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Teaching by Inquiry has a special place in the teaching and learning of Science. While it is no longer the new shiny fad train to jump on, its principles and practice has been widely incorporated into the mainstay of science T&L all over Singapore schools.

If you google 'types of inquiry' you would quickly get a summary of the forms of inquiry:

confirmation inquiry

structured inquiry

guided inquiry

open inquiry

These are variations of inquiry on the 'student agency' axes, with increasing amounts of agency and freedom to the students.

Does it mean that to have open inquiry is better than structured or guided inquiry? Given our logical constrains of time and the clearly drawn lines of our syllabus it may not be so.

What I do find that this framework often distracts educators for the more important discussion and considerations. What is this Inquiry Learning Experience meant to achieve?

Let me share a useful way of thinking LEs that I stole from Physics by Modelling (also called Modelling Theory and Modelling Instruction).

The modeling theory of instruction is centered on the idea that physicists reason from mental constructs known as models.

As educators of science our purpose than is not just to deliver content nor concepts piecemeal but to help our student develop a correctly functioning mental model (which can then be generalized and presented in many forms) .

In other words, Inquiry Learning Experiences can be thought of as to serve 2 purposes:

1. The development / construction of the model.

2. The deployment / refinement (testing and correction) of the model.

Of the various pedagogical strategies, inquiry techniques (in particular structured and guided inquiry) are particularly efficient in model development as shown by research.

In 2023, The Physics Team attended a workshop on Inquiry and one beautiful nugget of wisdom was this:

The key of Inquiry Based Learning is that student's must do the pattern finding.

This, of course begs the question:

'What is this model we are suppose to develop?'

To be continued...

-Tat Siang

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Seated. Alert. Focused. Engaged.

While many teachers can at least get the S part right, AFE is not so easy. Personally, I take a radically different approach. In every class I teach, I dare my students to sleep in the class, I tell them, I welcome them to sleep, because sleeping is important feedback to me--it tells me, "Teacher, your lesson is unengaging, could you please improve on it!"

How do I come to this conclusion that sleeping in class is not a form of disrespect and instead a form of feedback? 🤔

1. Personal experience

As a Homeschooler, we were trained to set our own goals, learn, and strive to achieve them. There was hardly any teaching, except for the occasional tuition which was small group classes. When I entered NUS, it was things changed, I had to get used to lectures and tutorials. Tutorials, I loved. Lectures, not so much. Some lectures, I enjoyed, others I did not, and others - I was just too tired!!! (my friends have an entire album of me sleeping in school) 😴😴😴

I slept in class, in almost EVERY CLASS in school. Not because I was disrespectful, either the lecture was too boring, or I was simply too tired.

It was probably so obvious that my Professor seemingly good humoredly wrote of me in his testimonial:

If he could come across as aloof or bored during lectures, he more than compensated for this during tutorials. 🙃

I did not sleep out of disrespect, it was either not useful, or I was really too tired - I was a double major, and I also had a different learning style - I spent time reading, just like I did during Homeschool, I read all the readings assigned, and I did more than well during my time in university. And it's what I often tell my students, if you can sleep in class and do well, I generally do not disturb you. Some of my A1s sleep in class, while I much prefer them awake, sometimes I do feel a short nap in my class as least allows them to pay attention in other classes - much better than being half awake for 4 classes and learning nothing. (the students have so much activities, subjects, responsibilities... Some of them have mental health and family challenges...) 🥲

2. Beliefs about Students

How do I come to the conclusion that sleeping in class is not a form of disrespect and instead something they cannot help (they are too tired) or my lesson is unengaging? It comes down to beliefs about students.

I believe every student wants to, and can learn.

I believe that given a good class environment, good family environment, and a good teacher, every student excels and wants to spend time learning. 👍🏼👍🏼💪🏼💪🏼

My job as an Educator is to find out how they learn, empathise, and empower them to learn and to love learning. Teaching is mutual cooperation, I try to engage, and I ask my students how they learn. I adapt my teaching styles to suit the classes I teach. I consider it my students responsibility to give me feedback, I tell them, "if you are failing, you have to tell me how to teach better so you can learn!"

As the Teacher's pledge states,

We will continue to learn, and pass on the love of learning to our students. 🥰

Students who love learning try their best to stay awake in class. Students who love learning will catch up on their learning even if they fall asleep in class. (I know this from personal experience!)

If you have made it to the end of this post, Congratulations!!! I would go into how I infuse tech 💻 and engage students in the classroom through multi-sensory teaching 👀🖐🏼👂🏼👃🏼👅, but I should try to promote this Padlet abit more and if I get 15 likes/comments on this post I shall post my part 2! ✌️😊

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Observations of the impact of including a Success Criteria Checklist

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Observations of the impact of including a Success Criteria Checklist

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This year the Physics Team has moved to include a self-check list at the end of each topical worksheet part for Express resources. This self-check lists the Success Criteria for the topic sub-part which the team has crafted.

My own practice in putting this checklist to use included:

1. Highlighting its presence to the student when the 1st topical worksheet is assigned.

2. Indicating when the checklist should be filled up: After I had reviewed the worksheet with the class.

3. Explaining the purpose of the checklist and the actions they should take if a frowny is shaded.

4. Allowing time (1-2 min) for students to reflect on the checklist after reviewing the worksheet.

Observations and reflection:

In both the Secondary 3 Physics and Science Physics classes I am teaching has seen an increase student-initiated after lesson and online clarifications.

