Inquiry-Based Learning for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: A Conceptual and Practical Resource for Educators: Volume 2

This chapter provides an introduction to how the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is being used by colleges and universities around the world to strengthen the interconnections between teaching, learning, and research within the arts, humanities, and social sciences. This chapter provides a synthesis and analysis of all the chapters in the volume, which present a range of perspectives, case studies, and empirical research on how IBL is being used across a range of courses across a range of institutions within the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The chapter argues that the IBL approach has great potential to enhance and transform teaching and learning. Given the growing demands placed on education to meet a diverse range of complex political, economic, and social problems and personal needs, this chapter argues that education should serve as an incubator where students are part of a learning community and where they are encouraged to grow cognitively, emotionally, and socially by taking increasing responsibility for their own learning.

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.

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.

We have been applying inquiry-based learning (IBL) methodologies to language teaching in the department of French studies at the University of Manchester (UK) since 2006. We were aware that IBL was successfully employed within scientific subjects such as medicine and dentistry, but little research had been carried out within higher education in the adoption of such methodologies in advanced level language learning. Our projects in grammar, phonetics, interpreting and in producing resources for students on their period of residence abroad have not been without their challenges and we have experienced some reticence from students and educators alike. This chapter will set out a rationale for the adoption of IBL methodologies in language provision, detail the projects undertaken and analyse their results in terms of both measurable ‘product’ and perceived ‘process’-based outcomes. Finally, we will examine the dovetailing of competencies enhanced by IBL with those promoted more generally through language learning, a combination which we believe rends our students highly employable in the global jobs market.

This chapter describes the development and evaluation of an interdisciplinary group-based inquiry-based learning (IBL) project across two professional degree programmes in Scotland – educational psychology and social work. After outlining the policy and practice contexts for interdisciplinary inquiry-based learning, we articulate how IBL can facilitate professional identity development, mirror key aspects of professional practice such as interprofessional collaboration, and provide deep interdisciplinary learning. It is argued that the process of IBL provides an authentic and complex practice scenario which allows for the articulation and development of professional knowledge, values, identities and roles in collaboration with another professional grouping. The process of IBL development is described and we report on the results of a small-scale qualitative evaluation of the short-term outcomes of the IBL approach to teaching and learning. The IBL activity enhanced students’ appreciation of interdisciplinary collaboration and allowed them to practice relevant skills. The views and reflections of students are reported and reinforce the relevance and efficacy of the approach. The chapter concludes with a series of suggestions and advice for the replication of using IBL as a tool to enhance and facilitate interdisciplinary learning.

This chapter discusses successful practices within inquiry-based learning in the humanities and arts. The focus remains on an example of interdisciplinary inquiry conducted in an American Studies core course taught at the undergraduate level: “Memory and Dissent in American Culture: Remembering Nat Turner.” This chapter addresses the course design and in particular, its casebook assignment sequence, devoting central attention to the manner in which the casebook model supports students in becoming more adept and autonomous in framing responses to questions of their own devising.

This chapter highlights the perspectives, examples, and applications on the current trend in teaching and learning counseling ethics education in a more effective way. The trend utilizes inquiry-based learning concept and educational activities to foster counselor education training programs fast-forward in meeting the social demands and global challenges. The discussion is based on the theme emerged from an interpretive case study research conducted by the authors, in addition to the insightful literature authored by the profound educators and counseling researchers, globally. Teaching and learning counseling ethics education is an integrative effort and is more than just content acquisition from textbooks. In addition, the inquiry-based teaching and learning approach can be a tool in finding solutions for authentic problems through in-depth investigations while learning counseling ethics education. This chapter hopefully will improve counselor educators’ ability, strengthen counselor education training programs’ capability, and expand counseling students ethical competency; for creating innovations and adaptations in teaching and learning counseling ethics education, utilizing inquiry-based learning toward enhanced professional ethical practice in counseling realm.

The landscape of learning and teaching is changing through the recognition of a diversity of learning types, new student generations as well as advances in technology and theory in education. While claims for interdisciplinary research and inquiry-based approaches, as well as integration of new media and technologies are at the heart of current discourses on teaching and learning, most educational activities still take place in a conservative format of the hierarchical teacher–student relationship in rather traditional educational facilities. As an architect and anthropologist, but most of all, as an academic who is devoted to teaching and research, I believe in teaching and learning experiences that are based on theoretical and methodological explorations in different disciplines in order to develop practical, research and critical thinking skills among the students. Students are motivated and engaged when they understand why information is important for them. Through an inquiry-based approach, abstract information becomes tangible and contextualized. In this chapter, I will first discuss common characteristics of our learners, today’s generation of students (the Millennials). Second, I will conceptually locate my approach to teaching among inquiry-based approaches such as Situated Learning, Learner-centered Teaching and Universal Design for Learning, which I see as complementary to each other. Third, I will explain my course design and give an account of two courses as examples for Inquiry-based Learning in action. Although these courses address architecture students, the Inquiry-based Learning and teaching experiences from these courses will inform a larger, more general audience interested in the subject matter.

