Enquiry Based

Learning

QCA’s description of independent enquirers

Young people who process and evaluate information in their investigations, planning what to do and how to go about it.

To engage fully in enquiry based learning students need to engage in the following processes:

• Questioning• Planning• Revising• Imagining• Reasoning• Making Links• Communicating

Discuss

• Gains for students• Gains for teachers• Possible pitfalls

Cognitive conflict and challenge

Metacognition

Bridging and Transfer

TEACHING HIGHER ORDER THINKING 

TASCTHINKING

ACTIVELYIN A

SOCIAL CONTEXT

TASCTHINKING:

- can be improved

- can cope with complexity

- a range of thinking strategies can be developed

TASCACTIVELY:

- ownership of learning

- part of decision-making

- empowered

- aware of long-term goals

- motivated

TASCSOCIAL:

- interaction

- sharing

- cooperation

TASCCONTEXT:- relevant

- linked with real life

- culturally meaningful

Some possible contexts:

- Design and technology

- Planning a teddy bear’s picnic

- A summer production

- A school council research project

- A science investigation

What do

I know

about

this?

Assemble from memory

Note links and ideas

Extend through questions

Baseline for learning

What is

the task?

Clarify purpose of task

Establish criteria for success

Examples of excellence

Suggest ideas and methods

Collect a variety of evidence

See different perspectives

Find a new way

How many ideas can I think of?

TASC TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE THINKING

1 2

3

How many ideas can we think of?

What is the opposite

view?

What will happen if?

What are all the factors?

Which is the most important?

What do other people think?

How do the ideas link?

What are we trying to do?

Plan the task

Give reasons for choices

Select key ideas

Plan presentation medium

Prioritise

Which is the best idea?

Carry through a plan

Monitor progress

Change direction

See the next steps

Let’s do

It!

Evaluate against criteria

See ways to improve

Carry out improvements

Reflect on the task

Opportunities for change

How well did I do?

Real audience

Explain and share

Celebrate the process of learning

Present in different styles

Let’s tell

Someone!

Reflect on performance

Transfer skills

Retain new knowledge

Articulate new skills

What have

I learned?

Comments made by teachers at the end of a whole school TASC research project

• ‘The children researched and worked with such enthusiasm’

• ‘We became aware that some children needed more structure and guidance at first because they were not used to working in such an open ended way. We needed to assess the degree of structure necessary and the withdraw the support as they became more confident’.

• ‘The TASC wheel gives the children a structure for the different stages of their thinking. It is flexible, sometimes we use the whole wheel, sometimes one part when there is a need’.

TASC is just one tool that can support schools to develop enquiry based learning.

• Philosophical Enquiry• BLP’s ‘building the habits of…’ guides• ???????Share

TASC WebsitesNACE

http://www.nace.co.uk/tasc/tasc_home.htm

Webquesthttp://www.webquestuk.org.uk/TASC%20WHEEL/Wheel.htm