Concept-Based Inquiry in Action - Strategies to Promote Transferable Understanding

"This is exactly what my school needs right now to support colleagues to build on the foundations of our written concept-based curriculum and to take-off our taught curriculum to the next - and highest - levels."
Neville Kirton, Deputy Head of Secondary
Colegio Anglo Colombiano, Bogota, Colombia

"Filled with strategies, illustrations, diagrams, and pictures, this book really gives you the insight you need to help students better understand what they are learning. So many great ideas that can be used in any classroom. A must read for all educators."
Amanda McKee, 9th, Algebra/Geometry, Secondary Certified Instructor/Mentor
Johnsonville High School, Johnsonville, SC


Create a thinking classroom that helps students move from the factual to the conceptual

All students deserve the opportunity to think conceptually. But seeing conceptual relationships does not come naturally to every student. How can teachers construct thinking classrooms where students can move from the factual to the conceptual level of thinking?

Concept-Based Inquiry in Action has the answers. In this book, the authors marry theory with practice to create a new framework for inquiry that promotes deep understanding: Concept-Based Inquiry. The key is helping students to inquire into concepts and the relationships between them using guiding questions developed by the teacher, the students themselves, or by the teacher and students together. Step by step, the authors lead both new and experienced educators to implement teaching strategies that support the realization of inquiry-based learning for understanding in any K 12 classroom.

The book and its accompanying website are rich with the resources necessary to facilitate the construction and transfer of conceptual understanding, including

• Numerous practical teaching strategies, aligned to each phase of Concept-Based Inquiry, that can be modified for diverse populations
• Visual notes that represent significant ideas discussed within each chapter
• Videos of instructional strategies and teacher interviews that show Concept-Based Inquiry in action in K 12 classrooms around the world
• Templates of graphic organizers, sample anchor charts, and blackline masters that support the use of teaching strategies in the classroom
• Planners that show how the phases of Concept-Based Inquiry come together in a unit

In a world filled with complexity, the role of the teacher as a facilitator of conceptual understanding has never been more pressing. Concept-Based Inquiry in Action provides teachers with the tools necessary to organize and focus student learning around concepts and conceptual relationships that support deep understanding.

List of contents

Foreword by H. Lynn Erickson and Lois A. Lanning
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the Illustrator
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Foundations of Concept-Based Inquiry
Bringing Together Inquiry-Based and Concept-Based Learning
Part 1: Exploring Inquiry-Based Learning
Inquiry Approaches in Concept-Based Inquiry
Part 2: Exploring Concept-Based Learning
Concepts as Organizers
The Structures of Knowledge and Process
Disciplines Draw From Knowledge and Process
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 2: Concept-Based Inquiry
A Model of Concept-Based Inquiry
The Phases of Concept-Based Inquiry
The Complexity of Inquiry
Concept-Based Inquiry and the Inductive Approach
Creating a Culture of Concept-Based Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 3: Planning for Concept-Based Inquiry
What Planning Steps Support Concept-Based Inquiry?
How Can Teachers Enhance Their Understanding of a Unit?
What Role Do Guiding Questions Play in Concept-Based Inquiry?
What Do the Phases of Concept-Based Inquiry Look Like in a Unit?
Pacing in Concept-Based Inquiry
How Do the Phases of Inquiry Support Teacher Planning for Concept-Based Inquiry?
What Are Approaches for Making Interdisciplinary Links?
Connecting to the Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 4: Engage
Activating Prior Knowledge Using Engagement Strategies
Using Strategies to Motivate Students
Initial Questions, Initial Thinking
Rethinking Our Use of Engagement Strategies
Opinion-Based Strategies
Experiential Strategies
Discussion-Based Strategies
Assessment in the Engage Phase
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 5: Focus
Using Concept Formation Strategies to Focus an Inquiry
Concepts Provide Breadth and Depth
Levels of Conceptual Thinking
Effective Concept Formation Practices
Concept Formation Strategies: Deductive and Inductive Approaches
Choosing Concept Formation Strategies
Assessment in the Focus Phase
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 6: Investigate
The Power of Factual Examples
Case Study Approaches
Focus on Skill Development
A Preface to Strategies
Assessment in the Investigate Phase
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 7: Organize
Making Meaning Using Organizers
Cognitive Load Theory and the Importance of Organizing
Representation and Conceptual Understanding
Sharing Findings as a Community of Inquirers
A Preface to Strategies
Assessment in the Organize Phase
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 8: Generalize
An Inductive Approach to Generalizing
Developing Strong Generalizations
Scaffolding Thinking
The Value of Recording Generalizations
The Importance of Discussion
A Preface to Strategies
Assessment in the Generalize Phase
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 9: Transfer
Transfer That Deepens Understanding
Testing and Justifying Generalizations
Understanding New Events and Situations
Predicting and Hypothesizing
Applying Learning
Taking Action
Assessment in the Transfer Phase
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 10: Reflect
The Power of Reflection
The Reflective Cycle
Building Agency
Reflection Throughout the Inquiry
Assessing Reflection Throughout the Inquiry
Connecting Phases of Inquiry
Pause and Reflect
Chapter 11: Concluding Thoughts
A Vision for Thinking Classrooms
Understand and Adapt
Resources
Resource A. Concept-Based Inquiry Glossary of Terms
Resource B. Concept-Based Inquiry Planner
Resource C. Sample Concept-Based Inquiry Planner: Industrialization Unit
References
Index

About the author

Carla Marschall is an experienced educator, curriculum developer, and pedagogical leader, who has worked in a variety of leadership roles in international schools in Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore over the past ten years. She currently works as the Director of Teaching & Learning at UWC South East Asia, with the mission to make "education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." A certified Lynn Erickson Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction Consultant, Carla is the co-author of Concept-Based Inquiry in Action (Corwin, 2018). Carla holds a Masters in Elementary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Masters in Applied Educational Leadership and Management from the Institute of Education, University of London. 
Website: http://www.connectthedotsinternational.com/

Summary

Concept-Based Inquiry in Action provides teachers with the tools and resources necessary to facilitate the construction and transfer of conceptual understanding in any classroom.

Report

"For all its pedagogical purity, concept-based learning continues, no doubt, to perplex in practice. This book synchronizes concept and inquiry-based learning, demystifying the theories that underpin them and providing a wealth of practical classroom strategies that, ultimately, serves to deepen students conceptual understandings. This is exactly what my school needs right now to support colleagues to build on the foundations of our written concept-based curriculum and to take-off our taught curriculum to the next - and highest - levels."
Neville Kirton, Deputy Head of Secondary 20171108

Product details

• Authors: Rachel French, Carla Marschall, Carla French Marschall
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2018
• EAN: 9781506391298
• ISBN: 978-1-5063-9129-8
• No. of pages: 368
• Series: Concept-Based Curriculum and I; Corwin Teaching Essentials; Corwin Teaching Essentials
• Subjects: Guides > Self-help, everyday life > Family; Humanities, art, music > Education > General, dictionaries; Didaktische Kompetenz und Lehrmethoden, EDUCATION / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Education / Teaching, EDUCATION / Experimental Methods