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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.

There are many beliefs about how additional languages are learned, several of which have informed some of the most tenacious pedagogical constructs. In this chapter, additional language teachers working with additional language students in high schools are asked to challenge some widely accepted beliefs about language learning and methods of teaching language, and consider a technique that better aligns with constructivist theories of learning and the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach. This chapter includes a brief discussion on IBL, its constructivist roots, and its many permutations. It also explores some constructivist-based additional language teaching approaches and discusses to what extent they align with IBL. Also provided is a six-step inquiry language-learning process, specifically designed to teach additional languages, with discussion on how each stage builds upon the other, optimizing language learning. In addition, a series of lessons are described which show how the inquiry language-learning process can be employed to teach additional languages to students who are not yet fully proficient in the school’s language of instruction. The chapter concludes with a discussion on some of the challenges of using IBL with additional language students, citing some of the psychological, cultural, and cognitive needs often present in these students. The chapter ends with a call for further research into the use of IBL to teach additional languages.

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) coupled with integrative and deep learning can result in learning that is expansive and comprehensive. Integrated learning, in essence, is helping students develop the ability to make connections and see relationships between subjects, themselves, and the world around them. But these student-driven integrative learning experiences should also encourage deep, long lasting learning. Based on the theoretical underpinning of these three areas – student-driven learning, integrative learning, and deep learning – I designed a term-long inquiry-based project for university freshman at the end of a year-long (three terms) Freshman Inquiry class. The primary project associated with the term is an electronic magazine which addresses an overall conflict, each major stakeholder’s perspective of the conflict, statistical data, a joint conflict resolution piece, and other supplemental information the group deems important. This project which is largely student-driven allows students to explore areas of interdisciplinary interest in a variety of ways. Such a multifaceted project challenges students to make connections between themselves and the seemingly disparate fields of science and social science on a local, national, and international level and ultimately allows them “ownership” of their learning.

To lead effectively, educational leaders need to be both inquisitive about problems of practice and skilled in devising and implementing collaborative plans of action focused on redressing such problems. In response to changes in licensure regulations and criticisms – notably from within the field – that university-based programs have historically graduated ineffective educational leaders who fail to implement mandated reforms, programs have changed to include (a) a focus on the context in which graduates of the program will most likely lead (the local school communities) and (b) the immersion of program participants in a process of inquiry into problems of practice. Internships provide the setting for both these inclusions. Referencing the concept of “elbow learning,” this chapter discusses how the inquiry-based and service learning ideals integrate in Service Leadership Projects (SLPs) conducted during the internship requirement of a university-based educational leadership program in a Mid-Atlantic state in the United States. SLPs are well-designed to enhance the agency of prospective educational leaders, while delivering both tangible and intangible benefits to both the university and the school in which the internship is conducted. SLPs dovetail with a long-standing, state-financed program that supports the development of leaders for public schools.

Most college students are required to take at least one mathematics course. Many of these students view mathematics as a dry and tedious subject, where the main task is to “plug and chug” using formulas. In contrast, mathematicians see mathematics as a creative process in which real joy comes from grappling with difficult problems and (hopefully) solving them. In this way, mathematics is like a fun puzzle. The challenge is to get students to view mathematics the same way that their teachers do. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) can help solve this problem. The Academy of Inquiry-Based Learning describes IBL as a pedagogical method that encourages students to conjecture, discover, solve, explore, collaborate, and communicate (What is IBL? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.inquirybasedlearning.org/?page=What_is_IBL). With IBL, teachers do not lay out all of the formulas and theorems as previous knowledge. Nor do they provide perfect, easily worked through examples and proofs for every new topic. Instead, IBL courses demonstrate the creative process that is mathematics. IBL makes class more enjoyable for both teachers and students, and can bring students closer to the real experiences of mathematicians.

Inquiry-based approaches can potentially enrich sustainability learning in any educational context, more so in open and distance learning (ODL – perceived as theoretically inclined) and in regions of educational need (such as the Global South, of which Africa forms part). The purpose of this paper is to map the benefits and challenges of using inquiry-based learning (IBL), with reference to ODL and the value added by IBL in terms of education for sustainability (EfS) in Africa.

