After a few weeks of researching, pondering and planning, I was able to share my inquiry with my classmates and faculty at a Living Inquiry Session. Below is the poster that I created to share with my peers to highlight the key points of my inquiry.
Feedback on my inquiry:
The feedback I received was mostly positive. Everyone thought that this was an important topic to research as many of my peers had similar experiences of not learning these skills in their education. One of the main weaknesses that arose was that my inquiry was very research focused – I had turned my research mind on rather than my inquiring mind. I knew that due to ethical considerations, I cannot collect any data to analyze, but that is something I am very interested in pursuing. This experience has made me realize that educational research is going to be in my future as I am really passionate about it!
Relating to my actual inquiry, the main feedback I received was on how I could implement reflections. The Science Reflection Journals that I had read about in the literature were great at guiding students on what to reflect, but limited choice as they were formatted as single “fill in the blank” worksheets. The evaluator suggested that I give the option of online reflections such as blogs or visual journals. They also suggested that I show my students primary source examples of field journals to show students that scientists also reflect on their process of learning, discovery and growth.
The evaluator also suggested that I introduce online resources for students to use as study strategies. They suggest apps like ShowMe and Paper 53, both which give students the ability to create their own space for showing their knowledge. I would need to look into the apps more, but I was excited to learn about resources for students.
I wanted feedback on how I should implement these skills into the classroom. I had three main ideas: in a lecture, in assignments, or as workshops. The feedback from my peers supported the first two ideas as I have limited time with the students, and long term incorporation will help students understand these strategies more and will hopefully turn them into habit for the students. In my unit and lesson plans, I hope to incorporate these skills in as many classes as possible, without overwhelming the students with study strategies. I don’t want students to feel that the purpose of these is that we are working towards a test; I want to teach them that by incorporating these strategies into our routine, we can focus more on meaningful learning that will prepare them better for a test later!