Key principles

To recap, the key principles of inquiry learning are listed below. You can use them to guide the creation of your inquiry facilitation plans.

Principle :
All learning activities should focus on using information-processing skills (from observations to synthesis) and applying the discipline "ground rules" as a means to learn content set in a broad conceptual context.

Principle :
Inquiry learning puts the learner at the center of an active learning process, and the systemic elements (the teacher, instructional resources, technology, and so forth) are prepared or aligned to support the learner.

Principle : The role of the teacher becomes one of facilitating the learning process. The teacher also becomes a learner by finding out more about the learner and the process of inquiry learning.

Part 1 of 2 Part 2 of 2 Lisa Nyberg, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at Brattain Elementary School in Springfield, Oregon, talks about how she sometimes adjusts inquiry lessons based on student feedback.

Principle :
What is assessed is what is valued. Therefore, more emphasis needs to be placed on assessing the development of information-processing skills, nurtured habits of mind, or "ground rules" of the discipline, and conceptual understandings -- rather than just the content of the field.