This is the first paper in a two-part series describing the patterns of inquiry used in ecology. Ecological knowledge and research are analyzed in terms of two sets of concepts: ecological problem areas, and principles of biological inquiry. Problem areas identified are classification and taxonomy, energetics, nutrition and metabolism, genecology,…

This is the second paper in a two-part series describing the patterns of inquiry used in ecology. Three classes of research parts are identified from the literature: individual organisms or species, pairs of organisms or species, and groups of organisms or species. Research emphasizing these parts rather than the community as a whole is analyzed…

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Chicago, Illinois, February, 1968.

Analyzed is the relationship of different guiding principles of inquiry to the "topics" of inquiry: problems, facts, hypotheses, interpretations, and conclusions or outcomes. The idea of structure-function is given as an example of one guiding principle in biological inquiry, and homeostasis as another. It is argued that the guiding principle used…

Programs aimed at "critical thinking" should be concerned with elaborating the logic of the appropriate methodology to permit a student to evaluate the content of the instruction in terms of that methodology. An examination of four curricula, on "hominid evolution," on "marine science," on an "environmental ethic," and one urging students to "take…

Describes general characteristics of enquiry - principle of enquiry, fact, problem, hypothesis, interpretation and outcome. These characteristics of enquiry give rise to five general characteristics of knowledge. (LS)

Three ways in which the term "inquiry" is used are discussed: inquiry as a teaching method, inquiry as a mode of learning and inquiry as a logical disciplinary process. The role of guiding principles of inquiry is analyzed, using a discussion of Harvey's work on the heart to illustrate an inquiry guided by the idea of structure-function. It is…

Advocates concentrating on an examination of the logical framework of inquiry in liberal education biology programs, because the principles of biological inquiry are stable although the claims and explanations offered about biological phenomena change with accumulated research. (AL)