Activitymania

In this article, the chart really helped me to see a clear comparison of activity-based science instruction and inquiry-based science. I was able to see Teacher Prep, Assessment, Student Involvement, etc. side by side. In some ways it made inquiry seem overwhelming (obviously) for me as a first-year teacher (long preparation, major flexibility, no deadline)


I do appreciate that the article gives teachers permission to start modifying activities to be more inquiry-based. However, I feel like this is an article that tells you WHY, not HOW. Ok, I'm a believer! But tell me HOW to modify activities to be more inquiry style. Because frankly, I'm not ready for pure inquiry!

I suppose a good middle ground would be to guide  the students in a discussion, and then ask them how we should test it. If they don't have much experience with inquiry, or just want to have a free period, I might have to insist that we are going to test our hypotheses, but I am going to let them choose how. Like the article said though, that only allows for general planning; I might have to run out and buy all sorts of odd materials for their experiment. (Or better yet, "What can we use that we already have at our homes to test our hypotheses?")
Then, when we do an activity it was more student-planned and hopefully more exciting for them since they got to design the activity.

Oh but I do love planning. And organization. And control.