Implementing inquiry based learning into a high school science classroom

Abstract

In an inquiry based classroom students are challenged to create knowledge and develop models to understand the world around them. They are asked to engage in the same activities that mathematicians, engineers, and scientists are engaged in every day: to wonder and question, hypothesize and conclude, investigate and analyze. The purpose of this Curriculum Development Project was to use Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) to help students to acquire science content knowledge at or above previous levels, improve student knowledge in the processes of inquiry, and increase student engagement in and overall appreciation of science.