After a few students filled in the checklist for first submissions I realised it may more useful to have the students fill it once for first submissions and then again after WS review.

This way, when marking student's work, the checklist served as a avenue of feedback by the student on their level of confidence. This allowed me to check-in with students when their confidence level and performance is mismatched.

It also allowed me to see the changes in the student's responses pre and post review and identify persistent areas to be closed.

Finally, some of the checklist's descriptors would need to be refined as students have raised clarifying questions.

- Tat Siang

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In the past, most of my Chinese language teaching involved students previewing vocabulary, practicing character writing, and discussing the content of the text in class.

Unlearn:

In the current academic year with a new Secondary 3 class, I observed that most students did not require character writing activities after the first class. Therefore, I decided to discontinue this practice.

Relearn:

Upon confirming this observation with the students, I decided to modify the character writing materials, allowing students to decide for themselves whether they needed to practice character writing. However, vocabulary assessments, including dictation, continued as usual.

The observation revealed that students submitted character writing assignments based on their individual needs. Some students wrote several new words, while others repeated the same word multiple times. Some even marked on their character writing sheets: "I don't need to practice character writing." In the subsequent vocabulary dictation, the majority of students performed well.

Unlearn:

For the next text study, I abandoned the practice of having students preview the text and vocabulary. Instead, self-study and discussions took place directly in the classroom.

Relearn:

Class Arrangement:

30-minute class period

Students spent 10 minutes self-studying the text

Each line of students was responsible for specific questions within their small groups

Learning resources: Quizlet and Purple Culture

Classroom Observations:

1.       Students engaged in learning and helped each other.

2.       Some students asked me detailed questions about parts they didn't understand, a shift from my past direct teaching or explanation.

3.       Students with weaker Chinese proficiency wrote their answers in English on the textbook and questions, asking me if it was correct in Chinese.

4.       I had the opportunity to ask students about the challenges they faced.

Learning Outcomes:

1.       The 10-minute timeframe proved insufficient for completing the learning task, so we extended it to 20 minutes.

2.       Random checks showed that students could recite the entire content of the text.

3.       Notable moments during the sharing and discussion:

1)      Groups responsible for answering specific questions required the entire group to articulate the answers, which were correct, earning them applause.

2)      I played the role of a facilitator, guiding students to deeper discussions based on their answers.

3)      Students had the chance to analyze and discuss character traits using adjectives shared by their peers.

4)      The interactive learning in these 10 minutes made me realize that I need to revise the previously prepared teaching materials to assist students in learning more effectively.

Learn:

1.       Adjusting teaching methods to "teach less, learn more," I am beginning to grasp the practical concept of "giving students the autonomy of learning choice. Allowing students the autonomy of learning choice is a significant challenge for teachers and requires careful handling. Therefore, in situations where supervision and guidance are possible, providing ample time, space, and appropriate resources for students to learn independently is essential.

2.       In addition to comprehensive learning materials, asking guiding questions that provoke in-depth discussions is crucial.

3.       After students make choices in their learning, continuous assessment and monitoring are necessary; otherwise, their choices may become meaningless.

4.       Challenge: This learning model may not be meaningful for highly proficient students. Preparation for differentiated teaching and learning activities is crucial to enhance the learning experience for this group of students.

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Enabling students to cope with the vagaries of life is something I wish to do better. So, when I came across this book by Norbury, with its beautiful illustrations, I thought of reading the fable in instalments during Geog lessons and have students reflect on Padlet each time, what they have gleaned from the reading. Filled with the vision of students reflecting deeply on the lesson learnt, I started this with my Sec 4E and 2E classes. However, I stopped after the first chapter. The reflections posted by my Sec4 class were scant and superficial. A few by the Sec2s were promising and thoughtful, though the majority also did not write beyond a few words.

Yesterday though, one of my Sec4 students asked near the end of our lesson: "What happened to the cat?" It took me a while to register what she was referring to. "Did you like it?" A number in the class nodded firmly. In that non-verbal moment, I saw that the book reading was not a bad idea. Why had I abandoned it so quickly? One, I had mistook their scant Padlet responses as lack of interest and extrapolated that the book idea will not work in developing mental resilience. Two, we were falling behind in our SOW, and there was a pressing need to get students up to speed in preparations for WA1 and of course, the 'O' level. The latter is something many (all?) teachers can identify with.

Going back to that moment, "OK, we will do it next lesson." I told the class.

The next lesson is coming Monday. I'm thinking now how to squeeze in the reading activity meaningfully and also cover some curricular ground in that one period. Would skipping some pages and not pausing at the illustrations save time for the lesson proper? Maybe students don't need to do the individual reflections and we can have a general reflection on the board to sum up the zen lesson. But, would this compromise my intent of having students reflecting deeply on nuggets in the story? Oftentimes, for expediency, I could have compromised the quality of learning experience for students. Giving them the learning instead of giving time and opportunity for uncovering learning could be a reason why learning does not stick.

On Monday, I will take time to read the next chapter with the class. We will pause to admire the illustrations and take in the meaning. Students will still reflect individually on Padlet and next lesson, we will pick up from where we left off. This off script lesson is too important to be rushed.