Using Cultures of Thinking to Promote an Inquiry-based Approach ( continued )
YEARS 7 – 12 IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM
Using Cultures of Thinking to Promote an Inquiry-based Approach ( continued )
good inference , it could be a river . What made you think it was a river ?” “ It is shaped like a river .” “ What makes you think it is shaped like a river ?” “ It is not a straight line .” “ This is what you need to write down now , as that is an observation , what else can you see ?” It is a process that some students will find harder than others and one that teachers need to be patient and supportive with . You can see in the examples that I have provided that students want to move straight to inferring !
takes students time to unlearn guessing what you want them to see / think .
Stromatolites in an ancient sedimentary rock .
' Mount St . Helens ', a volcano in the state of Washington , USA , that erupted explosively in 1980 .
2 . After the 3 minutes I have students share these “ I see …” and / or “ I feel …” with their group . Group members are to listen silently and not provide any feedback , no nods , no “ oh yeah !” they are just to listen quietly . Following this students are to come up with a further 10 observations (“ I see ”/” I feel ”), they can make observations they already have more descriptive , if they want to . Completing 2 lots of 10 observations is actually a routine called “ 10 times 2 ” and encourages students to look more closely at their stimulus . They will make amazing observations , things that you will not have seen yourself , it just
3 . Following the “ I see ” of See Think Wonder and “ 10 times 2 ” I have students share an observation with the class . Provide students with positive reinforcement and supportive redirection where necessary . “ Fantastic , what made you think that ?” has a gentler ring to it than , “ Why did you write that ?” ( which can make students feel as though their response is being judged ).
Students have a short period of time to share their 10 new observations with their group ; members must sit silently and listen .
The purpose of this first part of the task is to support students to develop their own observations . It is to help them move away from automatically trying to guess what we want . For them it is a way of learning that will take some time and practice , it might take completing this strategy a number of times for them to move away from immediately inferring .
49 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 2