INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING Meaning of Inquiry ¢ Learning is your way of obtaining knowledge about your surroundings. This takes place in many ways, and one of these is inquiry, which many people in the field of education consider effective. Inquiry is a learning process that motivates you to obtain knowledge or information about people, things, places, or events. You do this by investigating or asking questions about something you are inquisitive about. It requires you to collect data, meaning, facts, and information about the object of your inquiry, and examine such data carefully. In your analysis, you execute varied wer-order to higher-order thinking skills such thinking strategies that range from lo as inferential, critical, integrative, and creative thinking. These are top-level thinking discovering and understanding the object of strategies that you ought to perform in your inquiry. Engaging yourself in many ways of thinking, you come to conclude that inquiry is an active learning process. situation where you need to probe, investigate, or ask questions jutions to what you are worried or doubtful about, inquiry is a ue. Solving a problem by being inquisitive, you tend to act Tike stientiste who are inclined to think logically or systematically in seeking evidence to support their conclusions about something. Beginning with whatever experience or background knowledge you have, you proceed like scientists with your inquiry b imagining, speculating, interpreting, criticizing, and creating something out of wh y you discovered. what Putting you ina to find answers or sol problem-solving techniqInguiry elevates your thinking power. It makes you think in different ways, | You to arrive at a particular idea or understanding that will motivate to create something unique, new, or innovative for your personal growth as weil for the world. Inquisitive thinking allows you to shift from one level of thought ts another. It does not goin a linear fashion; rather, it operates in an interactive manner, Solving a problem, especially social issues, does not only involve yourself but other members of the society too. Hence, inquiry, as a problem-solving technique includes cooperative learning because any knowledge from members of the society can help to make the solution. Whatever knowledge you have about your world bears the influence of your cultural, sociological, institutional, or ideological understanding of the world. (Badke 2012) Governing Principles or Foundation of Inquiry Inquiry-based Learning gets its support from these three educational theories serving as its foundation: John Dewey's theory of connected experiences for exploratory and reflective thinking: Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) that stresses the essence of provocation and scaffolding in learning; and Jerome Bruner’s theory on learners’ varied world perceptions for their own interpretative thinking of people and things around them. Backed up by all these theories, inquiry, as ‘away of learning, concerns itself with these elements: changing knowledge, creativity, subjectivity, socio-cultural factors, sensory experience, and higher-order thinking strategies. All ofthese are achievable through the inquiry methods of fieldwork, case studies, investigations, individual group project, and research work. (Small 2012) Benefits of Inquiry:Based Learning In conclusion, you can say that Inquiry-based Learning gives you the following advantages: 1. Elevates interpretative thinking through graphic skills, Improves student learning abilities Widens learners’ vocabulary Facilitates problem-solving acts Increases social awareness and cultural knowledge Encourages cooperative learning , Provides mastery of procedural knowledge Encourages higher-order thinking strategies ._-Hastens conceptual understanding Educators, businessmen, and other professionals consider all these benefits of Inquiry-based Learning in various fields of knowledge to be crucial to the success of anyone in the 21st Century. Therefore, knowing the ins and outs of Inquiry-based Learning will greatly guide You in deciding which learning method wil succesful lnring n the [present world, which is tagged by many asthe Era of Globalization, Age of Knowledge Explosion, Age of Consumerism, Digital Age, Age of Instant World, eteae 10. + PRACTICA RESEARCH 1 DOING A RESEARCH IN COLLEGE Meaning of Research In college, you involve yourself in varied school activities such as academe contests, sports fess, elocution contest, music festivals, college week celebrationg ns exhibits, research work, debate competitions, and many more. All of these aciigat are aimed to let you develop a well-rounded personality. But one or two of them guse emphasis in honing a particular ability (e,making you excel in mathematcy, signee arts, music, and many more). One school activity that every college student has to excel in is research. Thisisa hallmark ofa university or college education, Your research abilities reflect the quality ‘of your school. Ifyou graduate from a school with superb knowledge of research work, ‘you can tell yourself that, “Iam a product of a quality college or university” Hence, the greatness of a higher education institution depends on how knowledgeable ite faculty and students are about the ins and outs of research; more so, on the application of this to their everyday life forthe progress of the whole world. What is research? A number of books on research define this term ways, but such varied definitions boil down to the whichis: in many primary meaning of this word, Research is a process of executing various mental acts for discovering and examining