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In this self-study, a pre-service teacher educator and her students in a pre-service teacher education program course elective – “21st Century Teaching and Learning with Technology” – explored and reflected upon the complexities of imbedding inquiry-based learning as both a method of teaching and for learning about integrating technology into teaching practice. They discovered that inquiry activities incorporating application, synthesis, and critical analysis functioned as effective learning vehicles through which individuals can explore their own orientations and understandings. An authentic task for learning in which students were tasked with taking on responsibility for a cross-disciplinary, multi-grade professional development workshop for classmates proved to be the cornerstone upon which students gained self-efficacy in terms of beliefs in personal abilities to integrate technology, refined pedagogical perspectives, and theorized ways to enhance and nurture inquiry-based teaching and learning environments in 21st century classrooms that infuse technology. Their development was due, in part, to how their instructor presented learning content and modeled practice that was shaped by philosophies of teaching and learning.

teachHOUSTON is a university-based secondary STEM teacher preparation program that addresses the critical need for highly qualified STEM teachers in Texas and across the country. STEM teachers are prepared through early and ongoing field-based teaching experiences and rigorous research-based instruction that integrates content and pedagogy provided by faculty members who have extensive teaching experience in public schools. teachHOUSTON serves the fourth largest city in the United States, along with its satellite communities and has many noteworthy features which are mapped in this chapter. Particular attention is paid to inquiry-based learning, student-centered instruction, and culturally responsive pedagogy as well as the improvements in the program based on the collaboration between physics and teachHOUSTON faculty.

By asking questions and presenting creative problems for students to solve, faculty nurture critical thinking and creativity. This type of inquiry-based teaching and learning is at the core of design curricula and provides the backbone of student charrettes and competitions, rooted in the professional realities of the disciplines. This chapter provides a guide for faculty members through the steps of how to do assessment of inquiry-based education within an artistic discipline. It provides a path to improve both content and form: to integrate what is known about inquiry-based learning in the arts with assessment practices that have emerged over the past three decades, and to use that as a basis for discussing how using reflective and inquiry-based practices coupled with well-designed assessment practices can serve to improve teaching practice, student learning, and further the development of inquiry-based environments at the individual, program, and even institutional levels.

This chapter explores how four culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse colleagues use self-study methodologies and online journaling to systematically examine inquiry-based teaching and learning in international contexts. Respectively from the USA, Canada, Taiwan, and China, the main research question is, “How can we develop an inquiry stance in our similarly diverse teacher candidates?” For five months, they explore the question with one another in an interactive online journal. The analysis of their written journal reflections result in four main themes: (1) naming and framing inquiry and context, (2) perspectives on translating theory to practice, (3) common practices for developing inquiry stance, and (4) policy work. The chapter concludes with a list of recommendations for fostering inquiry-based teaching and learning with culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse teacher candidates. Self-study research methodologies, Philosophy for Children, and online journaling are also suggested as professional development models for diverse globalized teacher educators.

This chapter highlights inquiry-based learning in action in a first-year Social Sciences inquiry course. Focusing on the continued development of this course over eight years, we present a practical example of fostering an inquiry-based teaching and learning environment grounded in metacognitive practice. Woven throughout the course is a thoughtful and deliberate incorporation of skill-building based on two types of metacognitive expertise; self-understanding and self-regulation with a goal to encourage and support students in developing effective learning strategies necessary for university study. We have found that scaffolding the inquiry learning process with metacognition further enhances the first-year learning experience and promotes a deeper level of learning, where students become aware of their own thinking practice and process. These skills include critical thinking, self-directed learning, clear communication and openness to learning. The chapter presents a series of strategies for introducing and linking metacognitive practice and the inquiry-based approach to learning. Presenting the five stages of inquiry learning: exploration, question and problem identification, methods of investigation, collection and analysis of data, development of conclusions and creative communication of results we describe how we work to develop a more distinct, personalized, engaging and sustainable undergraduate learning experience.

This study seeks to understand the factors and orientations that are relevant to preservice teachers' (PSTs) beliefs about their ability to design lessons for inquiry-based K-6 social studies instruction.

