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Inquiry-based Teaching Strategy to Promote Student Engagement

Mandy D. Montoya

Department of Education, Vanguard University of Southern California

EDUC-315: Teaching in a Multicultural Setting

Dr. Alex Lin

May 5, 2022
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There are numerous teaching strategies that have been employed in the classroom for

centuries, but not all teaching strategies are created equal. With each generation of learners, there

are more and more teaching strategies being created to fit the specific needs of the students. In

this essay, I will be discussing inquiry-based teaching and specific examples teachers can do in

the classroom to promote learner engagement. Inquiry-based teaching is a student-centric method

of instruction where students ponder, explore, and enhance their problem-solving skills to come

to a conclusion in their own way. I believe inquiry-based learning is a great way to sharpen

childrens’ minds and engage them in their learning process.

The roots of inquiry-based teaching are in triggering curiosity. It is all about making your

students so excited about a topic that they cannot wait to hear more. When students are ‘hooked’

on the subject that you are introducing, teaching the rest of the lesson becomes very easy.

Inquiry-based teaching is a path to learner engagement because it puts the role of learning more

heavily on the student- it is up to them what they want to know. A similar topic that relates to

inquiry-based teaching is called divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is defined as “the process

of creating multiple, unique ideas or solutions to a problem that you are trying to solve” (What is

Divergent Thinking? Definition and Implementation). This goes hand in hand with inquiry-based

learning because it allows all students to share the method of reasoning that worked best for

them. This is a newer teaching strategy because when I was in elementary school, I was taught

that there was one correct way to solve a given math problem; every child learned and

memorized the exact way that was presented to us. Recently, however, there are group activities

that take place in classrooms designed solely to hear how each individual student solves a math

problem in their own way. This is brilliant because it allows children to exercise their problem-

solving skills and apply them to harder problems.

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For the grade level that I would like to teach, 3rd grade, there are a number of ways that

teachers can put inquiry-based learning to practice. The first of these strategies is very simple:

give adequate thinking time. One of the most important things to realize as a teacher is that there

is a ‘turn-around’ time. This is the time it takes for the lecture you just presented, or the exciting

question you asked the class to process in their brains. A lot of the time teachers are asking very

thought-provoking questions; we are presenting students with information they have never

learned before. It must be remembered that while we have already learned and studied the

material we are sharing, it is our class’s first time hearing it. Some things that seem blasé to us

because it is our millionth time teaching the subject are profound revelations to our students!

Consequently, we cannot mistake the brief silence in response to our questions as disengagement

or indifference- rather, our students are just soaking up the information we have just given them

and forming their answers.

Three practices that teachers can use to make sure they are allowing for adequate thinking

time are: increasing wait time, making students write down their ideas, and having students share

their thoughts with their neighbor (Tanner et al.). In my experience, I have a professor who only

gives us around two seconds to respond to his questions. Consequently, his questions frequently

go unanswered and the class is encouraged to stay non-responsive. I really want to speak up, but

my thoughts have not had enough time to formulate. To combat this, teachers can count in their

heads “one thousand one…one thousand two…” to ensure they are not rushing the class. It is

difficult to wait because the silence is awkward, but it is necessary in order to have students

share. Another way to encourage student response is to force them to write out two or three

ideas, findings, or opinions they have on the material. Then when you ask your class to share, the

students have had time to process their answers and write out any questions or concerns that
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might have come up. Lastly, having students think and share their answers with their neighbor

gives them a chance to hear other perspectives and use their peers almost like a soundboard to

solidify their ideas and thoughts. From here, teachers can decide if they want students to share

what they each discussed or if talking with a partner was sufficient.

Secondly, allow students to develop questions they are curious about and are excited to

answer. This will increase participation because students are thinking about things they truly

want to learn. Then, give students time to research their questions in class! Let them spearhead

the research process, after explaining to them how to use search engines and how to phrase what

to put into the search engines. Letting students do research during class time gives them the

opportunity to ask you, the teacher, questions to understand how to research properly (Wolpert-

Gawron, 2016). The teacher can model ways to properly research and guide students in the

correct way!

Lastly, have students present the information they found from their research. This is the

last step in the research process. When students summarize and share their findings, the teacher

is able to determine if the process was a success or not. Not only do the students have to

understand the search results that came up, but they have to be able to communicate well with

the rest of the class (Wolpert-Gawron, 2016). Doing research projects in the classroom leaves

students no choice but to be engaged because it is such a hands-on activity.

In conclusion, inquiry-based teaching strategies are significant in challenging the

problem-solving portion of students’ brains. It activates their curiosity and sparks a wonder in

their minds to know more about a topic. Inquiry-based teaching paired with the research process

equips students with the tools they will need to search for and evaluate information that comes

their way. This is a skill they will need throughout their entire lifetime! The earlier we introduce
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students to the inquiry-based teaching strategy, the more practice they can have hunting and

assessing reliable information. It all starts in elementary school with trying new ways to get

students engaged.

References
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Tanner, Kimberly D., et al. “Structure Matters: Twenty-One Teaching Strategies to Promote

Student Engagement and Cultivate Classroom Equity.” CBE-Life Sciences Education,

American Society for Cell Biology, 13 Oct. 2017,

https://www.lifescied.org/doi/full/10.1187/cbe.13-06-0115.

“What Is Divergent Thinking? Definition and Implementation.” What Is Divergent Thinking?

Definition and Implementation, AirFocus, https://airfocus.com/glossary/what-is-divergent-

thinking/.

Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2016, August 11). What the heck is inquiry-based learning? Edutopia.

Retrieved May 5, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-heck-inquiry-based-

learning-heather-wolpert-gawron