A Guided Inquiry approach

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A Guided Inquiry approach the school library
and the Victorian Essential Learning Standards

• Putting this into practice.

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How do we implement these multiple modes of
inquiry in our school libraries?

• We need to provide situations which
• provide challenge and opportunity.
• focus on identifying and solving intellectual
  and/or real-world problems
• closely resemble the ways that students will be
  expected to use their knowledge and skills in the
  real world
• give some choice over the specific questions
  they want to answer and how to present their new
  understandings.

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• We need to provide situations where
• an attempt is made to connect with students
  background knowledge.
• instructional activities involve the students in
  thinking, acting, and reflecting, discovering and
  linking ideas
• instructional activities model and provide
  opportunity to experience the knowledge
  construction process.
• there are opportunities for sustained dialogue
  and feedback

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Where do we start?

• Stages of backward design
• 1. Identify desired results.
• 2. Determine acceptable evidence.
• 3. Plan learning experiences and instructions.
• Paula Christophersen

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The Information Search Process

• If we look at the Information Research Process
  (IRS), we see the seven stages of searching are
  named after the primary tasks to be accomplished
  at each point in the process.
• The stages help us to develop specific
  intervention strategies that will assist students
  to do something they cannot do alone.

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• The first stage of the process is
• Initiation when confronted with an information
  need, students contemplate what they already
  know, what they want and need to find out
• Strategies that support this stage
• Understanding how a discipline builds knowledge
  and modes of inquiry
• Establishing existing / prior knowledge novice
  knowledge (what I know about
• Mapping existing knowledge Central concepts and
  relationships concept mapping and mind mapping
• Building engagement
• Developing curiosity and motivation
• Understand real world relevance and importance of
  the enquiry
• Dealing with the affective dimensions doubt,
  uncertainty
• Time management, task organization, process and
  effort management
• Know when, where, and how to get help and
  guidance

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Making a differenceResearch Guide

• Defining/Preparing
• Main Features
• understanding topic
• understanding key words
• identifying exisiting knowledge
• identifying information scope
• focussing on purpose of research
• planning the questions
• setting the scope of the task
• deciding how work will be presented

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• Questions
• What do the students need to know?
• What knowledge do the students already have?
• What do the students need to find out?
• How will the students present their research?
• What is the time frame?
• How will it be assessed?
• What questions will be set?
• How will individual students be catered for?
• What will the final product look like?
• Possible strategies
• brainstorm
• concept map
• graphic organisers
• understanding the question
• designing questions
• presenting research
• de Bono's six thinking hats

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Developing Background Knowledge, Interest,
Motivation
Questions I have???
I didnt know that!
?
Read View Listen Connect
?
?
I agree / disagree
I wonder .
?
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Teaching strategies for Initiation/Defining stage
from TLP

• Question Matrix
• Question types, (Fat and Thin)
• De Bonos Thinking Hats
• Clustering of ideas to form headings.
• Task analysis.
• Search plan or Pathfinder.

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Planning Template

• What curriculum outcomes are to be developed?
  Identify a VELS standard statement
• What does deep knowledge and deep understanding
  look like in each of the disciplines i.e. what
  does deep knowledge of science information,
  historical information, geographical information
  actually look like?
• How do students go about developing deep
  knowledge and deep understanding of a discipline?
  Knowledge about a topic, concepts and
  relationships, knowledge of how to use learning
  tools, knowing how to research
• Locating, engaging, selecting, recognising,
  verifying, understanding, structuring,
  reflecting.
• What curriculum content (themes or VELS
  standards) lend themselves to inquiry research
  through the school library?
• What are the instructional interventions that
  enable the development of deep knowledge and deep
  understanding?

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• Knowledge Construction some examples.
• What curriculum outcomes are to be developed?
• For exampleVELS Science knowledge and
  understanding.Level 3
• Students identify and describe the structural
  features of living things, including plants and
  animals. They identify how these features operate
  together to form system which support living
  things to survive in their environments.

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• What does deep knowledge and deep
  understanding look like in each of the
  disciplines i.e. what does deep knowledge of
  science look like?
• Develop curiosity and use scientific methods to
  establish generalizations
• Discovery of truth what is asserted is either
  true or false
• Describes the world through activity of
  measurement
• Establish existing understanding truth claims
  generalisations, laws
• To understand methods of scientific inquiry, need
  to understand how generalizations are obtained
  from data of observation
• Formulate hypotheses / questions based on
  available facts
• Design and pursue investigation related to
  hypothesis / question
• Develop systematic approach to data collection
• Record observations from sources, environment,
  testing
• Generate, validate, analyse, critique and
  interpret evidence
• Draw valid conclusions aim for generality
• Explain how scientific knowledge is used
• Construct working models to demonstrate
  scientific ideas
• Present results using data appropriate formats

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How do students go about developing deep
knowledge and deep understanding of a discipline?
Knowledge about a topic, concepts and
relationships, knowledge of how to use learning
tools, knowing how to research Locating,
engaging, selecting, recognising, verifying,
understanding, structuring, reflecting.

