IV c. SMALL GROUP INQUIRIES

Experience has taught us that students at level 2 have a great difficulty coming up with a good central question. To get around this problem, we have designed an approach to learning inquiry that starts groups of students in the middle of the process (see inquiry diagram) by providing them a central question (with a rationale for the question and a bibliography to background info.). Students complete their inquiries doing some things as individuals and some things as a group (see details below).

Towards the end of the course each student is required to propose a new central question, one that might be done by a group in the following year. In this way, each student does get to experience the overall inquiry process, starting in the middle and ending in the middle.

These steps are followed:

1. Central Question, Rationale, Bibliography Provided (group)

2. Background Reading (individual)

3. Possible Answers Chosen (group)

4. Progress/Findings Updates (group)

5. Oral Presentation (group)

6. Inquiry Report - includes evidence for each possible answer plus group's conclusion (individual)

7. New Inquiry Proposal (individual)

Note: Groups meet in class time and outside of class. Schedule is suggested.