Question 5: How might you emphasize essential questions and inquiry processes to stimulate brain-compatible learning?

 

 

 

Essential Questions

            CES (Coalition of Essential Schools) is an organization providing information to promote and support schools that give students “the chance to reach their fullest potential.”  Kathleen Cushman (1989), in an article provided by Horace magazine, argues the importance of curriculum that allows students to engage in “authentic work”. Content should be revealed through asking questions not lecture, whereby, teachers act as “coaches” to “provoke students to learn how to learn, and thus teach themselves.” It is important for students to learn how to problem solve, analyze and form opinions.  Cushman points out that students entering college lack critical and creative thinking skills. Even those students considered highly intelligent have difficulty managing Socratic questioning techniques.

            Critical and creative thinking skills are significant for today’s student faced with a world filled with ever advancing technology and global issues.  Evolving a student’s ability to answer essential questions is, thus, paramount. David Jakes, in his article Basing Learning Experiences in Essential Questions, describes one of two criteria for essential questions: (1) A question should require students to establish a plan or (2) A question should challenge a student to make a decision. Questions that “require students to discriminate among potential lists of strategies, and then defend their choice” are inherent for good essential queries. Jakes offers several good examples. I would go one step further and provide a rubric. In my experience, many students will put forth as little effort as possible or they do not read or listen to instructions. This is not necessarily due to apathy or lack of intelligence. It is just how the teenage brain functions. Their minds are often elsewhere instead of being focused in class.

             The Key To Understanding Essential Questions, by Jackie Leotta, presents other principles for essential questions. Important factors include evaluating, synthesizing and analyzing. Questions will organize the focus of units, require students to utilize content knowledge and personal experience, promote deeper meaning, be relative to different disciplines and be real life based.

            While Leotta offers methods on how to construct essential questions, The Essential Essentail Question Generator at http://www/pasd.wednet.edu/school/hs/SeniorCulminatingProject/EQ%20Generator.pdf  provides a graphic organizer to aid the process. There are others on the web, but this one identifies components helpful to construct purposeful questions.  A list of topics, terms for understanding and conceptualizing can be found at: http://www.aaa.mpls.k12.mn.us/sites/b96bb542-6531-431c-8749-df170ce9446/...big_concepts_and_tasks_that_produce_evidence_of_learning.doc. Students, themselves, could benefit from using the above tools to generate their own essential questions. This activity would certainly accentuate self-directed learning.

            There are other elements to essential questions that deserve further investigation. http://www.fno.org outlines Framing Essential Questions. Along with the above criteria there are the following: (1) Essential questions should create inquisitiveness and a “sense of wonder.” (2) Answers to essential questions are not to be found, “They must be invented.” It is up to the student to construct and make meaning of their research. (3) Good essential questions may take a life time to answer. Therefore, research should take placed over an extended period of time and occur outside of class for contemplation.

            One other site I found helpful to formulate essential questions is http://www.seced.ucps.k12.nc.us/curriculum_documents/Teacher%20Corner/Essential%20Questions%20Information.doc. A lengthy list of questioning elements is provided along with some examples.

 

 

Inquiry Processes

             Research from the past 20 years, indicates that reward and punishment routines are passé. We are, in fact, creating citizens who expect others to solve ‘the problems’. This belief pattern is rampant in my classroom. Too many students hold the conviction that as long as they show up for class they deserve an A. Howard (1999) states,“[The] time has come to…encourage the new paradigm of empowerment,” which develops self worth and creates more independent learners.

            Another avenue to include is brain development. A teenager’s frontal lobe, where planning, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and self regulation reside, are not fully formed. Their brains need nurturing and opportunity to develop the above list of attributes. Knowing how the brain develops while executing empowerment strategies is vital to teen maturation. Feinstein (2004) suggests the following to bolster self worth in the classroom:

·      Note individual differences and allow for that student’s learning style.

·      Give students the opportunity to express individual interests and passions.

·      Advocate looking at social issues from varied perspectives.

·      Let students just socialize on occasion.

·      Expose students to different role models to provide a scope of opportunities for them to contemplate.

·      Afford a safe place for students to delve into controversial issues along with the freedom to express their own opinions.

·      Urge students to look at their own actions, values and conflicting messages or behaviors.