Evidence-based reflection is used to provide a narrative assessment of the experience gained with IBL in two undergraduate sustainability-focussed modules in the Department of Geography at the University of South Africa (Unisa), an ODL provider in Africa and the Global South.

Consideration of enabling and limiting factors indicates that although constraints are experienced, adoption of IBL approaches holds potential as pedagogic for EfS in Africa, due to grounding of learning in theory and applied to local places/contexts. This indicates a role for IBL to change perceptions regarding the lack of practical utility of ODL.

Implementing place-based and contextual IBL is innovative in ODL. It adds value to learning experiences and supports transformative learning, both important components of EfS and addressing a need in the African context. Practitioners will find the experience gained with implementation of IBL, coupled with possibilities associated with information and communication technologies, of value.

Inquiry learning points is based on questions and requires students to work independently to solve problems. Instructors are facilitators of learning, not people who give right answers and instructions to learners. Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences Porvoo campus in Finland is a new concept for learning. The lecturers have changed from traditional ones to coaches aiming at new competences with new tools to enhance learning. Their own implementation of inquiry learning has been assessed by themselves with an ongoing self-assessment process as a part of the normal tasks of instructional teams. Self-assessment is a part of action research that aims to develop an organization and the work in it.

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is one of many approaches that enhance the quality of education by moving away from teacher-centered instructional methods and toward more student-directed approaches. This chapter describes the adult-centered program delivered by The College of New Rochelle, School of New Resources – a northeastern, liberal arts institution that is a pioneer in educating adult learners. A model program for educating today’s adult learner is introduced with particular emphasis on faculty implementation of IBL in the classroom and student’s responses to the Life Arts Project (LAP), which is incorporated in each six credit course seminar. Through the LAP, adult learners investigate course content through exploration and discovery, participate in critical inquiry, investigate various research methodologies, and experience project-based learning.

Purpose – The aim of this study is to determine the effects of inquiry instruction incorporating with STEM learning on Chemistry Education of Malikussaleh University students’ science process skills and science attitudes.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The pre-experimental design, which is a mixed method approach is used in the study that included a pretest-posttest one group model and descriptive quantitative.

Findings – As a result of data analysis that STEM learning significantly enhances students’ science process skills and attitudes toward inquiry instruction. This study examines how participation in a semester long inquiry-based STEM learning project that involves interdisciplinary skills, sociological research on attitudes, and behaviors enhances the scientific and quantitative literacies of STEM students.

Research Limitations/Implications – Quantitative research is needed to determine the more common effects of learning outcomes. However, this study only determines a self-assessment on science attitudes. The other one is a limitation on the participants and reviewing aspects of learning with more variables in order to obtain more optimal results.

Practical Implications – The results of this study have practical implications in terms of hands-on activities. The learning model can be used to explain the concept of multidisciplinary studies and particularly to students and their parents. It will be a useful model for lecturers, personal tutors, and any other practitioners involved in hands-on activities.

Originality/Value – This paper innovative at a conceptual level of education development for students, graduates, and it is very simple descriptive papers. It will be of value to anybody with an interest in education competitiveness issues.

This chapter explores the ways in which academic educators’ experience of collaborative inquiry-based learning (IBL) can illuminate student behaviours, particularly in relation to assessment and the affective domain. The facilitator of this IBL, in the setting of academic staff development in UK Higher Education, uses a reflective storytelling style to detail the learning of an annual cohort of staff at a university in the north west of the United Kingdom. Six separate academic staff cohorts enroled in a unit, as part of a Master of Arts in Academic Practice, to undertake this experiential, humanist way of learning, working with all the principles of collaborative inquiry. The chapter explores the ways in which the participants’ self-reported affective responses altered over the course of the unit, particularly in relation to the assessment. Participant reflections are integrated with pedagogic literature and extracts from the facilitator’s contemporaneous notes, assessor’s feedback and other material, detailing the ways in which the freedom of an IBL episode moves to anxiety associated with assessment, which can build as the assessment point nears. Reflections on group constitution, cohort characteristics and the role of the facilitator are considered in relation to the notion of ‘success’ of IBL episodes. This is interrogated particularly in relation to academic staff responses to the experience of the emotions of IBL, and how this may affect their own practice in designing teaching and learning experiences for students in Higher Education.