facts and information to prove the accuracy or truthfulness of your claims or conclusions about the topic of your research. Research requites you to inquire or investigate about your chosen research topic by asking questions that will -you engage yourself in top-level thinking strategies of interpreting, analyzing, izing, criticizing, appreciating, or creating to enable you to discover truthe the many things you tend to wonder about the topic of your research work 2013) Research is analogous to inquiry, in that, both involve investigation of something questioning. However, the meaning of research is more complicated than because it does not Senter mainly on raising questions about the topic, but r order of research stages. Each stage of the research process isnot an individual task beause the Knowlsige you cbeas tneugh eh Stage comes not only from yourself but other people as well Thus, similar to mquiry, research involves cooperative learning Central to research is your way of discovering new knowledge, applying knowledge in various ways as well as seeing relationships of ideas, events, and situations. Research then puts you in a context where a problem exists, You have to collect facts or information, study such data, and come’ up with a solution to the problem based on the results of your analysis tsa procesy rears st wen logically or systematically and collaboratively with others ‘To sum up your concepts about the nature of research, the following will give you the characteristics, purposes, classification, types of, and approaches (Baalke 2012; Silverman 2013; De Mey 2013)” YP** °F an approwChar 1 LUNITI — NATURE OF INQUIRY AND RESEARCH * 17 teristics of Research Accuracy, Itn Bive correct ot accurate data, which the footnotes, notes and bibliographical entries should honestly and appro mented Se ly and appropriately documented Objectiveness. It must deal with facts, not with mere facts, not with mere opinions arising from assumptions, generalizations, predictions, or conclusions. .: Timeliness. It must work on a topic that is fresh, new, and interesting to the present society. Relecance. Its topic must be instrumental in improving society or in solving problems affecting the lives of people in a community. Clarity It must succeed in expressing its central point or discoveries by using, simple, direct, concise, and correct language. Systematic, It must take place in an organized or orderly manner. Purposes of Research To learn how to work independently ‘To learn how to work scientifically or systematically ‘To have an in-depth knowledge of something, ‘Toclevate your mental abilities by letting you thinkin higher-order thinking strategies (HOTS) of inferring, evaluating, synthesizing, appreciating, applying, and creating ‘To improve your reading and writing skills ‘To be familiar with the basic tools of research and the various techniques of gathering data and of presenting research findings ‘To free yourself toa certain extent, from the domination or strong influence of a single textbook or of the professor's lone viewpoint or spoon feeding Types of Research 1 Based on Application of Research Method Is the research applied to theoretical or practical issues? If it deals with concepts, principles, or abstract things, itis a pure research. This type of re- search aims to increase your knowledge about something, However, if your intention is to apply your chosen research to societal problems or issues, finding ways to make positive changes in society, you call your research, ‘applied research Based on Purpose ofthe Research Depending on your objective or goal in conducting research, you do any of these types of research: descriptive, correl a exploratory, or action. Per ee eee—— ee rch aims at defining o 12 + PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1 Descriptive Research This type of" a. verbal portrayal or picture of « person, thing sven, group tte, This fs liable to repeated research because its topic relates itself ony to a certain period or a limited number of years. Based on the results of Mtudies about a subject, you develop the inclination of your descriptive conducting further studies ¢ arch A correlational re arch shows relationshi ips or connectedness of two factors, circumstances, 01 8 called variables that affect the research, It is only concerned in ing the existence of a relationship, not the causes and ways of the development of such relationship. Explanatory Research ~ This type of research elaborates or explains rot just the reasons behind the relationship of two factors, but aso the ways exists by which such re Exploratory Research ~ An exploratory research’s purpose is to find ‘out how reasonable or possible itis to conduct a research study on a certain topic. Here, you will discover ideas on topics that could trigger your interest in conducting research studies. Action Research ~This type of research stuclies an ongoing practice ofa school, organization, community, or institution for the purpose of obtaining results that will bring improvements in the system. 