ASSIGNMENTS: |
| Getting Started
in the InquiryWorks! NetCourse |
Introduction
TO DO Checklist
__ Print this page!Access your Cohort's Discussion Area
__ Explore how it works.
__ Email your moderator.
__ Visit the PHP FAQ page. Readings
__ Read McDermott.
__ Read InquiryWorks! Voices
and print out Roles. Hands On
__ Take the Poll.
__ Post an Introduction to yourself.
__ Comment on McDermott
and InquiryWorks! Voices.
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Access your Discussion
Area
You received a USERNAME and
PASSWORD from the InquiryWorks! Registration page. Let's
confirm that they work.
- First, access the Discussion Area for your cohort. To do
this, click on the link below. Once you get to
YOUR discussion area, add it to your personal
"Bookmarks" (Netscape) or "Favorites" (Internet Explorer) for future
use. Here's the
link to the InquiryWorks! Discussion Areas.
- When you get in your discussion area, try out the tools for
navigating a threaded discussion:
- Observe the outline structure of the threaded discussion format;
- Click on a blue triangle to see how you can show more replies to
just one topic at a time. This will be quite helpful as discussions
grow;
- If you want to know more about our PHP threaded discussion
areas, visit the PHP FAQ
page, but come right back to this Introduction. There's more to
do!
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- Look for the Mail Your Moderator thread in the discussion
area and send him or her a note. Your moderator will be with you
throughout the course.
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Navigating
InquiryWorks!
As you move through the InquiryWorks! course, you will find that InquiryWorks! web pages
have a certain look and feel. While you may eventually learn all the "tricks"
for navigating through the course quickly, a visit to our guide, Navigating the Pages of InquiryWorks! , can provide further
information.
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| Readings |
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Go to and read How we teach and how students learn - A mismatch?
by Lillian C. McDermott. - Also, read an online introduction to the course called InquiryWorks! Voices.
Click on the link below to access that reading. When you click on that
link, a new window will appear on your screen. Move it over to see these
directions again. Go to InquiryWorks! Voices.
You will be asked to
comment on your reading in the Hands-On assignments below. |
| Hands-On |
Take a Poll
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- Inquiry is the centerpiece of new educational standards.
Click on the link at the end of these directions to participate in a
quick poll of all Inquirers. Let's see where we stand in the world of
inquiry-based learning. Comment on the results in your discussion area
in the Poll Summary thread. Here's the link!
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Post to the Discussion Area
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- Write an introduction of yourself for the group, using word
processing. You can copy and paste your introduction from your word
processing document into a reply to the Let's Introduce
Ourselves! thread in the discussion area.
- Comment on the How we teach and how students learn - A mismatch? reading by replying to the discussion
thread called Teaching and Learning Mismatch.
Lillian McDermott's article
details improving the match between teaching and learning by focusing greater attention on the student,
both in understanding the student's models and providing a rich environment for inquiry.
Read the postings of others and choose one or two issues on which to comment.
Some suggestions for jumping-off points are: |
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- What features of teaching and learning are evident in
inquiry-based learning? What role does the textbook play in each one?
- What was the time commitment for using these strategies? What type
of schedule structure makes sense for your school setting, if you were
to build in more inquiry? What do you see are the benefits and drawbacks
of using more time as Lillian suggests to cover less concepts?
- How might an administrator support the kinds of teaching described
in this article?
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- InquiryWorks! Voices gave some insights into inquiry in the
classroom. Chat with colleagues. Do they do inquiry teaching? What value
do teachers at your site see in it? Post a short note to the InquiryWorks! Voices thread.
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