LifeSaver

What are the attributes of inquiry learning?

The attributes of inquiry learning is that you first must come up with a question that needs to be solved, and then you give your prediction of what the answer to the question will be. After that you must write down how you will collect the data and then how you will control the data with any rules that are necessary. Then you complete you experiment that tests your questions. Then you must record your data and come to a conclusion to whether your prediction was right or wrong and why, you must also address any further questions you may have. All these steps must be completed in this order which is what was done within the LifeSaver lesson.

I have found the inquiry process very freeing. Evening though there are a set of rules that you must follow you are given the freedom to find your own question within the assignment. It is a great way for the students to work through science problems that are necessary for their learning. I have enjoyed the process myself and found it much easier than the earlier scientific process that I used in high school. I also believe that it is a useful tool that can be used across the curriculum and doesn't have to be a tool that is only used in science.

Scaffolding

The "Brainstorming" document gave me a starting off point for my thinking. It helped my group narrow down or topic into something that would work with the perimeters given to us in the assignment. The "Problem Filter" allowed us to "test" our idea to see if it was something that we could actually solve in the school system. The "Action Plan" document allowed us to come up with a step by step process for what needed to be done. By doing it electroncially it allowed us to change our thinking and steps easily without having to do much work. It made the final product of the "action pan" much cleaner than it would have looked on paper because we were able to cut, and paste items into lower rows as needed. I prefer to work with this method eletrontically because it allows for that freedom and doesn't require students to waste so much paper. When using the powerpoint slides with your prompts in them it allowed us to tailor our thinking for each slide to what was needed. It was a great time-saver and organizer for us to have them there to refer to. I appreciated the fact that they were there because it allowed me to think only about the subject that was at hand instead of what I was going to do overall throughout the whole slide show. This was the best tools for organization in this lesson and I believe that students as the learners will turn in higher quality of work because they will know exactly what you want from them and how the powerpoint should be organized. It does offer structure but also allows for freedom at the same time.