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All material is my personal opinion, and not that of any other organization. Copyright 2001. Permission is granted for individual teacher use. All rights reserved. |
This qualitative study explores how science instruction can develop student questions into centerpieces of ongoing classroom inquiry. By using student questions as a starting point, one builds student ownership and engagement, teaching the students to successfully ask and answer their own questions, a process that is a cornerstone of scientific inquiry. Further, students accustomed to being passive receptacles of knowledge are given the tools to understand their world, which leads to autonomy and empowerment. As this study began, the chief strategy employed open-ended inquiry instruction centering on student investigation kits. When this model proved ineffective, a more structured approach was used, continuing to focus on student questions, but providing a greater degree of teacher guidance and a more structured sequence of student interactions with materials. Active collegial dialogue, teacher research methodology and a reflective journal provide multiple perspectives for this exploration and establish the foundation for defining further questions. I would like to express my thanks to the following people who have supported me in this research: All my wonderful students, Dr. Parsons and Dr. Reynolds for their guidance and wisdom, Dr. Sandra Hollingsworth for her mentorship, members of my collaborative research group; Dr. Karen Teel, Mary Dybdahl, Leslie Minarik and Jennifer Davis-Smallwood, my colleagues who have joined me in exploring these issues through dialogue; Norman Brooks, Marc Borbely, and Richard Kinst of the Oakland Public Schools, and Wanderly Carvalho of Brazil; my colleagues at the FOSS project at Lawrence Hall of Science; Larry Malone, Linda Delucchi, Susan Brady, Ted Stoeckley, Terry Shaw, Cheryl Webb, and Sue Jagoda; the folks at the Exploratorium Inquiry Institute for getting my head spinning about inquiry; my colleagues and principal, Mary Hamadeh of Mark Twain Middle School, for being supportive of my work; the staff and members of Salon Table Talk; Peter Hutcher, Chris Ashley and the Oakland Unified School District for housing my web site; my wife, Kristin Prentice, for her encouragement and support; and my two sons, Rowan and Alexander, for their love and inspiration. Last, but not least, my first teachers, my mother and sisters, Pat Cody, Martha Cody-Valdez, Nora Cody and Celia Cody. Next section: Chapter I. Introduction |
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