What is Inquiy Based Instruction?

Why Use Inquiry-Based Instruction

When exploring the concept of inquiry-base instruction, I was really taken back to the novel concept of a teacher's job being to teach students how to think, rather than what to think. IBI connects student creativity, inquisitiveness and desire to learn with science, math, reading and writing in agriculture. As previously discussed, students need to feel a need to learn the material. Using IBI provides enough structure to create a need to learn, without stating what needs to be learned or how it needs to be learned.

Using IBI also allows students to collectively use their strengths and stretch themselves to overcome their weaknesses. Since there is little focus in IBI on how students reach an objective, students can creatively use their talents to direct their learning. Also, IBI provides differentiated instruction, since students at all levels of learning can participate and content is presented in a more interesting way.


How is Inquiry-Based Instruction Different from Problems-Based?

First of all, IBI typically allows for students to formulate their own question, whereas problems-based instruction poses a question, with emphasis on finding a solution. Inquiry-Based Instruction involves more intense investigation, and may lead to no solution in the end. The focus of IBI is not always on solving a problem, but on learning and the process by which students learn the content. IBI may not even be a problem to be solved, whereas problems-based, by nature, requires there to be a problem in need o solving.

What are the Key Elements of IBI?

As identified by Warner and Meyers, there are six stages within the inquiry cycle.

Inquisition: Learners need to being with a question or situation that requires investigation. This distinguishes inquiry based instruction from other forms of teaching because students are not told how to investigate, just that they need to investigate.

Acquisition: Students brainstorm possible procedures for investigating a situation. Again, a hallmark trait of inquiry based instruction is that students are not told what to do to investigate given materials. That is for them to self-direct.

Supposition: After deciding on a procedure, students then suppose an outcome

Implementation: Students carry out their plan.

Summation: Students collect data and analyze their results. They collect evidence and draw conclusions from that evidence. This is the driving force of IBI, as this the point where students learn from their collected evidence. They are not just taking the teacher's word on it, but witnessing for themselves.

Exhibition: Students communicate and share their results.


If you look closely, the stages of inquiry, and the foundation of IBI are similar to the Scientific Method. Students are presented with a need to learn or determine a solution, while creating and implementing their own procedures and subsequently collecting and evaluating their evidence. Inquiry based instruction is the way learning most often occurs outside of the classroom, as self directed learning is the most powerful form of learning.