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.

Laurea UAS, Lohja campus, in Finland, has a learning environment, Yrityslabra, for business management and administration students who want to complete their studies by doing real-life business assignments. This chapter depicts the elements of a physical learning environment that have contributed to improving learning results on Laurea Lohja campus. The campus was challenged with addressing long studying and graduation times, loss of students to other campuses, difficulties in employment after graduation and lack of cooperation between Laurea and organizations. To solve these problems, Laurea Lohja created a learning environment called Yrityslabra (Business Lab). As a result of the continuing development work and material gathered (interviews, memos from teacher development meetings, student evaluation discussions, and written evaluations), five distinctive elements for a learning environment were found. These elements are: informal physical environment, informal social environment, teacher’s role as a mentor, personal learning process, and project management process. As the result of the new learning environment, students on Laurea Lohja campus, for example, have shorter graduation times, and there are less drop-outs in the middle of the studies. Students also find work in their own field of interest and do so right after graduation. Also, there is increased interest for the graduating students to further their studies at the master’s level.

This chapter provides an interpretive account of how a large student cohort deals with a major inquiry-based learning (IBL) assessment task in a first-year Marketing Principles subject in undergraduate business studies. It offers a practical example of IBL in action in a discipline that has hitherto received little attention in the IBL literature, namely business, specifically marketing. The chapter positions IBL within the various contemporary pedagogies. The context of Hutchings and O’Rourke’s (2006) study of IBL in action is extended for first-year cohorts, technology-enhanced teaching and the marketing discipline. Further, Hutchings and O’Rourke’s four-part method for describing IBL in action is followed: (1) the enabling factors for the students’ work are described; (2) the process for which they decided on the task is discussed; (3) the method of work is considered, namely ongoing collaboration in a wiki and (4) the outcomes produced are discussed. The chapter reflects on the effects of the IBL task on student learning from both students’ and instructors’ points of view. Material from the students’ work and feedback after completion of the IBL task is used to illustrate the process and inform the interpretive account. The main lessons to be learnt for educators are summarised.

Dealing with the issue of “Can practical wisdom be taught in business schools?,” in this chapter, I argue for an inquiry-based learning approach as a way of improving today’s management education. Following along these lines, I initially focus on the current criticism of today’s management education in business schools. Then, I provide an introduction into the recent interest in the topic of practical wisdom by management scholars that emerged as part of an effort to overcome these failures of business schools. These attempts, however, remain on a rather vague or theoretical level and are lacking helpful guidance on how universities might implement this concept into their educational offerings. In order to remedy these shortcomings, I introduce a competency-based three-pillar model of practical wisdom and combine it with an inquiry-based learning approach. A comprehensive scheme highlights how the particular competencies of practical wisdom can be fostered over the successive stages of the inquiry process. Most importantly, by describing a MA-thesis program as a successful example of these ideas in application, I provide concrete suggestions of how to facilitate the growth of practically wise competencies by means of an inquiry-based learning approach.

Brevard College is a small, liberal arts college in Western North Carolina committed to experiential education. The Teacher Education Program prepares future teachers to lead the next generation of learning communities by nurturing values and skills necessary for inquiry-based teaching. Darling-Hammond (2005) reaffirms that one critical aspect of school reform is “preparing accomplished teachers who can effectively teach a wide array of learners to high standards … essential to economic and political survival” (p. 238). Admittedly, this is no easy task. Newly licensed candidates face a convergence of politics, economic, and demographic 21st century realities. Faculty and candidates need a deep understanding of constructivist theory to prepare for inquiry-based teaching. This knowledge must not just be a tag line on a syllabus but embedded in heads and heart. Reflecting on how theory is put into practice, through explicit minds-on/hands-on field experiences in diverse community partnerships, teacher candidates are empowered. The lessons learned by a newly licensed constructivist-based teacher boldly sharing his passion for inquiry-based teaching in a public school setting offers a glimpse of potential hope.

