John W. Layman, with George Ochoa and Henry Heikkinen, Inquiry and Learning: Realizing Science Standards in the Classroom (College Entrance Examination Board, New York, 1996). xi + 60 pp. $12. ISBN 0-87447-547-3.
The final Editor's Note in this volume states that "It is our hope that this book will assist teachers and teacher educators to bring science standards to life for all students by implementing the best approaches currently in practice in high schools." To this end the authors begin Chapter 1 ("Thinking About Science and Science Teaching") by describing the way Jake Winemiller shoots off a bottle rocket for his students in order to get them to ask questions which he then encourages them to develop ways to answer. This is followed in Chapter 2 ("Doing Science") with the investigation of slime mold in Peggy O'Neill Skinner's biology class, followed by additional examples of maplecopters, thermometers in socks, and the browning of potatoes in Chapter 3 ("Understanding Science"). These examples all illustrate how these teachers have implemented the inquiry approach, which is basic to the National Science Education Standards, in their classrooms.
Chapter 4 ("Teaching Science") lists teacher behaviors which characterize the inquiry approach (see box), according to J. G. Brooks and M. G. Brooks (In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, ASCD (1993)). These behaviors should apply to all teachers, not only those of science, the authors add. They also pass along the suggestion of Ronald Bonnstetter of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, that teachers wanting to implement inquiry methods in their teaching do so incrementally. One way to do this is to employ the Learning Cycle, originally proposed in three stages by Atkin and Karplus in 1962 and now expanded to five stages (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate) in such curricula as Science for Life and Living (Fall 1992 issue, page 4) and Teaching About the History and Nature of Science and Technology (Fall 1993 issue, page 3; Fall 1996 issue, page 35). Teachers are also encouraged to facilitate rather than direct student work, encouraging students to take a risk but also offering what Mestre and Lochhead (Academic Preparation in Science, CEEB(1990)) call "structured inquiry." On the other hand, the authors also caution their readers that "none of the teachers who contributed to the making of this book employs an inquiry-based approach as the sole pedagogical technique." (p. 34)
Chapter 4 also addresses assessment, regarded along with teaching as two sides of the same coin in the inquiry-based approach. "All of the teachers who provided material for this book give tests of some kind, though the tests are often linked to students' experimental efforts," the authors point out (p. 51), adding that "The goal of scientific literacy for all students requires assessment that is fair to all." An Epilogue describing how a student's interest in global warming parlayed into a science fair project and a lifelong love of science rounds out the book.
If you are looking for an abridged source to implement the National Science Education Standards in your classroom, you'll probably find that this book is just what you need.
- John L. Roeder
Characteristic Behavior of Teachers Employing the Inquiry Approach
- encouraging and accepting student autonomy and initiative
- using raw data and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive, and physical materials
- using cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create, when framing tasks
- allowing student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies, and alter content
- familiarizing themselves with students' understandings of concepts before sharing their own understandings of those concepts
- encouraging students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with one another
- encouraging student inquiry by posing thoughtful, open-ended questions and asking students to question each other;
- seeking elaboration of students' initial responses
- engaging students in experiences that pose contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encouraging discussion
- allowing time after posing questions
- providing time for students to construct relationships and create metaphors
- nurturing students' natural curiosity.
Home Winter 97 Full Screen
Winter 97 - Reviews: 1 2 3 4 5 6The TEACHERS CLEARINGHOUSE FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY EDUCATION