How can education optimize transmission of knowledge while also fostering further learning? Focusing on children at the cusp of formal schooling (N = 180, age = 4.0-6.0 y), we investigate learning after direct instruction by a knowledgeable teacher, after questioning by a knowledgeable teacher, and after questioning by a naïve informant.…

The authors of "Make Just One Change" argue that formulating one's own questions is "the single most essential skill for learning"--and one that should be taught to all students. They also argue that it should be taught in the simplest way possible. Drawing on twenty years of experience, the authors present the Question Formulation Technique, a…

An illustration of the cognitive theory of inquiry teaching is presented in this paper in a tutorial dialogue on the nature of lenses. After a description of the goals of the method, the paper discusses the following ten general strategies inquiry teachers use to accomplish the goals: (1) selecting positive and negative exemplars, (2) varying…

Questions and questioning play a major role in both formal and informal educative processes. They are the means by which a child expresses the desire to understand the world outside and they subsequently become the means by which a teacher assesses whether or not a child has satisfactorily assimilated something. This book considers questions from…

Studies effects of verbal participation during enquiry on achievement among three differently treated groups of four eighth-grade classes each with I.Q. test, reading test, sociometric, and academiometric results taken into account. Indicated the preference of strategies involving more students, particularly more girls, in class discussion. (CC)

Describes how teachers can rethink traditional questioning to make it a more authentic and powerful impetus to learning for students. Shows how authentic questions stimulated a six-week study of the Holocaust undertaken by a seventh-grade teacher and her students. (SR)

The inquiry teaching or discovery approach to learning is discussed. An object lesson is outlined using a cultural artifact as the subject of analysis. (Author/RM)

Reports on a study that explored the types of questions that students ask for open-ended science investigations. Discusses how teachers can help students identify problems and pose questions that are feasible for investigation. (Contains 55 references.) (DDR)

Through drama, children can learn more about themselves and others and can develop a greater understanding of society. Explores the process of experiential drama in which adults and children work together and in which a transfer of power from adults to children is engendered. (MDM)

Teachers are encouraged to examine more critically the assumptions on which science curricula are based so they will be less likely to accept naive approaches to discovery learning. Examples from the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) and Nuffield Physics are used to show how they use discovery learning. (IS)

This conference paper reports on research related to inquiry and how to infuse this approach into teacher training for pre-service elementary teachers. By using personal experiences of a three month visit to California elementary schools and a driving tour of England, these experiences are correlated to inquiry training with a model adapted from…

Children are capable of good thinking, asking perceptive questions, ferreting out implications, making applications, formulating conclusions, and making valid predictions and evaluations. Evidence indicates that these capabilities can be improved by teaching children about questions and questioning. Before such questioning strategies have much…

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual basis for advocacy of an inquiry-based instructional model. Focusing on the teacher as inquirer, the paper discusses the nature of inquiry, presents its conceptual framework and describes in detail the use of question strategies in the preschool program. The definition of inquiry analyzes…

This module and the associated activities are designed to assist the student teacher in recognizing and in implementing three different instructional strategies. The competencies to be acquired are in lecture-recitation, guided discussion, and inquiry. Readings and activities are directed in such a way as to assist students to understand the…