George Lucas Educational Foundation

Inquiry-Based Learning

Instead of just presenting the facts, use questions, problems, and scenarios to help students learn through their own agency and investigation.

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  • Boosting Students’ Literacy Skills With Help From the School Librarian

    Teachers in every content area can build partnerships with the school librarian to support students’ academic literacy across the curriculum.
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  • Direct Instruction or Inquiry-Based Learning? 

    It’s not either/or: Rather than choosing direct instruction or inquiry-based learning, educators strategically use both methods.
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  • Getting First Graders Started With Research

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  • Using Mathematical Modeling to Get Real With Students

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  • A young girl is smiling, standing at the front of the class and reading, and her teacher and peers are clapping for her.

    What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning?

    Teachers use inquiry-based learning to combat the “dunno” -- a chronic problem in student engagement. Check out these four steps for creating inquiry-based curriculum.
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  • How to Use the 5E Model in Your Science Classroom

    An inquiry-focused method gives students a way to connect scientific ideas to their experiences and apply their learning.
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  • Inquiry-Based Tasks in Social Studies

    Assignments that are bigger than a lesson and smaller than a unit are a good way to experiment with inquiry-based learning.
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  • How to Engage Students in Historical Thinking Using Everyday Objects

    Asking students to examine their own possessions from the perspective of a historian in the future helps them sharpens their analytical skills.
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  • Cultivating Curiosity Among Older Students

    Small, daily shifts in the way middle and high school teachers ask questions can boost student engagement.
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  • Teacher Moves That Cultivate Learner Agency

    Helping students become independent, questioning thinkers begins with stepping back and guiding them to take the lead in their learning.
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  • Want Mastery? Let Students Find Their Own Way

    Prominent scholars say that to drive deeper learning, students need to become accustomed to confusion—and develop the persistence to find their own answers.
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  • Putting Students in Charge of Their Learning Journey

    By leaving space in their lessons for authentic curiosity to take hold, teachers can enable deeper learning.
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  • 4 Common Obstacles to Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning—and How to Overcome Them

    A seasoned teacher breaks down the basics of inquiry to help all teachers feel comfortable implementing the method in the classroom.
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  • 5 Steps to Creating a Rigorous Humanities Course

    Challenging assignments inspired by college-level standards can help students broaden their understanding of content.
    331

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
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