Inquiry learning is at the heart of many curriculum integration
units. There are a wide range of models used for inquiry learning.
One model which has been developed and trialed by Houghton
Valley School in Wellington is called the Learning Journey.
This journey is a process that eventually will be adopted at Houghton
Valley School. The aim is to have a unified approach to information
literacy across the school. Each area of the school uses this
journey in varying degrees of independence. They have worked with
groups of students and remodeled this journey until it represents
a simple process that students can use to gather, manipulate,
publish, and communicate information.
The steps to the journey are as follows:
1. Brainstorming - starting
with what students already know.
2. Where am I going?
- mapping out key questions and keywords for researching. Younger
students highlight keywords in their question. Spelling needs
to be checked if students are to use the keywords in CDRoms or
the Internet.
3. How am I going to get there?
- identifying appropriate information sources. Teachers provide
these for younger students and concentrate on developing the skills
of using one source well each time rather than providing too many
sources unmanaged at once.
4. My Travel log. - note taking
and note making. Older students can open a template on the Internet
and paste information copied directly from the online source.
They then refine this into their own words. Some students use
bullet pointed notes form their source and then develop sentences.
5. So what? - showing that they
have internalised what they have found - it means something to
them. Students think about what they will do with the information.
This can be done at any stage of the journey.
6. Reflecting and Planning
- the final stage that allows students the chance to think about
the process they have used and the knowledge they have gained.
Students think about what they will change next time!
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