Seventy elementary PSTs participated in a series of inquiry-based learning activities in a social studies methods course. The study uses exploratory factor analysis, a quantitative method to explore teacher self-reported efficacy for designing inquiry lessons.

The findings revealed that three capabilities related to design are relevant to elementary social studies PSTs' self-efficacy for designing inquiries: lesson design competence, lesson design disposition and lesson design practices. Most PSTs expressed low self-efficacy in all three capabilities. PSTs with a higher disposition for designing inquiry lessons may show a strong sense of self-efficacy for inquiry-based curricula design and practice in elementary social studies education.

The article discusses the importance of understanding PSTs sense of efficacy and categories of such self-efficacy beliefs at the level of lesson design within the context of teacher education. It discusses the need for teacher educators to facilitate educationally sound critical reflection on lesson design skills, disposition and practices that foster PSTs' sense of ability to teach via inquiry in elementary classrooms.

Inquiry-based teaching can provide a number of proficiencies and skills that have been identified as desirable for undergraduates in economics. However, inquiry is apparently rarely used in economics contexts, perhaps because of the lack of an appropriate model. This chapter shares a model of inquiry developed for economics themes that is amenable to any year level, and provides some strategies for implementation based on insights from the literature and from successful use of inquiry in other disciplines at McMaster University. In my course, students experience considerable autonomy and formative feedback as they follow their curiosity, undertaking secondary research on a question of their own choice. Students develop critical thinking skills, information literacy, and proficiency with making and supporting arguments using economic reasoning and evidences. A number of observations are made about the challenges to extending inquiry-based learning as an alternative to the traditional lecture-based instruction that dominates in the economics discipline. However, the inevitability that students will practice “thinking like an economist” tips the argument in favor of making a place for inquiry in the economics curriculum.

This study examined educators’ self-perception as practitioners of inquiry-based math and science instruction, their motivation to produce videos to share that practice, and the impact of video production on their use of inquiry and role in the professional development community. Semi-structured interviews were used to address the research questions. Participant responses indicated a high level of self-reflection and a keen understanding of the nature of inquiry-based math and science teaching. Participants were motivated to share their practice largely by their desire to help other educators develop as inquiry practitioners. Articulating how and why they used inquiry-based techniques for the videos deepened their already reflective teaching. The positive aspects of participation also increased their confidence in their ability to engage in professional development as teacher-leaders. Overall this study indicated that videos created for the purposes of professional development had a transforming effect on those who produced them in addition to their benefit for others.

This chapter overviews the articulation of inquiry in the three International Baccalaureate (IB) levels, Primary Years (ages 3–12), Middle Years (11–16), and the Diploma Program (16–18) that is widely accepted by universities for matriculation. It reviews inquiry-based instruction in the publicly available IB research literature. The IB advocates inquiry as its pedagogical approach. We identified empirical classroom research involving IB teachers or students from four databases; 35 reports matched inclusion criteria and 31 of these had appeared in gifted-education journals. The IB’s inquiry philosophy, interdisciplinary emphasis, and specific elements in the Diploma Program such as the Theory of Knowledge course, a program entitled Creativity, Action, and Service, and the Extended Essay, comprise qualities that should inform higher education. There has been disproportionate attention to the planning part of inquiry (e.g., generating worthy questions and deciding how to answer them) versus enactment or reflection; this leaves room for other research input about enacting inquiry in university instruction that creates a cycle of creative engagement. Successful IB experiences, through some of the IB pedagogy and content, raised learners’ expectations about their higher education learning experiences. However, as one moves from the Primary Years through to the Diploma Program, students report increasing “teaching to the test” and content-coverage that constrain inquiry opportunities students value. The importance of providing detailed, supportive, step-by-step introductions to inquiry, and attending to the social and emotional correlates of the substantive learning, were highlighted.

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the role of an inquiry-based approach to learning in a pre-service teacher education program. All students enrolled in an educational technology course during the winter 2013 and 2014 semesters completed an inquiry-based learning project related to their future teaching practice. Through blog postings, an online survey, and a face-to-face focus group the study participants indicated that this approach to learning is useful when teachers provide a big picture orientation, use clear guidelines, scaffold the process, ensure that students make careful and informed topic selection, facilitate weekly technology instruction related to the project, and incorporate digital storytelling to convey the results.