This chapter looks at New York City through the educational discipline known as aesthetic education (AE). It provides an example of an adaptation of this inquiry-based methodology that emerges from a freshman transition course, Discover New York (DNY) taught by the author at St. John’s University. Through an examination of classroom pedagogy within the context of the course focus – homelessness in New York City – readers gain: an understanding of aesthetic education as a powerful tool for student engagement in general; and strategies for adapting processes described in the chapter into their own educational practice. Aesthetic education is an approach to learning that has at its center the use of works of art as texts to ignite curiosity and the desire to know more. In the case of this chapter’s journey, the city itself serves as the text, the “work of art.” The chapter maps classroom activities that engage learners’ imaginations in general inquiry, and deeper investigations into the central focus of the course, homelessness, addressing as well an integral element of the course, Academic Service Learning. Finally, it invites the reader to imagine how AE methodology might prove useful to other relevant courses, contexts, and settings.

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.

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.

Social bookmarking is an online tool that can enable students to develop their skills in finding, sharing and (re)organising online information. Research has demonstrated that it has the potential to impact positively on students’ digital literacies – their ability to use the Internet critically to support their learning – and particularly on the kinds of online research skills that are vital to supporting inquiry-based approaches to learning and teaching in history. This chapter provides a detailed overview of how online social bookmarking tools have been used to support the development of students’ digital literacies in history in a number of UK higher education institutions. The general approach which has been adopted is based on constructivist principles and requires students to develop their skills and appreciation of the Internet as a venue for scholarly research in order to strengthen their inquiry skills in preparation for more independent work at higher levels of study. The chapter presents evaluative data that has been collected from students who have used social bookmarking to support inquiry activities within modules and as part of their independent learning activities. We also report staff reflections on the usefulness of social bookmarking to support student learning in history and make some recommendations for the practical application of such tools elsewhere. These include the potential significant impact of social bookmarking on students’ ability to interact productively and creatively with online resources in the course of their learning; the usefulness of the tool in supporting collaborative working and sharing materials; the need to ensure that students receive adequate training in using social bookmarking and that their work receives adequate credit (which will, in turn, increase motivation).

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.

One of the most widely accepted goals of social studies education is to produce knowledgeable and caring citizens. It is, therefore, imperative that students have the opportunity to participate in public issues and have a meaningful voice within their community. Students must learn how to gather information, solve problems and make civic decisions (Saxe, D. W. (1997). The distinctive mission of social studies education. In E. W. Ross (Ed.), The social studies curriculum: Purposes, problems and possibilities (pp. 39–55). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press). Thus, educators and staff in higher education institutions should encourage their students to create their own questions, cultivate investigative strategies, formulate theories and apply new concepts to their own lives in a variety of methods (Fitzsimmons, P. F., & Goldhaber, J. (1997). Siphons, pumps, and missile launchers: Inquiry at the further and higher education [online]. Edinburgh: Scottish Funding Council). Inquiry-based instruction is a pedagogical strategy that places the educator in the role of a facilitator where students are pushed to think critically and construct meaningful knowledge. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a crucial practice for students to grasp and the earlier they are exposed to this style of learning, the better the educational results will be in regard to cognitive development. For instance, (Frederiksen, White, & Shimoda, 1999) found that students who take part in inquiry-based learning outperform those students in traditional classrooms on standardised assessments. This chapter explores a theoretical discussion of IBL and a subsequent theory of change focusing on the potential desired impact on the student learning experience in Irish higher education.

The core themes include the following:

1. How educators in the social sciences conceptualise, design and facilitate IBL?

2. The location and commencement of the development of an IBL ‘mind-set’.

3. Informal theories of change in the social sciences, and a discussion on disciplinary patterns and the discernation of differences.

4. What have educators learned about designing and facilitating IBL? The challenges of designing and facilitating IBL, in the social sciences.

5. Plans for further developing IBL practice in an international context.

How educators in the social sciences conceptualise, design and facilitate IBL?

The location and commencement of the development of an IBL ‘mind-set’.

Informal theories of change in the social sciences, and a discussion on disciplinary patterns and the discernation of differences.

What have educators learned about designing and facilitating IBL? The challenges of designing and facilitating IBL, in the social sciences.

Plans for further developing IBL practice in an international context.

This chapter explores inquiry-based learning from the prospective of preservice teachers learning to enact classroom-based research. After describing a preservice course focused on practitioner inquiry, a framework for analyzing teachers’ perspectives toward teacher research is provided. The framework focuses on the different ways teachers conceive and make use of student learning data as tools for their own inquiry-based learning. Our study shows that changes to preservice teachers’ perspectives toward inquiry are possible, but often slow to nurture. Discussions of different approaches to research and specific research models appeared to be most impacting. Specifically, the above framework suggests that teacher inquiry that pursues dilemmas and wonderings, often leading to more questions, is much more useful than inquiry that seeks distinctive resolutions. When considering teachers’ classroom-based inquiry as a life-long professional pursuit, the results show promise for developing dispositions and skills for inquiry at this early career level. Implications of the course on preservice teachers and the theoretical model are provided.