T5 Program Inquiry Based Teaching Rob Schadt Jim Wolff Srikrishna S. Ramachandra June 3, 2008 Rob Schadt Jim Wolff Srikrishna S. Ramachandra June 3, 2008

Advantages of Discussion Based Teaching Context and authenticity Focus on real, professional issues Lends itself naturally to discourse and debate Promotes deep learning Promotes complex skill set development

Disadvantages of Discussion Based Teaching Take time to prepare Less effective in communicating facts and theories Limits coverage of course content Require participation Requires skillful classroom management

Teaching with Your Mouth Shut “ Because I organized the course as an inquiry, I freed my self from the restricting restraints of coverage...The course title implied a question, not an amount of territory, and I taught the course as a means of pursuing the question. With a good question like this one I could never run out of pertinent material; there was thus no hope in covering it all.

All I could do was examine enough material to stimulate a good inquiry. But the point of examining material had now shifted. It was not to gain familiarity or knowledge of it; it was to use it to attack an interesting problem.” (p.69) Teaching with Your Mouth Shut

Preparing Good Case Questions What is the purpose, goal, or point? What is the problem or issue being solved or described? On what data or evidence is the decision / definition / problem based? What inferences are being made from what kind of data, and are these inferences legitimate? What is the solution, outcome, or resolution of the problem or issue?

Preparing Good Case Questions What are the short-term and long-term implications of the solution? What are the biases or assumptions behind the inferences, selection or collection of data, or framing of the problem / experiment? What are the basic concepts or terms being used? How do these definitions affect the framing / understanding of the problem? What point of view is being expressed? How would someone from a related but different discipline look at the problem / solution / issue,

Leading Effective Discussions Preparation Motivation Absence of fear

Developing Probing Questions “Let me see if I understand you…. Do you mean ____or_____?” “Would you say more about that?” “Would this be an example….?” Clarification

Developing Probing Questions “What is Jenny assuming?...” “What could we assume instead?” “Is that always the case….?” Assumptions

Developing Probing Questions “What would be an example….?” “What would change your mind?” “Who is in a position to know that that is true?” “What evidence can support that view?” Reasons and Evidence

Developing Probing Questions “But if that happened what else would happen as a result?” “What is an alternative?” Viewpoints/perspectives

Developing Probing Questions “How can we find out?” “To answer this question what other questions do we need to answer first?” “Why is this issue important?” Implications/consequences