3. Based on Types of Data Needed ‘The kind of data you want to work on reflects whether you wish to do 4 quantitative or a qualitative research, Qualitative research requires non-numerical data, which means that the research uses words rather than numbers to express the results, the inquiry, or investigation about people's thoughts, beliefs, feelings, views, and lifestyles regarding the object of the study. These opinionated answers from people are not measurable; so, verbal language is the right way to express your findings in a qualitative research, Meanwhile, quantitative research involves measurement of data. Thus, it presents research findings referring to the number ot frequency of something in numerical forms (ie, using percentages, fractions, numbers). The data you deal with in research are either primary or secondary data. Primary data are obtained through direct ees teee ‘or contact with people, objects, artifacts, paintings, etc, Primary data.are new and information resulting from your sensory experience. However, if such data have already been written about or reported on and are available for reading purposes, they exist as secondary data, 3UNIT! ~ NATURE OF INQUIRY AND RESEARCH * 13 Approaches to Research After choosing your topic for research, what is your next move? In other word: how are you going to approach or begin your research, deal with sone ihe establish a connection among all things or activities involved in your research? 7 are three approaches that you can choose from. There The first is the scientific or positive approach, in which you discover and measure information as well as observe and control variables in’an impersonal manner It allows control of variables. Therefore, the data gatherin, 1g techniques appropriate for this approach are structured interviews, questionnaires, and observational checklists. Data given by these techniques are expressed through numbers, which means that this method is suitable for quantitative research. The second approach is the naturalistic approach. In contrast to the scientific approach that uses numbers to express data, the naturalistic approach uses words. This research approach directs you to deal with qualitative data that speak of how people behave toward their surroundings. These are non-numerical data that express truths about the way people perceive or understand the world. Since people look at their world in a subjective or personal basis in an uncontrolled or unstructured manner, a naturalistic approach happens in a natural setting. Is it possible to plan your research activities based on these two approaches? Combining these two approaches in designing your research leads you to the third one, called triangulation approach. In this case, you are free to gather and analyze data using multiple methods, allowing you to combine or mix up research approaches, research types, data gathering, and data analysis techniques. Triangulation approach gives you the opportunity to view every angle of the research from different perspectives. (Badke 2012; Silverman 2013)Unit pil Introduction Around you are different ent people, things, and places, another as regards character or qualien, Cstous about a poor ana Rego inclined to conduct a qualitative research to: discover sich indinaast eee pine to cnt a qualia recrch to dicover such nia ho ings and attitudes about certain op or tofindoutsomethigtenesthe sae of an inanimate thing or the effects of such object or place to some people. To discover facts and information about the object of your interest is to work collaboratively with some people, for the answers to your questions about your topic do not come only fom Yourself but fom others as wel Heres the importance of qualitative esearch it promotes people's interdependence or interpersonal relationships that the worl. needs for solving its societal problems. a vs 2 LESSON3 Qualitative Research Intended Learning Outcomes After this lesson, you should be able to: 1. analyze the use of an unfamiliar term in a sentence to know its meaning; 2. obtain a thorough or in-depth knowledge of qualitative research; 3, clarify your understanding of qualitative research; 4. _ explain the elements or characteristics of qualitative research; 5, justify the usefulness of qualitative research; 6 compare and contrast the types of qualitative research, and 7, match a given research topic with the right research type- Connecting Concepts Linking Old and New Knowledge a ee Ketivity 1: Making Words Meaningful fer the following words in the tes from now. Recall whatever Directions: INDIVIDUAL WORK. You will encount ‘meanings. Get clues also tions: Nation that you will ead «few mina read edge yourhave abouttnem foknow thelr From how they were used in the sentences20 * PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1 1. Premium —Which must you put a premium on. good reputation or materia | wealth? es 2. Emanating - Feelings that are emanating from the orphan reflect his soci) | indifference. Constantly - Pray constantly as fit was an act of breathing and eating Fixated ~ Don’t allow yourself tobe fixated on such Tine of thinking, ‘Abound = Cultivate an area abound with earthworms for hamburger production Vision —He has vision in life that makes him see himself sitting ina palace. Gear — To whom will he gear such ironical line, to Brutus or Augustus Cacsa Yield — Watering it daily will make that tree yield fruits Diverse — You may choose one from those diverse Chinese products. 