The Practical Applications of Problem- and Inquiry-Based Learning

By Ed Finkel

Problem- and inquiry-based instruction, as taught at CTD in offerings like the Civic Education Project, draws upon students’ natural curiosity in ways that lead to deeper understanding and better retention of content as well as greater psychosocial skill development. But how does that play out in practice, and how can educators infuse it into their classrooms without overhauling their entire curricula?

“It’s a shift away from, ‘What does my teacher want me to learn,’ to, ‘What am I curious about, and what do I bring to the table in terms of solving a problem?’ 

-Sarah Zaharoff

For one thing, students and parents should expect a lot of “out-of-seat” time, which can be a struggle for students used to direct instruction from a teacher talking from the front of the room, says Sarah Zaharoff, curriculum designer. 

“It’s a shift away from, ‘What does my teacher want me to learn,’ to, ‘What am I curious about, and what do I bring to the table in terms of solving a problem?’ ” she says. “That can take some unlearning, or some training for students to accept that new type of learning. Students could struggle with problem-solving and iterating on their thinking, if they’re used to arriving at one, right answer.”

In addition, the level of collaboration and risk-taking might be higher than students are used to, which means teachers and parents might need to teach strategies for participating in the process, Zaharoff says. “Instead of asking, ‘What grade did you get on your quiz?’, or, ‘Are all of your assignments completed?’, adults can ask things like, ‘How are you answering the questions that you came up with? What new tools are you using to address questions?’ ” she says.

Immersive, experiential projects lend themselves to authentic inquiry, says Denise Mytko, associate director. “Students are put in this educational context, and the challenge for them is to understand the web of perspectives, and needs, and incentives,” she says. “And take all of that and bring it together to identify problems, outcomes and the best way forward, from their perspective, alongside their peers. And it’s a really terrific [educational] approach.”

During the three-week-long summer Civic Leadership Institute at CTD, for example, students ask questions about what types of services are most supportive for people in a community, Zaharoff says. Last summer, the students focused on the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago and did reading and other learning, then participated service days to help them think about potential approaches to change in the community.

“They may work in a soup kitchen. They may talk to a nonprofit,” she says. “They did door-to-door canvassing. And they use all of those experiences to evaluate which approaches are working best for local citizens. Is a nonprofit grassroots organization that’s helping more, or is their alderperson? They can analyze the levers of power through that. And finally, instead of creating a poster to summarize their findings, we ask them to create a model of change that they could implement and share that with a broader audience.”

For an instructor switching to an inquiry-based model, Mytko would suggest making a gradual transition rather than trying to do it all at once. “It can be a bit jarring,” she says. “As far as pacing and understanding the time needed, it’s just something that takes practice. … One thing I try to build in, intentionally, is a gradual release of responsibility to the students.” That can look like two weeks of traditional instruction, another two weeks with smaller changes, and then by the end of a semester, a full inquiry-based model, she adds.

Another reason to make the changeover somewhat gradual is that high-achieving students might be unfamiliar with and unsettled by the new paradigm, Mytko says. “Especially if they’re a little bit older, they’ll say, ‘How do I get an ‘A’ in this?’ That’s something that can be cognitive noise that they don’t really need to worry about at this point,” she says. “Moving into the behaviors gradually can make it a more comfortable transition for everyone.”

“Start with the students having a bunch of materials, and a problem. Maybe the problem would be: You have to move this ping-pong ball across the room, and you can’t touch it, but you can use any of these materials. And students will be able to do that. It’s very creative. It’s kind of difficult.” 

-Denise Mytko

To get started, particularly for those who haven’t led inquiry-based learning before, or haven’t done it in a while, Mytko sometimes suggests changing the order of what they’re teaching, rather than the overall scope. “Teachers would have to look through their existing lessons. It won’t work for every single lesson,” she says. But for example, if a teacher planned to discuss how simple machines work, ordinarily they would first talk about what they are, introduce kits to build them, and then give students a chance to experiment with those kits.

“However, if a teacher really wants to work on leading with inquiry, that teacher can switch around those three things,” Mytko says. “Start with the students having a bunch of materials, and a problem. Maybe the problem would be: You have to move this ping-pong ball across the room, and you can’t touch it, but you can use any of these materials. And students will be able to do that. It’s very creative. It’s kind of difficult.”

Then, students can analyze patterns in how the ball moved, and the teachers can work with them to identify the patterns—which will probably lead to designs for simple machines. “And then, at the end, introduce the vocabulary and identify the different simple machines that the students have used in their project, and that they came to naturally through grappling with the issue,” she says. “And introduce some simple machines that maybe they haven’t used and think about how those might be able to be used, should they have additional material, or now that they have this additional knowledge.”

By organizing the lesson that way, students develop concepts first and then learn vocabulary, Mytko says. “Because then they can really have ownership over their collaborative learning,” she says. “The terminology is simply a way to label what they have deduced for themselves. And that can be a sticky lesson for them, that they’ll carry with them.”

One final benefit that Zaharoff cites: she’s noticed as a classroom teacher and instructional coach that when students are authentically engaged, classroom management almost always becomes a non-issue. “Students, when they’re waiting for someone else to speak, or waiting for a teacher to speak, can often act out,” she says. “But in inquiry-based instruction, problem-based instruction, many minds are at work at the same time. And it’s a wonderful way to keep your classroom engaged and managed.”