Active Learning Resources

“The meaning of ‘knowing’ has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it.”

                                             - (National Research Council, 2007)

Inquiry-Based Learning is a learning approach based in the idea that when people are presented with a scenario or problem and assisted by a facilitator, they will develop their own questions and research issues to find solutions.

Inquiry-based learning includes Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and can be used in small scale investigations and projects, as well as research, but it also emphasizes contextual and experiential approaches to learning, where knowledge is built from a student's experience as well as learning in a real-life context.

Inquiry-Based learning covers a range of approaches, including:

   •     Problem-based learning

   •     Field-work

   •     Case studies

   •     Investigations

   •     Individual and group projects

   •     Research activity

Learning processes engaged during Inquiry-Based learning include:

   •    Creating questions

   •    Obtaining supporting evidence to answer question(s)

   •    Explaining evidence collected

   •    Connecting explanation to knowledge obtained from investigation

   •    Creating an argument and justification for the explanation

• Academy of Inquiry Based Learning (AIBL)

  AIBL is a community of instructors, teachers, and supporters of inquiry-based learning. Our philosophy is "big tent IBL." What this means is that we define IBL broadly, and support the use of a wide range of teaching methods in mathematics courses consistent with courses where students are (a) deeply engaged in rich mathematical tasks, and (b) have ample opportunities to collaborate with peers (where collaboration is defined broadly).
• Center for Inquiry-Based Learning
• Experiential and Inquiry-Based Learning with Youth in Non-Formal Settings

  Experiential Learning: Constructing learning through hands-on experiences that are highly social in nature. 
  Inquiry-Based Learning: Constructing learning through hands-on experiences that provide evidence about phenomena in the world.
• Inquiry-Based Learning for Teachers
• Inquiry-Based Learning - Indiana University Bloomington

  "Inquiry-based learning is an instructional model that centers learning on addressing a particular problem or answering a central question. There are several different inquiry-based learning models, but most have several general elements in common:"
• Inquiry-Based Learning: Concept to Classroom

  Welcome to Inquiry-based Learning. Start here in the "Explanation" section, which is all about the CONCEPT. Then go on to "Demonstration" and the following sections, where we move from CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM!
• Inquiry-Based Learning - Penn State University

  "We learn best when we are at the center of our own learning. Inquiry-based learning is a learning process through questions generated from the interests, curiosities, and perspectives/experiences of the learner. When investigations grow from our own questions, curiosities, and experiences, learning is an organic and motivating process that is intrinsically enjoyable."
• Introduction to Inquiry-Based Learning

  "The power of an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning is its potential to increase intellectual engagement and foster deep understanding through the development of a hands-on, minds-on and ‘research-based disposition’ towards teaching and learning. Inquiry honours the complex, interconnected nature of knowledge construction, striving to provide opportunities for both teachers and students to collaboratively build, test and reflect on their learning."
• Journal of Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics

  The Journal of Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics (JIBLM) publishes university-level course notes that are freely downloadable, professionally refereed, and classroom-tested. These course notes are intended for (1) instructors to use as a starting point to design a course that meets the specific needs of their own students and (2) for students to use to study a topic independently.
• SMILE: Stanford Mobile Inquiry-Based Learning Environment

  SMILE turns a traditional classroom into a highly interactive learning environment by engaging students in critical reasoning and problem solving while enabling them to generate, share, and evaluate multimedia-rich inquiries.
• What Is Inquiry-Based Learning?

  "We learn best when we are at the center of our own learning. Inquiry-based learning is a learning process through questions generated from the interests, curiosities, and perspectives/experiences of the learner. When investigations grow from our own questions, curiosities, and experiences, learning is an organic and motivating process that is intrinsically enjoyable."