Constructing the Inquiry Processing Cycle: Preparing Prospective Teacher Candidates for Success With Constructivist Practices

• In Event: Teachers' Training, Practice, and Research

Abstract

The Boyer Commission (1999) asserted that inquiry-based learning is the foundation for an “Academic Bill of Rights” (p. 12). While inquiry pedagogies are emphasized in teacher education programs, many prospective teacher candidates have limited experience with inquiry as a constructivist practice. Using case study method, this study examines the effects and perceptions about an inquiry project among a cohort of 104 first-year undergraduates (n=104) who are aspiring to become teachers. The inquiry project had positive effects on participants’ understanding of: 1) educational issues, 2) the inquiry process, and 3) a future in teaching. These findings are analyzed through the lens of Knowledge Building Theory (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006) to construct an inquiry-based learning conceptual model named the Inquiry Processing Cycle.

Authors

• Erik Jon Byker, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Heather Marie Coffey, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Amy J. Good, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Tina Lane Heafner, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Susan Harden, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Christopher P. O'Brien, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Katherine Elizabeth Brown, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Debbie Gordon Holzberg, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Brian Williams, University of North Carolina - Charlotte