Inquiry and STEAM Ed.
Course Description -
Inquiry and STEAM Ed. A (1.0 Credit) Inquiry and STEAM Ed. B (0.5 Credit)Course Description -
Course Description:Inquiry and STEAM Ed. is a course that empowers students to develop their own inquiries and investigations into compelling questions that they create with the assistance of the course instructors. Students will have choices in developing their own projects that are interdisciplinary in nature engaging with Science, Technology, Engineering, The Arts and Math (STEAM) as well as the Humanities (English and Social Studies disciplines). The course instructors will guide students through the process of addressing questions that require critical thinking and analysis and provide instruction in areas to support student developed inquiries. Students will be required to complete presentations, research, and engage in discussions with their peers regarding their individual and group inquiries. Students will also be encouraged to connect their projects with local community resources, creating a hands-on student-centered approach to learning.
The competencies mastered through the student generated inquiries will determine the awarding of academic credit, and the course instructors will assist students in creating a plan to merit credit in the desired academic areas.Inquiry and STEAM Ed. Course Competencies:
A. Developing Inquiries and InvestigationsB. Content Area Specific Concepts and KnowledgeC. Communicating and Taking Informed Action
Why Inquiry and STEAM Ed?:
The reason for inquiry and STEAM Ed is that we want students engaging in authentic work that they are passionate about and that reflects the work that they will be completing during their lives beyond high school. Students should be engaged in questioning that leads to authentic exploration with the characters of academic rigor typical of career related inquiry. The course strives to foster intellectual habits of thought, meaning making and discourse in all students, creating an educational setting where students come to do rich, engaging work–work that inspires, develops insight and stirs the imagination.This course seeks to create an environment of robust inquiry that:- Engages students in meaningful, purposeful, worthy work. Work that is authentic, intellectually and, emotionally engaging- Respects and cultivates the dispositions that all children bring with them when they first walk through our doors: imagination, curiosity, persistence, and the drive to understand the world.- Helps students engage with, and understand, difficult matters.- Helps students uncover things that have been hidden, and bring to life brand new questions, ideas and abilities.make school an intellectually exciting place to be, a place where learning is fun even when it is hard, perhaps especially when it is hard, and frustrating, and challenging.-Requires teachers to be co-inquirers with the students in the inquiry.
(Adapted from Galileo.org "Why Inquiry?)
Some of the research on Inquiry Based Learning:
edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdfInquiry_Based_Learning Guide.pdfProgram Development and Possible Future:
C.Geraghty Comprehensive Project.pdfC.Geraghty.Comp.Project.Inquiry and STEAM Ed. Academy.pdf