u07a2

When I began this course, I did not know what to expect.  I had an idea of what inquiry-based learning was, but I did not know much about it.  Over the past seven weeks, I have gained a lot of knowledge about inquiry-based learning.  In the beginning of the course, I found the concepts surrounding inquiry-based learning to be a little vague and difficult.  It was not until I saw the video about the physics class learning about optics that I started to really grasp the ideas surrounding inquiry-based learning.  After that, working on the development of my own inquiry-based lesson plan really made me think critically of the style.  At first, I thought it was only applicable to science course, but I have sculpted my lesson around ancient history and others in the class created lessons based upon their own disciplines.  I think mine works out pretty well.  I’ve reviewed other lesson plans created by my peers and I think they all look pretty good.  For my classroom, I intend to make an attempt at, at least, trying out the lesson plan that I created for this class.  I also think that the 5E model can be applied to a lot of the projects that I already do.

u06a1

This week I really had a chance to develop my inquiry skills by creating a lesson plan that incorporated the 5E instructional model.  I really like how the model shows continuity between the stages.  Also, I had the opportunity to apply web 2.0 and technological tools to the model to make it more “21^st Century.”  My understanding of inquiry based learning continues to grow each week.  This week, especially, broke down the large concept of inquiry based learning into the 5E model, which I found to be very useful in my understandings.  Also, from viewing my peers’ websites and discussion posts I have developed an even better understanding.  Their creativity really pushes me to develop my plans even more.  It is always interesting to see how others tackle problems.