Problem- and Inquiry-Based Learning Develop Critical ‘Habits of Mind’

By Ed Finkel

Problem- and inquiry-based learning techniques that center students’ curiosity develop their critical thinking and creativity in ways that promote both deeper content knowledge and stronger psychosocial skills, according to experts at CTD.

Denise Mytko, associate director of CTD’s Civic Education Project, defines problem-based learning as involving a specific, real-world problem students are presented with and then try to solve, whereas inquiry-based instruction hinges on more open-ended questions that students pose and then investigate. “Both move away from a more traditional teacher-to-student delivery method, and they allow students to grapple with concepts and ideas in domain-specific materials,” she says. “They create a more student-led learning environment.”

But teachers need to ensure they’re doing so in an authentic manner and not falling into what some call the “poster project trap,” Mytko says. “Authentic inquiry is a process where students are presented with or generate a situation or context, and then they build the problem,” she says. “When students are presented with and generate the problem, the outcomes, and the tools to use to reach those outcomes, they often have a connection in a way that is authentic, and that they can feel ownership of.”

Centering Curiosity
Authentic inquiry needs to center students’ curiosity and ability to problem-solve, rather than aiming at a specific outcome like a poster presentation, agrees Sarah Zaharoff, curriculum designer at CTD. “Authentic inquiry is student-centered instruction at its finest,” she says, whereas aiming at specific outcomes “could limit what they will learn, and how they will learn it.”

Common reasons educators might nonetheless fall into the “poster project trap” often center on practical considerations like the amount of classroom time open-ended inquiry takes, the need to meet curricular expectations, and how lessons have “always been done,” Mytko says. “Having a final project often lends itself to a very clear rubric and a very clear grading process,” she says. “That’s very important to teachers and classrooms and school systems, but often times can limit a teacher’s ability to pursue this organic learning environment and approach.”

“Authentic inquiry is a process where students are presented with or generate a situation or context, and then they build the problem. When students are presented with and generate the problem, the outcomes, and the tools to use to reach those outcomes, they often have a connection in a way that is authentic, and that they can feel ownership of.” -Denise Mytko

The educational system values concrete, measurable outcomes for teachers and their students, Zaharoff agrees. “A project that’s easy to complete and grade is not a copout for teachers,” she says. “It’s often required by the system they work in. It’s no small task to change the status quo. And to follow an inquiry-first approach, teachers will have to shift their class goals, their assessments, and their progress-monitoring tools, and use much more formative assessment types.”

Deep Content Knowledge
But these shifts are very worthwhile because authentic inquiry helps develop the kind of deep content knowledge that prepares students for high school, college and the workforce, making it a very important part of talent development, Mytko says. “When it’s done well … it teaches students and allows them to practice deep thought across disciplines,” she says. “Students develop habits of mind so that they’re familiar with authentic problem-solving.”

As such, they can draw upon their experiences in gathering information and bridging ideas in new and novel ways that are valued both academically and societally, Mytko says. “If a student is presented with a situation or a context, and they identify a problem—and then, with the help and scaffolding of their teachers, they start developing the answers to the problem, or even just understand every perspective in that problem—they naturally interrogate problems very deeply and from many perspectives,” she says.

In doing so, they will naturally bridge concepts not often connected in a traditional curriculum and come up with creative solutions, which Mytko considers the foundation of good work across all disciplines. “Those are things that students will use in school, but they’re things that are really important life skills,” she says. “And they’re life skills that can be expanded.”

Psychosocial Skills
In addition to the academic habits that help them move to and through the labor market, students develop important psychosocial skills like perseverance, intellectual risk-taking and comfort with ambiguity through the sustained inquiry found in problem-based learning, Mytko says. “It builds persistence and collaboration naturally,” she says. “It will also help students have an open mind to different kinds of topics.”

Students might come to CTD doing very well academically in science, yet through CTD’s inquiry-based approach, their minds become open to finding new topics and subjects to explore and learn more about, Mytko says. “It keeps them open to their peers,” she says. “These psychosocial skills are incredibly important. … All of us need to be able to ground ourselves in our own aptitudes, and then bring those aptitudes out into a changing world, effectively.”

While advanced learners may be cognitively advanced in certain domains, cultivating psychosocial skills allows them to apply that content in novel ways, Mytko says. “Which is incredibly important,” she says. “It always has been, but it is increasingly important right now. And this all goes back to those human work skills that help individuals thrive, not only in social situations but across specific academic and professional domains.”

“Students can have a multi-day, deeply challenging investigation into a math concept or principle and still practice multiplication facts,” she says. “There’s room for both. Also, there’s definitely ways to assess inquiry- and problem-based instruction, usually relying more heavily on formative assessment measures … keeping track of their progress while they’re learning.” -Sarah Zaharoff

‘Room for Both’
For parents and educators concerned about how students will demonstrate learning, particularly with regard to preparation for standardized tests, Zaharoff puts problem-based learning in the wider context of the overall day or week—noting that while it’s great to practice inquiry- or problem-based learning as much as possible, students will nonetheless spend parts of the time engaged in more traditional tasks.

“Students can have a multi-day, deeply challenging investigation into a math concept or principle and still practice multiplication facts,” she says. “There’s room for both. Also, there’s definitely ways to assess inquiry- and problem-based instruction, usually relying more heavily on formative assessment measures … keeping track of their progress while they’re learning.”

For example, Zaharoff says, in Civic Education Project camps at CTD, formative assessment methods include journals, teacher observations based on a rubric, and tools for evaluating collaboration and research steps. This summer, the Project will add new methods based on recent research out of Northwestern around how to analyze student communication and collaboration. “Because we want to capture the rich growth that students are having, in the moment, with practical tools,” she says.