This week I continued to focus on finding more sources to add to my literature review. Particularly, I focused on literature surrounding two things. The first being the use of inquiry-based learning generally as a way to develop critical science literacy competencies. The second being the use of collaborative inquiry in classrooms and its merits. I have researched and talked about both of these topics before, however, I wanted to build upon the base I have developed for these topics and continue to develop a robust understanding of them.
As I reviewed a variety of sources this week, I found a book which puts perfectly into words why inquiry-based learning is so powerful for the development of critical science literacy. The book, Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry and Argumentation, by Douglas Llewellyn (2013), describes inquiry in three distinct ways. The first is that inquiry assists in helping students connect their understanding to prior experiences. This is a skill which may help them to navigate the socio-political spaces of their lives which is a competency of critical social practice as described by Lewison et al. (2015). When students learn to connect school learning to their everyday lives it helps them to become more comfortable with looking for interconnectedness in all aspects of their life.
The second way in which Llewellyn (2013) describes inquiry is as a way to assist in modifying and accommodating previously held beliefs and models. This aligns with Lewison et al.’s (2015) first dimension of critical social practice of Disrupting the commonplace. In this dimension Lewison et al. discuss how as we move through life we are constantly being positioned to believe certain ‘truths’ and we need to be aware of this positioning in order to identify potential bias the best we can. Inquiry-based learning can be used as a tool to make students aware of the positioning and assumptions which they hold with regard to science and help them to replace these assumptions with objectivity.
The third way Llewellyn (2013) describes inquiry is as an opportunity for discourse. When students work together on inquiry-based problems and projects they enter into discussions and debates about the subject they are inquiring about. This can help them to develop deeper understandings of the topics through defence of their own ideas in addition to openness towards the ideas and understandings of others. This aligns with Lewison et al.’s (2015) second dimension of critical social practice, Interrogating multiple perspectives. In order to be a critically literate citizen, Lewison et al. suggest that one must be open to listening to and considering multiple perspectives on a matter. When we encourage students to do this in the non-personal context of science learning through inquiry, they can develop the competencies to consider multiple perspectives on situations throughout their lives.
For the collaborative inquiry section of my research this week I found several sources which support the use of collaboration in inquiry (Gillies, 2013; Woods-McConney et al., 2016). I’d like to focus on Woods-McConney et al. (2016) and a study they conducted on the effectiveness of collaborative inquiry. They discuss the theoretical benefits of collaborative inquiry and then study whether or not these benefits actually occur when allowing students to work collaboratively on inquiry-based problems/projects. They found that in younger students high level content processing due to collaborative inquiry only occurred during 4.3% of class time allotted to inquiry-based activities. This percentage increased to 11% of time allotted in post-secondary students in a study by Summers and Volet (2010, as cited in Woods-McConney et al., 2016). When high level content processing happened through group co-construction of meaning, collaborative inquiry was very effective. The problem is that effective collaborative inquiry was only sustained for very short periods of time. While these are the results of only two studies on the matter, given the alleged benefits of collaboration for both inquiry and critical science literacy (through peer discussion to disrupt commonplace ideas and interrogate multiple perspectives), it is a potentially important issue for teachers to be aware of. Rather than advocating for more collaboration work in schools perhaps we need to be focusing our energy on using collaboration time more effectively.
Gillies, R. M., Nichols, K., Burgh, G., & Haynes, M. (2013) Primary students' scientific reasoning and discourse during cooperative inquiry-based science activities. International Journal of Educational Research, 63, 127-140.
Lewison, M., Leland, C., & Harste, J. C. (2015). Creating critical classrooms: Reading and writing with an edge. Routledge
Llewellyn, D. (2013). Teaching high school science through inquiry and argumentation. Corwin.
Woods-McConney, A., Wosnitza, M., & Sturrock, K. (2016). Inquiry and groups: Student interactions in cooperative inquiry-based science. International Journal of Science Education, 38(5), 842-860.