Support resources for the Art of Teaching: Engaging Students in Inquiry Learning video series http://www.viu.ca/iel/teachlearn/art_of_teaching_2/index.asp These resources are part of the online SCoPE seminar April 2-20, 2012 http://scope.bccampus.ca/mod/forum/view.php?id=8757

1. ART OF TEACHING: ENGAGING STUDENTS IN INQUIRY LEARNING
Vignette #4
Inquiry Through Individual Research in the Sciences
Fourth Year ~ Sciences
This chapter offers insight into the question: As undergraduate learners enter
the world of independent inquiry and research, what are the challenges and
payoffs?
This vignette portrays the rich professional risks and challenges involved in Erick Groot
undergraduate inquiry undertaken by students in their final year of sciences.
Summary of Themes:
Central to this sequence are the experiences of three students as they  Significant personal
complete their year-long inquiry. They are seen presenting the results of their investment with real risk
inquiry to student colleagues, professors, and the other interested members of of failure of inquiry
the university community. The interviews with the students at the end of their  Increased self-confidence
course reveals how they worked with what they perceived to be a very high risk and self-efficacy are clear
learning challenge. outcomes
 Emphasis placed on
Each student tackled an authentic scientific problem and worked through
quality of thinking and
failures and phenomena that were unexpected. They spoke of the personal rigor of inquiry; reality
significance of the challenges they experienced - how they were ‘real’ and how context
different that was from their normal university learning experiences. Students
 Assessment: Criterion-
explained how their personal passion was fired by the process. They described based evaluated by self,
the role of failure in their learning, and that the real ‘gold’ was often found in peers, community &
the discovery of their personal powers of thinking and learning. advisors
Erick Groot, a key member of the faculty team, offers an eloquent explanation
of the faculty members’ journey through all the ups and downs of making the
inquiry process successful. He describes how the students work through the
anguishing phase of identifying their central questions, the issues that they
encounter as they search for the right information, and the tenacity they
demonstrate in their efforts to access all the resources needed to carry out
their inquiry. He explains clearly the process of mentoring and coaching
students’ inquiry; encouraging, challenging, and celebrating the learning.
Augmenting the science students’ experience is Vincent Hopkins with his study
of undergraduate research across a broad sampling of disciplines. He explains
how he learned that undergraduate experience in inquiry learning was
generally recognized as transformative for almost all the students involved,
irrespective of the discipline. He cited the importance of students having the
opportunity to choose and explore deeply a question of personal meaning. He
paints a picture of how students develop what might be called “adaptive
confidence” as they work through the challenges of their studies. Professors
and students alike describe the emergence of a professional learning
community in which they collectively seek a healthy balance of professional
support, critique and interdependence.