A Template for Open Inquiry
Mon, Oct 29, 2018 1:14 PM
Great Template for Inquiry Projects
In the conclusion the authors rightly point out that a large issue with open-inquiry questions is that students often struggle to carry out their own research projects when given a blank slate. This approach would help alleviate that stress on teachers by first narrowing the scope of inquiry, having the students identify the variables, how they can test them, identifying a research question and designing an experiment. One thing to be vigilant of when having students conduct experiments you have not first done yourself is safety. The authors do mention briefly to discuss the safety guidelines with the students prior to them conducting the experiment, but I would suggest adding a question to the Open-inquiry question template in Figure 2 under The Experiment section, something like: Reflecting upon our safety contract, what safety equipment will you need and what safety rules will apply when you conduct your experiment (write this as if you are presenting it to someone not in our class, so don’t say “rule 25” instead say “eye goggles will be needed because we are heating glassware”)?