TEACHING STUDENTS TO BE MATHEMATICAL THINKERS USING INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

CHERRY O. SALES For a subject like math, which is traditionally taught in a linear and highly structured context, using more open-ended inquiry-based models can be challenging.

Inquiry-based learnng or IBL is defined as an approach to teaching and learning in which the classroom environment is characterized by the student being the active participant while the teacher’s role is decentralized.

Math teachers may find it hard to break out of linear teaching style because the assumption is that students can’t move to more complicated skills before mastering basic ones. But IBL is based on the premise that, with a little bit of structure and guidance, teachers can support students to ask questions that lead them to learn those same important skills, in ways that are meaningful to them.

This model, however, can be especially hard to follow in public school classrooms that always consider class time, class size, assessments, and resources. But if you would see it a deeper level and use it effectively, this method create learning experiences that are authentic and driven by inquiry.

Through IBL, students engage in a sparse but logically ordered and sufficiently scaffolded sequence of problems that are rich and support inquiry to the heart of big mathematical ideas. The problems may be worked on alone or in groups, at home, or during class time. The solutions are discussed in class, with the students leading both the presentations and the questioning.

Watching students struggle with how to ask good questions and discover answers can be hard, but it’s an important part of getting them to take ownership of their learning. Students can do more than memorize, mimic, perform algorithms and apply computational skills, if we ask them to.

Thinking of using IBL as your teaching method in math? Your journey could start with something as simple as giving your class the next problem that you were going to demonstrate in your lesson plan, but rather than showing them how to work it out, ask them to think about it in small groups.

Spending time working on math investigations and discussing student thinking could be implemented in almost any class. I would encourage interested teachers to commit to using IBL for a full semester in just one course.

To conclude, teaching a topic like math without the traditional sequencing can be hard for everyone in the community to understand and requires tolerance for failure. The payoff is when, for example, a student becomes a senior and chooses mechanical engineering as an elective because he loves solving problems and has been learning to do it all through elementary. — oOo— The author is Teacher III at Cabetican Elementary School, Bacolor South District