10. Indispensable ~ In general, rice is indispensable to Filipinos like pizza is to Italians ‘Retivity 2: Using the Newly Learned Words Directions: GROUP WORK. Form a triad. Exchange ideas with one another about the hottest issue in town. Use the newly learned words in your conversation. Stirring Up Imagination BRAINSTORMING SESSION Directions: How knowledgeable are you about your surroundings? How can you know more about people, places, and things in this world? Share with your classmates some ways and techniques you know about becoming knowledgeable about a lot of things in this world such as those within your own world, among your friends, schoolmates, loved ones, and so on. | What do you know about qualitative research as a method of understanding your surroundings better? Discovering More Concepts Read this text to find out more about qualitative research, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Definition of Qualitative Research ‘Asa curious student, you want to know so many things about your surroundings _as well as the people, places, and things you find interesting, intriguing, mysterious,QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND ITS MIPORTANCE IN OALY URE * 24 or unique, Try looking at the people around you. Pethaps, you are interested in knowing these people's ideas, views, feelings, atitudes, or lifestyle, The information these people give you reflect their mental, spiritual, emotional, or socal upbringing, which in turn, show how they view the wort Resulting from internal aspects, people cannot measure worldviews but ean know them through numbers. Obtaining world knowledge in this manner directs you todoa research called Qualitative Research, This isa research type that puts premium or high value on people's thinking or point of view conditioned by their personal traits. As such, it usually takes place in soft sciences like social sciences, politics, economics, humanities, education, psychology, nursing, and all business-related subjects. Subjectivity in qualitative research is true, not only for an individual or a group under study, but also for you, the researcher, because of your personal involvement in every stage of your research, For instance, during interviews, you tend to admire or appreciate people's ideas based on their answers or your observations and analysis of certain objects. By carefully looking ator listening tothe subject or object in a natural setting, you become affected by their expressions of what they think and feel about a topic. (Coghan 2014) In a qualitative research, the reality is conditioned by society and people's intentions are involved in explaining cause-effect relationships. Things are studied in their natural setting, enough for you to conclude that qualitative research is an act of inquiry or investigation of real-life events. Giving you more concepts about a «qualitative research are the following paragraphs that comprehensively present the ‘elements or characteristics, types, and advantages of this kind of research (Silverman 2013; Litchman 2013; Walliman 2014; Suter 2012): Characteristics of a Qualitative Research 1. Human understanding and interpretation Data analysis results show an individual's mental, social, and spiritual understanding of the world. Hence, through their worldviews, you come to know what kind of human being he or she is, including his or her values, beliefs, likes, and dislikes, 2. Active, powerful, and forceful A lot of changes occur continuously in every stage of a qualitative research. As you go through the research process, you find the need te amend or rephrase interview questions and consider varied ways of answers, like shifting from mere speculating to traveling to places fer dane fathering You are not fixated to a certain plan, Rather, you are inclined to discover your qualitative research design as your study gradually unfolds ‘ot reveals itself in accordance with your research objectives. 3. Multiple research approaches and methods Qualitative research allows you to approach study gare az fre to combine this with aeanindye ramen ara h 1 apple’ as techniques. Being a mult-method research 4 qualitative study applies to all types: descripti explanatory case study ete Seah Pave. explortiory,22 * QUALITATIVE RESEARC 4. Specificity to generalization arch are directed to a general Specific ideas in a qualitative rese lirected to a understanding of something It follows an inductive oF scenic metho of thinking, where you start thinking of particular or specific concept that will eventually lead you to more complex ideas stich a8 generalizations or conclusions, A qualitative researcher prefers collecting data in a natural setting like cbserving people as they live and work, analyzing photographs or videos as they genuinely appear to people, and looking at classrooms unchanged or adjusted to people's intentional observations. 7. Abounds with words and visuals Words, words, and more words come in big quantity in this kind of research. Data gathering through interviews or library reading, as well as the presentation of data analysis results, is done verbally. In some cases, it resorts to quoting some respondents’ answers. Likewise, presenting people's world views through visual presentation (.e., pictures, videos, drawings, and graphs) are significantly used in a qualitative research, 8. Internal analysis Here, you examine the data yielded by the internal traits of the subject individuals (ie. emotional, mental, spiritual characteristics). You people's perception or views about your topic, not the effects oftheir physical existence on your study. In case of objects (e.g, books and artworks) that are subjected to a qualitative research, the investigation centers on underlying theories or principles that govern these materials and their usefulness © people. Types of Qualitative Research 1. Case Study This type of qualitative research usually takes place in the field of social care, nursing, psychology tion centers, education, et-VE RESEARCH AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN DALY LE * 23 such as interviews, ques iews, questionnaires, such sae es om vations, and documentary analysis Ethnography Falling in the field of anth e anthropology, ethnography is the study of a Particular cultural group to get a clear understanding of is organies dort setup intemal operation, and lifestyle. A particular group reveals the nature or characteristics of their own culture through the world perceptions of the cultural