Inquiry Unpacked: An Introduction to Inquiry-Based Learning

As the national educational organizations' standards evolve from students mastering discrete skills to demonstrating broad learning behaviors, often referred to as 21st century learning skills, pedagogy is slowly shifting from teacher- and textbook-centered dissemination of facts and information to student-centered construction of learning and knowledge. In this environment, students use a wide range of resources to collaborate with others to solve authentic problems by thinking critically, actively create content, and communicate with a wide audience. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills succinctly categorizes these participatory skills into the four Cs: "critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, communication, and creativity and innovation" (P21 mission statement). Both the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the International Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Students 2007 call for students to use an inquiry approach when engaged in the research process. But what does it look like for a student to be engaged in inquiry? What is inquiry-based research, commonly referred to as inquiry-based learning or "guided inquiry"? This article provides an introduction to inquiry-based learning. (Contains 3 online resources.)