.
Through the activity, teachers raise critical questions about the role of the teacher in an inquiry classroom. “How do you keep control over so many kids” one teacher asked, while another asked, “Well, if the kids are doing all the work, doesn’t that make the teacher non-essential?” Teachers examine how to organize and manage their students into small and productive groups; the nature of the role of teacher in an inquiry classroom as facilitator; and how to assess students to inform future instruction.
When you make assessments every day, what do you have to do to formulate your next lesson so that it will be clear for all kids?” Jablon describes multiple assessment opportunities. For example, the final product is to complete an image of the apparatus—a cylinder, plunger, retractor, and flexible hose or nozzle and orally present findings. The teacher challenges the reporter when findings are questionable or incomplete. During group work, all students take notes and all keep diaries. Jablon suggests reading these notes, writing comments to students and answering their questions before handing notes and diaries back to the students. Reading these diaries, he said, the teacher discovers a lot about his kids—is the group working? Are they getting the work? The diaries create relationships between students and teachers on a person to person basis. In addition, each groups discusses their findings report with their reporters while the teacher listens in to find out whofound what.
What are the benefits of using inquiry in teaching science? Jablon emphasized, , “Kids aren’t afraid to speak up in class—not afraid to make erroneous remarks. “It wasn’t the wrong answer,” says Jablon. “It was the right answer after 364 tries. Kids REALLY understand what science is about. They know how and what things are. They do better on tests because their knowledge is deeper and because they’re used to thinking things through…. |
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