|
|
|
Conceptual Framework
>> 5. Selecting Appropriate
Professional Development Strategies and Materials
5.2. Immersing Teachers in Inquiry
National standards for mathematics and science education stress teaching for
understanding, including replacing superficial "coverage" of many
topics with more in-depth treatment of a smaller number of key ideas. They also
emphasize the importance of active engagement in actually "doing"
science or mathematics.
Immersing teachers in inquiry has emerged as a key strategy for allowing
teachers to become actively engaged in learning mathematics and science
content, on the premise that teachers cannot teach in ways that they have
never themselves experienced as learners. Volume
2 (1999) of the Foundations series of monographs published
by the National Science Foundation's Division of Elementary, Secondary
and Informal Education, focuses on inquiry for the elementary science
classroom; essays by a number of experts in the field address what is
meant by inquiry and how it can be organized. Other materials in the TE-MAT
database that can be used to facilitate immersing teachers in inquiry
include the Talking
Mathematics videotape (Corwin et al., 1996) of in-service teachers
engaged in mathematics problem-solving; the multi-media package, Introducing
Mathematics Teachers to Inquiry (Borasi and Fonzi, in press);
Boats,
Balloons, and Classroom Video: Science Teaching as Inquiry (Roseberry
and Warren, 1998); and McDermott's Physics
by Inquiry (1996), designed for pre-service elementary teachers.
It is interesting to note that the term "inquiry" has a number
of different meanings, ranging from relatively brief investigations of
questions posed by the facilitator to extended investigations of learner-generated
questions. The TE-MAT database includes materials across the entire spectrum.
The range of interpretations of "inquiry" is sometimes evident
within a single material, as in the collection of essays written by teachers
in Beyond the Science Kit:
Inquiry in Action (Saul, 1996).
Continue: 5.3.
Presenting Information to Teachers
|