The paired readings, titled “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching” and “A Review of Research on Inquiry-Based and Cooperative Learning” could not have been better timed for my teaching practice and reflection.
The last three weeks I worked with my grade eight English Language Arts class on a Food Truck Project, which I now recognize as being in the “design-based lessons” described in the article, “A Review of Research on Inquiry-Based and Cooperative Learning.” The project was called “Food Truck Creation.” I will come back to this topic. First, let me reflect on the readings.
The general point made in “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work” is that inquiry-based learning can be detrimental to learning if not applied correctly. The stress placed on the working memory to problem solve can become too great during inquiry-based instruction, which can lead to cognitive overload, subsequent frustration, misconceptions, lack of knowledge retention or long-term memory acquisition. Fundamentally, the article argues and advocates for guided instruction during inquiry and process support for students as they move through their inquiry. The research on cognitive load theory suggests, “guided instruction not only produced more immediate recall of facts than unguided approaches, but also longer term transfer and problem-solving skills.” (Kirschner et al., 2006, p. 80)
“Furthermore, that working memory load does not contribute to the accumulation of knowledge in long-term memory because while working memory is being used to search for problem solutions, it is not available and cannot be used to learn.”
(Kirschner et al., 2006, p. 77)
Kirschner and others makes a strong claim – a skill I work diligently on with my language arts students while creating their own thesis in papers – and they have a strong criticism not against inquiry-based learning, but the method to achieving success in it. The paper suggests guided instruction is fundamental to inquiry-based learning, and two major ways to provide adequate guided instruction are by providing examples, and process worksheets.
“Such worksheets provide a description of the phases one should go through when solving the problem as well as hints or rules of thumb that may help to successfully complete each phase. Students can consult the process worksheet while they are working on the learning tasks and they may use it to note intermediate results of the problem-solving process.”
Now I can circle back to my original point about my student’s projects the last eight weeks. I LOVED this project. My students worked step-by-step to engage in a collaborative, group approach that I now recognize as “Design-based lessons.”
The process of the Food Truck Project was broken down into manageable segments, with graphic organizers to assist each step and facilitate individual roles within the groups. As Baron suggests, students thrive when roles are designated,“ …roles are assigned to support equal participation, such as recorder, reporter, materials manager, resource manager, communication facilitator, and harmonizer.” (Barron, p. 11) I cannot take credit for this masterpiece, it was a unit plan that was purchased online, but this also speaks to open education and the benefits of sharing teacher resources openly.
“A third genre of instructional approaches is based on the premise that children learn deeply when they are asked to design and create an artifact that requires understanding and application of knowledge. Design-based lessons have several features that make them ideal for developing technical and subject matter knowledge (Newstetter, 2000). For example, design activity supports revisions and iterative activity as students create, assess, and redesign their work product. The complexity of the work often dictates the need for collaboration and specific roles for different students, providing them with the opportunity to become “experts” in a particular area.”
(Barron, p. 7)
Why do I feel so passionately about sharing this process? Well, it’s three-fold. Firstly, I’m excited to learn that it falls under the concept of “design-based lesson” described in the article assigned in this week’s readings. Secondly, the project serves to validate the concerns brought up in the research paper about minimal instruction during instruction being a flawed part of potential inquiry-based activities. Thirdly, the project required students to share their final product in a public exhibition, which appeals to ideals set about by Barron and by Wagner and Dintersmith, earlier in previous weeks (and last year’s) required viewings in our course, in the “Most Likely to Succeed” documentary.
I advocate for students to have public exhibition of their work. I believe it accurately reflects skills that they will need to acquire in the workforce, such as:
Scheduling their work to be complete for a certain time frame (They had a certain number of days to complete each task)
Learn to contribute to a group in a specific way
Learn conflict resolution skills
Go back to a step if they needed to, an example is if they lost a part of their measurement for cutting their cardboard cut outs to make their mini-food trucks
Prepare talking points for the viewers
Reflect on their project in a critical way, ie. one student reflected they could have “done a better job on the edges of their food truck”. Another reflected that they should have used their time better
Take feedback from viewers, both constructive and positive ie. spelling errors in their work, and acknowledging how “cool” their lifted food truck was
“There are many ways in which performance assessments contribute to learning. For example, exhibitions, projects, and portfolios provide multiple occasions for review and revision toward a polished performance. These opportunities help students examine both how they learn and how to improve their performance. Students are often expected to present their work to an audience, such as groups of faculty, visitors, parents, or other students, to ensure that their mastery is genuine. These public presentations signal to students that their work is valued and reinforce the significance of their tasks in a real-world context.”
(Barron, p. 4)
I watched as my students thrived in the organized and structured lessons. Here are some noticeable aspects of the project:
Every single student in my class had something to show on our “Food Truck Festival Day”. There was variance in project-completion, or “process-completion” as I call it, but ultimately, everyone had completed something that they could exhibit.
Students who struggled with collaboration learned something from previous group projects and applied it to this activity. In one case, a student chose to work alone rather than in a group – though this might seem like a ‘loss’ of collaboration, my observations suggest this particular student actually played a fundamental leadership role for other groups and helped them to navigate problems.
My students exceeded my expectations with what they were capable of, and I attribute this to the open-ness of inquiry-based learning.
“To develop these higher-order skills, students need to take part in complex, meaningful projects that require sustained engagement, collaboration, research, management of resources, and the development of an ambitious performance or product.”
In addition to the success of the process worksheets, this unit also aligns with the assessment practices outlined by Barron. Checklists and rubrics were provided for students in a formative, ongoing way through this project and it lent itself well to growth and student reflection. Barron outlines three key characteristics of assessment systems that support inquiry approaches:
“1. Intellectually ambitious performance assessments that enable students to learn and apply desired concepts and skills in authentic and disciplined ways.
2. Evaluation tools, such as assignment guidelines and rubrics, which define what constitutes good work and effective collaboration.
3. Formative assessments to guide feedback to students and to shape their instructional decisions throughout a unit.” (Barron, p. 4)
Am I suggesting I am the BEST TEACHER EVER and I should just quit now while I’m ahead? No. Reflecting on the readings this week, I can recognize countless times where I got it wrong and did not provide adequate support to students through their inquiries. I can think of three or four projects I’ve done this year where I had to scaffold in the moment, back track, or guide more because I did not structure the unit well enough.
But I will celebrate the wins, donut underestimate the power of guided inquiry. 😉
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