This publication contains class activities and provocative inquiry questions for intermediate-grade teachers to use to involve students in map making and map interpretation. The author believes that the only things that are needed to develop an inquiry-oriented unit on mapping are a good map, a small group of students, and a perceptive teacher who…

Treatment and control groups were used to test the effectiveness of a written instructional program in basic and integrated process skills. Findings revealed that the treatment group achieved higher than the control group on six of eight process measures following the experiment. In addition, subjects from the treatment group asked fewer closed…

Describes projects which introduce high school students to the workings of the Federal government by directing them to investigate local government functions. Projects involve telephone interviews with local officials, visits to community agencies, and written and oral reports of student experiences. (Author/DB)

Justifies including dinosaurs as a topic in the curriculum for young children if approached from the inquiry processes of science exploration. Suggests that this topic encourages observational, classification, and communication skills and the ability to compare, hypothesize, and derive conclusions. (AS)

Introduces some activities to help children develop their processing and inquiry skills with a substitute teacher as well as regular teachers. Illustrates 25 kinds of skills. (YP)

Self-assessment offers an important element for programs seeking to serve adult learners and is a key principle of the School for New Learning, DePaul University. Four strategies to develop self-assessment skills are discussed: storytelling, development of standards, dialogue, and inquiry. (MLW)

Explains a unified approach to using the computer as a teaching tool for helping students discover concepts and principles involved in geometry. Describes the Geometric Supposer series which allows students to develop constructions and measure angles, areas, and circumferences. States that supplemental materials are also available. (RT)

Maintains that most current descriptions of reflective inquiry portray Dewey's model incorrectly as a series of individual steps to be mastered in a procedural fashion. Offers an alternative approach to reflective inquiry grounded in a critical theory of education. (JDH)

Describes changes and effects of the Israeli paper-and-pencil matriculation examination in biology since first analysis in 1972. The examination has been significant for implementing an inquiry-oriented high school biology program based on the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. Implications for upgrading science education are discussed.…

A national opinion survey of social studies teachers revealed that the overwhelming majority of teachers (1) had regularly used inquiry as a teaching strategy; (2) believe inquiry is currently less emphasized than it was in the 1960s and 1970s; and (3) perceive the back-to-basics movement as contributing significantly to the deemphasis of inquiry.…

Discusses inquiry-oriented science instruction and experientially based programs that support newer instructional strategies. Also provides examples of six process-oriented programs (Cat Lab, Geology Search, Rocky's Boots, Tell Star, Volcanoes, What's in Your Lunch?). Level, hardware needed, publisher, and description are provided for each…

Describes the utilization of database management as a inquiry tool to aid higher-level thinking in a fourth-grade American Indian studies course. (MBR)

Teaching the large introductory science course is a challenge, but when the objective is seen not as covering the field but uncovering part of it to illustrate principles common to the whole, the facts are no longer the end result but tools with which the disciplines can be further explored. (Author/MSE)

Described is a mini-investigation model, which elementary social studies teachers can use to help students acquire and process information when writing reports. In their investigation of a topic, students must ask the right questions, list possible resources, and develop a product, e.g., poster, news article. (RM)

Performance of 100 middle school students during and immediately after instruction showed that (1) students exposed to pre-instructional concept lessons have a higher achievement rate, (2) the Taba and the inquiry methods yield better performances than the expository method, and (3) field independent students are somewhat superior to field…