8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Coffee, Tea and Registration
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Laying the Groundwork
What do we mean by inquiry? How do questions and questioning support inquiry? What kinds of issues, challenges and concepts lend themselves most powerfully by various age groups? How will we know when they have moved from knowledge to understanding? When is inquiry worthy of student time and when is it mere ritual? How does a teacher orchestrate inquiry?
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Why Synthesis?
Meaningful inquiry should take students beyond the mere gathering of information to the construction of new understandings. They will need a firm grounding in synthesis skills in order to combine the information in ways that may resolve puzzles and mysteries.
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Morning Tea
11:15 AM - Noon
Interpreting Findings and Cycling
Through the Stages of the Research Cycle
Because students do not know what they do not know at the outset of an investigation or inquiry, their initial questions rarely suffice and will need to be revised, deepened and extended as they gain knowledge. During this session participants will consider the value of the Research Cycle as a guide for extended inquiry
Noon - 12:45 PM
A Matter of Attitude
Effective inquiry requires much more than skill. Digging into complex matters requires the capacity to persevere and focus. During this session, the group examines the attitudes that students will need for this kind of thinking as well as ways teachers might nurture those attitudes.
12:45 PM - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Organizing Whole Units for Inquiry
How does a teacher plan so that individual students may pursue aspects of a major theme or issue in fruitful ways that may ultimately be woven together with the work of other students so that the "big picture" comes into focus?
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Modeling Techniques, Skills and Attitudes
The teacher provides an ongoing stream of mini lessons as the inquiry proceeds so that students benefit from "just in time instruction," acquiring new skills as they are needed. Real student growth depends upon careful monitoring and well timed intervention by the teacher.
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Communicating, Reporting, Persuading and Sharing Powerfully
Once students have grasped important ideas, there are many options for sharing their findings, some of which are more effective than others. This session will focus on reporting options that require a high degree of potency.
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Assessing Student Growth and Performance
How might teachers engage students in self-assessment and how can teachers augment those assessment activities with other measures that serve to guide the program along while also giving a sound view of individual progress?
