Inquiry Method of Teaching

What is inquiry method?

Inquiry method:-

Inquiry is the process of finding out and the quest for knowledge and understanding.

Definition:-

(It involves the attempt to answer questions and seek information)

Inquiry can be conducted in a variety of ways, such as to observe nature, predict outcomes, manipulate variables, and analyze situations. Inquiry way involve discussing topics with others; reading; conducting field studies, surveys or all of these during one’s attempts to discover new knowledge and to figure things out.

Conditions for inquiry teaching

Freedom:-

The first one he calls the condition of freedom. They must be free to try out ideas and invent ways of accounting for what they see.

Responsive environment:-

The second condition is the “conditions of responsive environment”. A responsive environment is a classroom, a laboratory, or the outdoors on a field trip anywhere that provides many opportunities for inquiry. Teachers must have book, apparatus, experiments and many other things for students to work with.

Focus:-

The third is “the condition of focus”. Inquiry is a purposeful activity; a search for greater meaning is some event, or condition that raises questions in the inquirer’s mind. It is directed towards one goal, towards the solution of a problem.

Low pressure:-

Students will gain their reinforcement directly from the success of their own ideas. The teacher must respond positively to the students but neutrally to the product of the student’s thinking.

Elements of inquiry method:-

The problem:-

If at all possible, the problem should be real, meaningful and capable of study. If the problem can be elicited from the class, so much the better.

The guiding questions:-

This consists of an anticipated list of questions to be asked by the teacher to direct the thought processes of the students.

 The hypotheses:-

These should be formulated as a result of discussions and the guiding questions.

The data gathering and analysis;-

This is the experimental parts of the inquiry lesson. Emphasize record-keeping and systematic approach to the problem.

The conclusion:-

This refers to the closure and should culminate in some final result based on the experimentation and discussion.

Advantages:-

Ø Students are proactive and work under the guidance of the teacher.

Ø This makes the students learn in their own way instead of getting readymade information from the teacher.

Ø The learn to verify the hypotheses after reading and experimentation.

Disadvantages:-

Ø This method is slow and time consuming.

Ø All the students are not capable to learn by this approach.

Ø It does not take care of individual differences existing in the learning capacity of the students.