Students and Teachers Inquiring in Tandem: Relationships and Complexities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Uptake and Impact of Inquiry- and Project-Based Learning

Abstract

This paper explores professional development in tandem: the use of inquiry as both a professional learning vehicle for teachers and a pedagogical tool for students. The paper reviews nine years of professional development with secondary teachers in a variety of content areas. The authors examine how experience with teacher inquiry impacts the use and quality of student inquiry, using frameworks developed from the literature and the work. The study found that the relationship of student and teacher inquiry was less linear and more dynamic and dependent on a range of contextual factors. One key factor was the teachers’ knowledge and skill with using assessment.

Authors

• James F. Kilbane, Cleveland State University

• Christine D. Clayton, Pace University