GETTING DIRTY: HOW AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH ENGAGES STUDENTS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

What does it take to get students interested and involved in geologic research? It starts with a good question or problem. It is through asking questions about our world that students find scientific processes interesting and engaging. Helping students to learn how to ask and explore good questions requires us all to get dirty – as students in the field and as teachers designing educational experiences. Sending students into field experiences that provide opportunities to research questions that do not have a pre-determined answer can feel like an educational mess. A good question is just one characteristic of several that distinguishes an inquiry-based approach to engaging students in scientific research. This presentation articulates the rationale for why an inquiry-based approach to science education is worthwhile and how it is possible.

An inquiry-based approach correlates closely with what psychological research has shown about how people learn. People become engaged in learning when they are motivated, see relevance and application, are extending their thinking and skills, and can effectively work in collaboration with others. Each of these features form the basis for designing teaching approaches that engage students at all levels of education. There are four main aspects of learning theory that I will focus on: how prior knowledge influences learning, how people are active learners, how social interaction is key to learning, and how learning is mediated by particular contexts. Each of these aspects of learning theory implicate particular teaching strategies, although they all work together. In science education, engaging students in an inquiry-based approach, including research of various sorts, builds upon these aspects of learning theory. In order to succeed, students need opportunities to develop their critical thinking and research skills, including how to collect and work with primary literature and data, construct arguments, support claims, and self-assess their process. I will explain how an inquiry-based approach can effectively build upon learning theory to help students develop these skills. This will include mention of particular techniques and strategies, including several that John Reid employed in his Geology courses.