Ryan Anderson and Dr. Jared Berrett, School of Technology
The basis behind inquiry-based learning is that questions are being asked and answers are being found. On that same note problems are being presented and solutions are being discovered. Inquiry-based learning and instruction allows for personal growth and choice in education on the part of the student. It doesn’t eliminate the role of the teacher, but it places the teacher in the position of facilitator. The goal of the facilitator is to create an environment where students can begin to make connections with previous learning, add to that learning new knowledge, and then form their own conclusions to find solutions.
My interest peaked in the specific area of engineering while I was enrolled in a class at Brigham Young University that was investigating an inquiry approach to teaching engineering. A large portion of the class was centered on the class members participating in this approach to engineering by building a go-kart. During the course there was some discussion that suggested the number of those skilled in the fields of engineering, in the United States was on the decline when compared to other countries. I was interested to see if this was the case, and I wanted to explore more in depth the possibility of using the inquiry method to boost the numbers of those going into an engineering degree. What I found was that the discussion we were having wasn’t entirely accurate. It turned out that the number of those graduating in engineering had been on a slow downward slope for a time during the 90s. However, the trend has been looking up in recent years.
When I first learned of this methodology for teaching I had some perceptions of what it could accomplish. For me the inquiry-based approach presented itself as a good alternative to the traditional style of teaching engineering. By traditional I refer to the process of completing a set number of prerequisite courses (i.e. math, physics etc.) before participating in any sort of major engineering project. The reason for this perception came from not only my point of view, but from those whom I worked with on the go-kart project. None of us wanted to wade through the mud of complex math courses just to get to build a go-kart. However, my desire to learn about these core subjects greatly increased after building the go-kart because I wanted to improve my understanding, due to my active engineering experience. It seems to me that there are many younger students in middle school and high school who feel the same way. Therefore, if they were to have the same experience that I had at a young age, then they would possibly consider a course in engineering where they had not considered it before. It was my perception that the jump-start in application would provide a larger motivating factor and provide the enthusiasm for learning, where traditional styles wouldn’t.
On reflection of the project and how the inquiry method was employed I came away with some new understandings that I hadn’t considered. I found that inquiry-based learning allows for a higher level of learning. Referring to Bloom’s taxonomy the different levels of thinking are displayed moving from simple, concrete ideas to more complex and abstract thought. On the review of our process of engineering the go-kart, I could see where each of these levels of learning took place. During all stages of the project we cycled through these knowledge levels again and again. We would gain knowledge and comprehension through research. We would then take that knowledge, and apply it to the areas of design and modeling. From that point we could analyze our direction of thinking, breaking down each part of a particular system. Then our knowledge would come together to tangible product, which could then be evaluated and improved upon.
I found that overall inquiry-based learning is about the process. It addresses the fundamentals of how we learn and gives student the chance to experience real learning; experience being the key part. It gives students a taste of real world experience, which involves collaboration with others, problem solving, deadlines, and thinking for one’s self. I may be wrong in putting the blame for this loss of academic agency in the classrooms of public education, but it seems to be the trend. I have observed this disintegration of educational agency in a jr. high school in which I am currently interning.
Even though the experience allowed for growth in a lot of ways intellectually due to the exploratory nature of it, there were often times where the level of competency (the level of understanding) wasn’t matching the level of autonomy (freedom from external authority). To make the learning environment most successful a balance of autonomy and competence needs to exist so that the edge of one’s ability is being maximized, but not pushed to the point of great frustration. When this happens, motivation decreases and dissatisfaction in learning occurs and it can be hard to recover from.
One concern that always arises in any teaching/learning methodology is that of assessment. How do you assess something that is so individualized, such as inquiry-based learning is, with out taking away from the individual? The traditional classroom does well in today’s society because it is easily quantifiable with right and wrong answers. Inquiry-based learning involves many solutions for any given engineering problem. Here lies the dilemma, and I haven’t as yet found a concrete solution, except that a good method of documentation of learning could possibly be an answer for assessing learning.
At this point in my research I now have more questions than with what I began. I believe that there is great opportunity to use inquiry-based learning as a way to increase interest in the area of teaching engineering technology. However in order for this to happen there needs to be more refinement to how it is employed. If there is any one concrete conclusion that I have it is that this method of inquiry-based learning needs to be adopted by more teachers in the engineering classroom and classrooms everywhere regardless of the subject matter for the purpose of finding the most effective balance for students to have real learning take place. From this point there are only more questions to ask and answers to search for. My perspective has changed and the sidewalk certainly does not end here.