This chapter examines the role of inquiry in the development of instructional leadership in classroom teachers. It focuses on the impact that inquiry has on professional development, the promotion of professionalism, and collaboration through data-driven communication. The structure and function of leadership among these concepts serves as the…

According to the National Science Education Standards, Standard A states that science students must have the abilities and understandings necessary to do scientific inquiry. The Standards explicitly state that small groups of students should hypothesize from prior experiences, construct explanations, evaluate explanations, design investigations,…

The National Research Council (NRC) (1996) refers to scientific inquiry as "the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work." This could be paraphrased, as 'scientific inquiry is what scientists say it is.' Accepting this rephrasing at face value, a study has been…

The ability to become a scientifically literate citizen rests on the foundation students build from elementary, middle, and high school science experiences. The North Carolina Science Standard Course of Study (SCS) provides the concepts and theories all students should understand. Strands unify the goals and objectives and reflect a science as…

The "paradigm dialogue" is an attempt to examine the philosophical positions of competing social science "ways of knowing" in the hope of establishing a dialogue among these different schools of thought. Three paradigms--postpositivism, critical theory, and constructivism--were examined in regard to their stances on three…

Two hypotheses regarding the relationship between scientific reasoning skills and the use of the inquiry method of instruction in college biology labs were examined. The first hypothesis was that scientific reasoning skills influence an instructor's ability to teach biology using inquiry. The second hypothesis was that the effectiveness with which…

This book is a guide to an approach to professional development in which one's own teaching is a field of inquiry. The book explores the nature of the university teacher's inquiry and the importance of questioning personal and intellectual values in university teaching. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction to the Enquiry"; (2) "The…

This paper focuses on the importance of inquiry in the development of scientific knowledge and includes recommendations for inquiry teaching in higher education, especially in preservice teacher education. Some of the recommendations include: (1) students should engage in inquiry early; (2) teachers should be able to effectively ask questions and…

This project studied the effects of an inquiry-based, integrated science course on student science literacy. The course was aligned to state and national science standards. The target population consisted of sophomore, junior, and senior high-school students in an upper-middle class suburb of a major Midwestern city. Questionnaires, tests, and…

An elementary social studies program should help a child develop an awareness of significant personal social values. Values pertinent to the child from age 4 to 11 are pointed out. Four principle activities in which the child must engage to develop each of these values into behavioral patterns are discussed. (Author/RM)

Three successful inquiry activities adapted to a geography course introduce students to the geographic characteristics of a variety of regions and acquaint them with major ways to utilize natural resources. (Author/KM)

Teachers who state lesson plan topics in the form of a problem, who state objectives in terms of specific skill performances expected, and who construct test questions to assess the skills involved are taking important steps towards maximizing their success as inquiry teachers. (Author)

The paper takes the position that if value inquiry in the social studies is to become something more than a mere fad'' it will have to be grounded upon a sound rationale from which appropriate curricular designs and teaching strategies can be developed. (Author)

Article stresses the skills gained in problem-solving over mere information transmission in the classroom. (GB)