group’s members, Phenomenology Coming from the word “phenomenon,” which means something known through sensory experience, phenomenology refers to the study of how people find their experiences meaningful. Its primary goal is to make people understand their experiences about death of loved ones, care for handicapped persons, friendliness of people, etc. In doing, so, other people will ikewise understand the meanings attached to their experiences. Those engaged in assisting people to manage their own lives properly often do this qualitative kind of research, Content and Discourse Analysis Content analysis is a method of quantitative research that requires an analysis or examination of the substance or content of the mode of communication (letters, books, journals, photos, video recordings, SMS, online messages, emails, audio-visual materials, etc.) used by a person, group, organization, or any institution in communicating. A study of language structures used in the medium of communication to discover the effects of sociological, cultural, institutional, and ideological factors on the content makes it a discourse analysis. In studying the content or structures of the material, you need a question or a set of questions to guide you in your analysis. Historical Analysis Central to this qualitative research method is the examination of primary documents to make you understand the connection of past events to the present time, The results of your content analysis will help you specify phenomenological changes in unchanged aspects of society through the years, Grounded Theory Grounded theory takes place when you discover a new theory to underlie your study atthe time of data collection and analysis, Through Your observation on your subjects, you will happen to find a theory that applies to your current study. Interview, observation, and documentary analysis are the data gathering techniques for this type of qualitative research,UNIT QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND ITS IMPORTANCE INDALY LIFE * 23 such as interviews, questionnaires, observations, and documentary analysis are used in a case study e per Ethnography Falling in the field of anthropology, ethnography is the study of a particular cultural group to get a clear understanding, of its organizational set-up, internal operation, and lifestyle. A particular group reveals the nature ot characteristics of their own culture through the world perceptions of the cultural group's members, Phenomenolog. Coming from the word “phenomenon,” which means something known through sensory experience, phenomenology refers to the study of hhow people find their experiences meaningful. Its primary goal is to make people understand their experiences about death of loved ones, care for handicapped persons, friendliness of people, etc. In doing so, other people will likewise understand the meanings attached to their experiences. Those ‘engaged in assisting people to manage their own lives properly often do this qualitative kind of research, Content and Discourse Analysis Content analysis is a method of quantitative research that requires {an analysis or examination of the substance or content of the mode of communication (letters, books, journals, photos, video recordings, SMS, ‘online messages, emails, audio-visual materials, etc.) used by a person, group, organization, or any institution in communicating. A study of language structures used in the medium of communication to discover the effects of sociological, cultural, institutional, and ideological factors on the content makes ita discourse analysis. In studying the content or structures of the material, you need a question or a set of questions to guide you in your analysis. Historical Analysis Central to this qualitative research method is the examination of Primary documents to make you understand the connection of past events ‘o the present time. The results of your content analysis will help you specify Phenomenological changes in unchanged aspects of society through the years. Grounded Theory Grounded theory takes place when you discover a new theory to {nderlie your study at the time of data collection and analysis. Through Zour observation on your subjects, you will happen to find a theory that @PPlies to your current study, Interview, observation, and document al eae result are the data gathering techniques for this type of qualitativefe | 4 24. * PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1 Advantages or Strengths of Qualitative Research 1, It adopts a naturalistic approach to its subject matter, which means that those involve in the research understand things based on what they find meaningful. 2. It promotes a full understanding of human behavior or personality traits in their natural setting. 3. _ It is instrumental for positive societal changes. 4. Itengenders respect for people's individuality as it demands the researcher's careful and attentive stand toward people’s world views. 5. _ It isa way of understanding and interpreting social interactions. 6. _ Itincreases the researcher’ interest in the study as it includes the researchers experience or background knowledge in interpreting verbal and visual data. 7. It offers multiple ways of acquiring and examining knowledge about something. Disadvantages or Weaknesses of Qualitative Research 1. It involves a lot of researcher's subjectivity in data analysis. 2. It is hard to know the validity or reliability of the data. 3. Its open-ended questions yield “data overload” that requires long-time analysis. 4. Itis time-consuming. | 5. _ Itinvolves several processes, which results greatly depend on the researcher's views or interpretations,