• locating, accessing, selecting sources of
  information to build background knowledge
• engaging with multiple viewpoints and dealing
  with conflicting knowledge
• selecting, evaluating and interacting with ideas
  in these sources to develop understandings
• recognizing uncertainties, doubts, frustrations
  and knowing how to use them creatively and
  positively
• verifying new knowledge through arguments,
  evidence, reflection
• understanding how to build and represent new
  knowledge in safe, ethical and responsible ways
• structuring and organizing and representing new
  knowledge in meaningful and appropriate ways
• reflecting on new knowledge what have I learned
  and what opportunities does this open up for
  further learning

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• Science Level 3
• Establish existing understandingdescribe,classify
  explain information
• Formulate hypotheses/questions. Design and pursue
  investigations related to their questions.
• Develop systematic approach to data collection.
  Record observations from sources, environmental
  testing. Generate validate, analyse, critique,
  and interpret evidence
• Draw valid conclusions. Explain how scientific
  knowledge is used. Construct working models to
  demonstrate scientific ideas. Present results
  using data appropriate formats.

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What curriculum content (themes or VELS
standards) lend themselves to inquiry research
through the school library?

• ICT for visualizing thinking
• At Level 3, students use ICT tools to list ideas,
  order them into logical sequences, and identify
  relationships between them. Students retrieve
  their saved visualising thinking strategies and
  edit them for use in new, but similar situations.
  They explain how these strategies can be used for
  different problems or situations.
• ICT for communicating
• At Level 3, students initiate and compose email
  messages to known and unknown audiences and,
  where appropriate, send replies. Students create
  folders in their mailbox to organise the storage
  of email messages they wish to keep. They locate
  information on an intranet, and use a recommended
  search engine and limited key words to locate
  information from websites. They develop and apply
  simple criteria to evaluate the value of the
  located information.

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• Thinking processes - Reflection, evaluation and
  metacognition
• At Level 3, students identify strategies they use
  to organise their ideas, and use appropriate
  language to explain their thinking. They identify
  and provide reasons for their point of view, and
  justify changes in their thinking.

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• Zone of Intervention
• Knowledge building
• Collecting sources that are pertinent, complex
  information rather than superficial information
  matched to specific focus
• Collecting data from disciplinary specific modes
  of inquiry interviews, surveys, experiments,
  observation, journaling Identification of central
  ideas and mapping of relationships
• Use of a variety of analytical methods
  cause/effect pro/con error analysis
  compare/contrast to sort, organize and structure
  ideas Identification of arguments and evidences,
  counter arguments and counter evidences
• Use of questioning and strategies for exploring
  alternative perspectives and ideas Develop
  conclusions, positions, posit actions,
  implications, solutions Reflect on position,
  implications and actions

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What are the instructional interventions that
enable the development of deep knowledge and deep
understanding?These are the specific strategies
that students learn to use that will help them
not only for this inquiry but whenever that are
at this particular stage of research or inquiry.
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Instructional Interventions

• Note taking and making.
• Writing a bibliography
• Venn diagram
• Data grid
• Graphic organisers
• Cause and effect
• Fishbone
• Question matrix

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Assessment Planning

• Assessment
• The use of Thinking and ICT tools including Venn
  diagram or data chart showing comparison of
  information from different sources and from
  opposing viewpoints to structure ideas into a
  coherent, integrated body of knowledge. Use of
  appropriate tools to construct appropriate
  representations of new knowledge. Notetaking and
  making strategies that show synthesis of gathered
  information. The use of tools, techniques and
  critical thinking skills to communicate new
  knowledge in appropriate ways. Demonstrated use
  of visual and textual modes of representation to
  present a point of view on a national or global
  issue, presented with recognition of alternative
  viewpoints, and supported by appropriate evidence
  from a range of sources, including the mass
  media. Monitoring of the implementation of an
  action plan to address a social or environmental
  issue, which
• includes strategies for raising public awareness
  of the issue

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Evidence Based Practice

• Checklist of skills demonstrated showing pre and
  post testing to demonstrate new learnings.
• Rubric of personal learning.
• Conference with students to identify skills
  learned.
• Examples of data charts and notetaking
  strategies

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• Bibliography
• Bendigo Senior Secondary College (2005)
  Researching together Engaging minds, Carlton,
  School Library Association of Victoria, BSSC
• Boyko, Denise, Davey, Sandy Macdonald, Joanne
  (2004) Teacher Librarian Program P-6. Carlton,
  School Library Association of Victoria
• Burgess, Lesley. Melissas, Shirley (2003)
  Making a difference. Carlton, School Library
  Association of Victoria
• Kuhlthau,Carol (2006) Information literacy
  through guided inquiry Preparing students for
  the 21st century. Lisbon, Portugal, IASL
• Manning, Mary (2006) Expert learning Its
  essential or Teacher-Librarians write new
  curriculum at http//www.slav.schools.net.au
• Mary Manning,(2007) Inquiring minds! Approaches
  to the Victorian Essential Learning Standards.
  Conference introduction.
• Todd, Ross J. Gordon, Carol (2007) A guided
  inquiry approach for learning in the school
  library Transforming information into deep
  knowledge and deep understanding. Rutgers, New
  Jersey, CISSL.
• Todd, Ross J. (2006) School libraries and the
  VELS Great minds at work in Synergy, 4 (2) pp
  5-6.
• Todd, Ross J. (2006) School libraries and the
  VELS Great minds at work at http//www.slav.schoo
  ls.net.au
• Victorian Essential Learning Standards at
  http//vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/