How to incorporate inquiry-based and cooperative learning into a classroom
The origin of education through the inquiry method goes back to John Dewey. He argued that learning begins with the learner’s curiosity and is rooted in experience and reflection. Inquiry-based learning provides a focus and starting point from which learners refine their questions and seek information toward an answer (Albion, n.d.). Also, collaboration is a helpful approach to teaching. Research has found a positive correlation between working in a group and working memory. According to this work, collaborative benefits for memory performance result from being exposed multiple times to more information than a person might encounter on their own (Basden et al., 2000). Lev Vygotsky supports this claim with his theory of cognitive development. He argues that human beings are born with four elementary skills, and is their social and cultural interaction allows them to gain full mental function (Vygotsky, 1978). In this process, students become active learners, and teachers function as facilitators or guides rather than primarily as sources of information to be transmitted (Albion, n.d.).
I will love to incorporate these approaches, but our educational system is rooted in a system controlled by policymakers who set rules and regulations that favor their interest. However, some schools run different educational programs; Cambridge International Assessment “CIA,” International Baccalaureate “IB,” and Montessori. So, it is feasible in milieus that recognize student-centered approaches.
The main goal of inquiry-based learning is to allow students to unpack several scaffolded resources by the teacher to provide valuable context and rich meaning relative to the essential questions. So to incorporate this approach into a classroom, I will engage my students in active learning via IBL by providing several essential questions, having the students select the resources they will use to research their answers, and allowing them to choose how they will demonstrate understanding. With the complexities of IBL activities, it is sometimes difficult for teachers to determine student’s level of readiness regarding the questions provided. Also, it may lead them to wrong conclusions since they can claim to understand when they don’t.
Grouping students through flexible grouping can integrate cooperative learning. The composition of group members directly affects the nature of collaboration and the consequences of group interactions. So grouping them based on their experiences, level, and abilities will affect students’ learning abilities. From experience, grouping struggling students with advanced students has a dual effect that is as the advanced students help the struggling ones learn, they at the same time boost their skills in the activity. As IBL, collaborative learning has some disadvantages; it is not time efficient since it entails learners gathering information to assist in their investigation toward answering a question, proposing a solution to a problem, or developing some product in response to a need.
References
Albion, P. (n.d.). Project-, problem-, and inquiry-based learning. Retrieved from: https://eprints.usq.edu.au/27878/1/Albion_Ch19_AV.pdf
Basden, B. H., Basden, D. R., & Henry, S. (2000). Costs and benefits of collaborative remembering. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14, 497–507. https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-0720(200011/12)14:6<497::AID-ACP665>3.0.CO;2-4
Vygotsky, Lev (1978). Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.
