Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Over time, larger units of the course can be adapted to inquiry. Kim shared that she
had begun to design a replacement lesson. The readings and discussions had helped
her “to understand better how more inquiry can be done in my classes.” She was
planning “to increase the amount of inquiry-based methods in the future.” Cindy
was more hesitant, describing the goals of classroom inquiry as “lofty” and “frus-
tratingly difficult” to achieve. She was nevertheless encouraged to make a start.“I
truly believe that helping to develop these skills needs to be a educational goal for
all of us,” she concluded. For some teachers, the readings and discussions vali-
dated their intuitive notions about good teaching. Mark believed that the best way
to learn inquiry would be “by experiencing it and by talking to other teachers who
have adopted it into their classrooms.” The course had advanced his “bolstered”
confidence and “validated some of my teaching techniques that I just did because I
thought it was the right thing to do.”
In summary, the teachers' skepticism of official sources was a potential bar-
rier to learning. The readings stimulated critical thinking, helping them to clarify
and extend their thinking. The dialogue with peers helped to validate the teachers'
understanding of inquiry.
Effectiveness of the Course Design
The course provided a forum for teachers to engage key reform ideas, and critically
discuss them with peers. The participants displayed a high degree of engagement
and candor. The level of contribution averaged 550 words per person, each week. In
her concluding message, Judy (2004) wrote: “Thanks to all of you for sharing your
ideas and experiences and contributing to our community of learners that has been
as a source of inspiration for me!” One cohort was surveyed for comments on the
course design. Among the comments were
•
The readings were quite helpful. They helped me think about how I could
improve my teaching.
•
I
really
liked the flexibility of the course. The timeframe to read, discuss, and take
quizzes was very doable in my extremely busy schedule. Online classes in general
are difficult because we don't have a lot of interaction with our professors, but the
course design worked very well for me. E-mail responses to my questions were
prompt, the discussion board was very interactive. It is nice to have that kind of
interaction.
•
The discussions were nice to participate in because they allowed me to realize
that there are many others out there that have the same concerns and issues as
I do.
•
I think I learned a better definition of what inquiry really is. I feel like I have
been practicing inquiry, but not systematically. I think this course will really help
to make my discovery lessons more student based so that I can really target
all
aspects of inquiry
