Inquiry-based learning is all about giving students the ability to research topics they are interested in and show them ways to improve on their research skills. In history, there are many opinions about many topics, so giving students the chance to come up with their own interpretations of history can give them the ability to think on their own and spark their curiosity. It is our job as teachers to provide students with the tools to find them their answer while not pressuring them to only look in certain areas. It is the students job to come up with the questions and find many different ways to answer them.

Problem-Based Learning uses complex real-world issues as a vehicle for learning concepts. In history, many real-world problems can be related back to events in the past that have created the issues that we face. In discussing these problems, students can have the ability to further their knowledge in historical facts while also understanding why the world is what it is today.

Application:

I find this activity to be very beneficial towards discovering techniques in learning more about a topic. Talking with peers and seeing multiple sides of a topic can give students the ability to use their resources in a way a regular lecture would not provide. I do think we can take this an extra step further to implement problem-based learning into our classroom. Depending on the topic, we can bring in historical background to discuss with our peers the problems of today's world. This not only teaching the students the past history, but it also gives them the chance to use that history to discover why our world is what it is today. 

Key Takeaways:

This video looks at ways students can further their questioning over documents and pictures as well as give them the ability to talk with their peers over their opinions on what each source represents. By talking with their peers, the students seemed to be more engaged in what they were learning about and take in what others had to say. While looking into the students conversations, many questions were introduced that kept carrying the conversation. This helps builds students conversation skills as well, as hearing what each student has to say can give another student more information about the topic. We see the teacher also help out the students by reinforcing research techniques, like looking at who wrote the documents, finding their arguments, and understanding who their audience was. I think since this is a younger group of children, having them venture off to find their own sources seems like it would not work as well, but having developing these skills for when students need to do their own research is important.

Key Takeaways:

The teacher in this video sets up good discussion between the children. She starts off with a certain topic that is in the curriculum, like the example of money, and puts a couple of her own questions as a basis for the students. The students then are able to come up with questions of their own, and they are able to conduct their own research about the topics of their choosing. This helps spark interest in the topic, and if the teacher is able to relate the topic back to the main ideas of what she wants the students to learn, a productive classroom takes place. 

Application:

This is a good way to connect inquiry and problem based learning. In the video, students discuss why billionaires have so much money compared to regular people. In a younger classroom like this one, I guess there is less room to talk about the division between the rich and poor, but in a classroom with older children, there could definitely be a discussion regarding the poor vs rich and the inequalities that lead rich people to where they are.

Application:

This reading really emphasizes working with the students to find the goals in the classroom. I think openly telling the students what you are trying to accomplish with them and asking for feedback can really help to increase motivation to want to study history. Understanding how students think is also essential in planning out our teaching approach, so working with each student closely and understanding what methods they use to think can help them become better learners.

Key Takeaways:

I found this reading important when discussing the purpose of inquiry-based learning and a couple strategies that can help improve inquiry-based learning in the classroom.  The author shows the importance of putting the learning in the students hands while also guiding them through how they should find things to learn about. The author also talks about taking in some of he children's preconceived ideas about certain topics and trying to combat ideas they may have wrong. The author concludes with this: "History teachers in Singapore, thus, are faced with three challenges: (1) how to improve teaching with inquiry in mind; (2) how to facilitate discovery learning in the classroom; and (3) how to manage the development of historical understandings amidst assessment imperatives." In order to chance how students think of history, we need to change how we teach it. Instead of just spitting out facts in lectures, we need students using their curiosity to seek information that they will gather opinions on. Doing inquiry-based learning helps students think for themselves and understand why the world looks like it does today.

Key Takeaways:

The school we see wants to structure the courses based on what the people in the profession actually do. The video does focus on the English side of problem-based learning, but I think this can be applied to history as well. The English class reads books with themes that are relevant to the issues we face today, and uses that to work on projects which delve deeper into that issue. The students think of this method as a learning technique that is larger than just being in school. They find practicality in the classroom, and think that they will be able to use the skills they learn outside of school. The video also discusses the challenges teachers face when trying to develop a whole new way of teaching. It definitely does take extra effort to produce a successful problem-based learning, but the teachers have gone through much discussion to try and implement this strategy successfully. 

Application:

Like how the English department is attempting to connect the themes of texts to relevant issues, I believe history teachers can do a similar thing. In the video, the teacher mentioned Night by Ellie Wiesel, which is a primary account on the holocaust. I think implementing more primary sources with themes that can be related to issues today can be very productive. I would also want my students to turn into historians in my class. With a topic like segregation, I would want my students to research why this has happened, and have them find out that segregation is still a massive issue today due to historical events that had made it this way.

Application:

Problem-based learning lets the students study what they want to study, so giving them the opportunity to do so is something that I would want them to have. Being able to help give out resources to students and give them ideas on what to study is an opportunity I would want them to have.

Key Takeaways:

Instead of tests or direct memorization, Problem and Inquiry based learning minimizes potential weaknesses in the potential of students. These learning styles are directly based off the children's curiosity. Students are able to focus on whatever aspect of history they want, as long as it relates to the main ideas the teacher wants the students to learn. The study also allowed the students to think about problem-based learning themselves and report how they thought of it. While this might have only been part of the experiment, the students are the most important aspect of the process, so getting their input is something that should accompany these teaching styles.