Selection

The collection of articles and books selected for Constructivism and Inquiry-based learning theory were chosen as a result of the individual and collective interests of the members of the group. Each member of our research group brought with them some very unique interests, backgrounds and personal lens to the project. One is a special educator in the K-12 setting, teaching students with hearing loss and deafness. Another works within the field of teacher education at a university. And the third member of our group works as a principal. All three of us come from a special education background as teachers.

Much of the research that we chose to focus on were studies that focused on classroom based strategies or applications of inquiry based teaching practices at the teacher education level in universities. After delving into the topic, we found that much of the research material centered around either science or math content, teaching practice and impact on learning student outcomes. As a result, many of the articles discuss Inquiry-based learning embedded within those two content areas. Computer-based instruction and computer technology has become a topic of research in the area of inquiry-based theory. With the evolution of the technology and use in the classroom, we felt it was important to include two article reviews.

Constructivist learning theory promotes learning experiences by providing an environment that is learner centered, and in that way, takes into account the learner’s individual needs. Individuals with different backgrounds, cultural experiences, language bases often struggle to find common ground or background during a learning event. Tapping into their backgrounds and layering upon that framework of critical questions, learners can then actively participate and ultimately take responsibility for their own learning. This model is far different that the prescriptive method of teaching/learning that has been criticized especially in the disciplines of science and mathematics in the last several decades. Scruggs, et al. study examined textbook learning versus Inquiry-based learning in the special education classroom. The article offers a solid background review of activity based instruction in science and its positive impact on student outcomes. It offers a starting point to gain insight into instructional practices making content accessible to students with learning disabilities.


Luera and Otto’s 2005 study examined Inquiry-based learning/teaching theory at the higher education level. This article offers information on matching teacher preparation pedagogy with the National Science Education Standards in order to create reforms in higher education. This article is an analysis of bringing practical, hand-on pedagogy to those who will be in the classrooms. Systemic changed is possible and takes time. These researchers are presenting an interesting case for change because it will ultimately effect students’ learning outcomes.

Freppon and McIntyre’s 1999 article was of interesting because it dealt with constructivist versus traditional teaching methodologies in reading. Typically, the research has compared math or science content when looking at inquiry-based learning and this put a refreshing view on the theory. Chung’s research presented results in which there was not a statistically significant difference in scores between students learning multiplication in the traditional or constructivist classrooms. Although, the overall gain for the constructivist group was significant. This is interesting because it is not an outright commercial for constructivism but laud that there is a lot of potential for the practice when the teacher has become comfortable constructivist-based teaching methodology in a third grade classroom.

Ikpeze and Boyd conducted a study to establish the benefits of using WebQuests as a tool to improve both student literacy and a student’s ability to navigate the Internet and other information communication technologies (ICT’s). We chose this article because it addressed the issue of literacy which is pivotal when preparing to use Inquiry Based learning as an instructional tool. The study also investigates the impact of computer literacy on IBL.


Wecker, Kohnlet, and Fischer' study examined the relationship between a student’s level of computer literacy and their success in acquiring knowledge in a computer assisted IBL environment. We chose the Wecker article because we felt it addressed the technology aspect of our group’s topic, Inquiry Based Learning (IBL).