An inquiry based lesson, outlining fundamental questions empowers students to facilitate their own learning. When students are successful they are more inclined to find learning a joyful rather than difficult task. Some students are bored or “struggle with the concept of school” (Jensen, 2006). He proposes allowing students to pursue their own education. When developing a plan for such a student, I always have them make up a contract/agreement. I need to know they are fully aware of their responsibilities and they need to know that I will, in fact, give them a grade for the work produced. I have found this technique very successful for the right student. Thankfully, contracts allow me to change the course of action for a student not fulfilling requirements. Those students not yet capable of independent work need to be cultivated.

Teachers also need to foster and develop self-directed learning in their students. According to Barbara Klopfenstein our technological age has changed the way we learn. Twenty first century technology necessitates a student’s ability to be a self-directed learner. Support for such convictions comes from Malcolm Knowles who proposed andragogical theory in the 90’s. His work is related to the adult learner and on-line course work. However, high school students are now taking on-line courses. The younger student is not precluded from this form of learning either. It is essential to increase student’s ability to be self-directed learners.  Klopfenstein outlines strategies to empower learners, based on a research project in 2003. I believe these are important for all students, not just the adult community.

1.     Develop an on-line community for student support.

2.     Give students the opportunity to share/teach what they learn.

3.     Furnish many resources to motivate students that also address individual learning styles.

4.     Supply learning modules, virtual seminars, case studies, etc. to help students build their knowledge.

5.     Provide activities that will inspire students to learn.

6.     Scaffolding is important to guide student understanding of how they learn as well as ensuring success within the independent research process.

7.     Students need choices and control over their learning criteria and processes.

8.     Self-reflection activities are important for students to evaluate their work and decipher learning styles for future improvement.

9.     Provide ongoing feedback that is informative versus controlling. Encourage critical thinking skills.

10.   Develop well defined rubrics that give students clear and concise criteria for success.

Strategies for Empowering Students are offered at http://www.urbanext.illinois.edu/ce/strat138.html. Wonderful, insightful and fun lessons are geared to expanding student self esteem. I like how different lessons are organized according to focus areas, links to other subjects, strategies/activities, extended research and assessment. Assessment is geared toward the teacher rather than student. Essential questions are proposed for teacher contemplation, all requiring analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating, exactly the types of questions we want our students to be pondering. There are a number of creative lessons that empower students. A select few are discussed below.

·      What’s In a Name? Students write their name letter by letter in a vertical column, and then associate a word with each letter. Their words must form a positive statement about themselves. Next they must write a story using these words. This is a wonderful exercise I will incorporate into an extended project for my Health 10 classes. Each year they develop “A Box of Me” which includes activities related to their personal life, nutrition and exercise habits, talents, future desires and goals, etc. This activity will be a great addition, especially, since its sole purpose is to look at the positive.

·      I Am What I Think I Am! This is another activity to add to “A Box of Me”. Students read a book, analyze character traits that enabled those characters to handle adversity. They, then, compare their own attributes to those of their characters and how those qualities assisted them in a difficult situation.

·      If I Wasn’t Me, What Would I Be? A wonderful way for students to look at life around them and equate themselves with the characteristics of another entity or idea. I find value in this lesson not only for the use of metacognitive skills and reflection of other’s worth but also, forming vital connections between themselves and the outside world. Students choose a term from a generated list and begin a discourse with group members on what and how I would be if I were…

Connect, a magazine for teachers, which can be found at http://www.synergylearning.org, devotes one of its issues to Inquiry Learning. Even though this issue’s focus is for grades K-8 I found several useful ideas to implement in lessons for teens. Jane Bresnick’s first graders investigate science using three components, “I wonder…” “My plan…” and “I found out…”  This is, of course, a wonderful way to personalize and empower learning for a student. I integrated these concepts into a recent genetics module. While watching a video on genetics students had to pose at least three “I wonder…” questions. I encouraged them to “think out of the box”.  Students were instructed to choose one of their questions, write an essay on what they had learned, and cite at least three resources. Insights were then shared with the class.

Bob Coulter connects students to other students and professionals around the world through video conferencing, while exploring science. He cites a model provided by http://www.jasonproject.org, sponsored by The National Geographic Society, whereby, students are connected with “great explorers and great events.” This is truly an exciting opportunity not only for the student but the teacher, as well. Jason projects are geared toward grades 5-8; however, they can adapt lessons for upper grades. This is an area I will definitely pursue in future. Recently, a Chinese class, at my school, was able to video conference with a former student now living and going to school in China. Hence, the technology is now available where I work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

SideBar