Gateway Conference Presentation Companion Website
What is Inquiry Based Learning?
Inquiry based learning originates with John Dewey's philosophy that education begins with curiousity. It focuses on guiding students through a process of finding answers to questions.
Inquiry based learning:
- Is driven by questions of interest rather than general topics.
- Emphasizes asking good researchable questions.
- Coaches students as they go.
- Provides research journal to help students monitor their progress.
- Draws on expertise of the instructor / teacher librarian to model effective inquiry.
- Assesses student progress in developing inquiry skills as well as understanding of content.
Our presentation has been organized around the four stages of discovery and guided inquiry as outlined on page 23 of the Ontario School Library Association document Together for Learning: School Libraries and the Emergence of the Learning Commons.
We also have a PowerPoint Presentation that accompanies this workshop. This presentation includes polls powered by clickers (personal response systems) so that we can get feedback and opinions from our audience as we move through the presentation.
