Tag: Blogs

Inquiry-Based Learning is a learning method based on John Dewey’s philosophy, that education begins with the curiosity of the learner. Unlike direct instruction, the responsibility for inquiry-based learning tends to be more with the students themselves. It encourages students to understand concepts through their curiosity, actively ask questions, and try to find out the answers by themselves.

Through inquiry-based learning, students can increase their self-learning ability and exercise their thinking skills. Because this teaching method is based on students’ curiosity, students do not think that the questions they are exploring are boring. They will keep asking questions and looking for resources to find the answers. Finally, they will share their learning with others, although the answers may not be correct. This process can stimulate students to have fun with learning and can be a key help in their future studies and work. It can encourage students to build up valuable and transferable skills, including:

• Realistic goal-setting and goal-tracking
• Time- and priority-management
• Information gathering, filtering, and integration
• Critical thinking
• Communication of ideas and learning
• Self-assessment and reflection

In our inclusive learning design, we are going to teach students to solve different types of functions like linear, quadratic, exponential and etc. Inquiry-based learning partly aligns with our topic, because our course is for people who know about some basic mathematics and want to know the appeal of functions. Usually, students think mathematics is a boring subject and it has the correct answers for every single question. Functions have logic and if students do not figure it out by themselves, they may easy to give up. Therefore, inquiry-based learning can encourage students to think independently and answer through their own efforts. Even though their answers may be wrong, their learning process is progressive.

However, students may not understand the functions by their knowledge level. Our opinion is direct instruction will be the best learning method in our inclusive learning design. Through direct instruction, we have fragmented the knowledge and teach student step by step, so that they can consolidate what they have learned. At the same time, students continuously review and practice, and they will finally be able to verify their learning outcomes in the quizzes and exams.

This is the link to my groupmate, you can learn more about direct instruction. https://lingjiang1.opened.ca/instructional-approach/

Reference:

“Inquiry-Based Learning. (2023).” Queen’s Univerisity. Retrieved June 04, 2023, from https://www.queensu.ca/ctl/resources/instructional-strategies/inquiry-based-learning#:~:text=What%20is%20Inquiry%2DBased%20Learning,by%20themselves.%20Lee%20et%20al..

• Describe an example from your life of when you were taught using each method described in this article: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
• Based on your reading, would you consider your current instruction style more behavioralist, cognitivist, or constructivist? Elaborate with your specific mindset and examples.

Behaviorist education can be applied to children who are receiving some rigid education. This includes but is not limited to, alphabet, numbers, and color recognition. For example, kindergarten teachers would use coloring paper to induce color recognition in children’s minds, because children have no concept of these things, and this knowledge is kind of common knowledge everyone would learn. Making multiple examples for children can let them learn a deeper impression of the corresponding things. Another example, children can learn simple arithmetic skills. Teachers or parents usually use objects that children can understand, such as candy, apples, and pencils as teaching tips, so that children can use their imagination to get that one apple + one apple = two apples, then apply it to mathematics to get the conclusion of 1+1=2. When children receive new knowledge, they do not always remember what they have learned the day before, so teachers need to ask questions repeatedly and practice to stimulate children’s application and understanding of this knowledge until they are fully mastered.

There is little difference between cognitivism and behaviorism, but the emphasis is more on complex cognitive processes such as thinking and concepts. For example, life planning classes teach children how to distinguish between what they can and cannot do. Cognitivism focuses on teaching students psychological morality, adapting to the social order, and giving students a concept and understanding of good and evil in the world. For example, children may be taught from an early age that not to take anything to the supermarket because it costs money to buy the goods. Otherwise, they may think it is free, which will influence their future thoughts and actions.

Constructivism is less about mapping knowledge onto the learner and generating a unique interpretation, depending on the individual’s experience that affects his or her understanding of the world. Constructivism generally expounds some information, which is understood by learners and acquired knowledge based on their own experience or understanding. For example, in an art class, the teacher explains different styles of painting, and the students gradually develop an understanding of a particular style through continuous practice and exploration, while creating their own artworks.

This is my peer’s post and I left a comment, you can take a look if you are interested in it. Link: https://yixian.opened.ca/edci-335_post-1-2/