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 Update on Investigative Approaches to Science Teaching
Ways to Introduce Investigative and Enquiry Based Work Types of Investigative and Enquiry Based Activities
We are grateful to Walter Whitelaw of the Midlothian Council Education Service on whose training materials, much of this update section is based.

 

Preliminary Activities - Ways into investigations and enquiries

Look for opportunities and approaches which will:

  • Stimulate pupil interest
  • Introduce cognitive conflict
  • Establish background knowledge and understanding
  • Promote pupil questioning
  1. Question and answer (including sufficient 'wait' time).
  2. Short test
  3. Quiz/survey
  4. Card sort

 
  2. Spider diagram production/completion
  3. Flow diagram production/completion
  4. Concept cartoons
  5. Experiment & explanation

 
  2. Produce a poster to explain …
  3. Diagram completion to explain …
  4. Teacher demonstration
  5. DART- directed activities relating to text

    Eg highlighting, underlining, drawing from description, tabulate from description etc


 
  2. Jig-saw (doing part of a bigger project)
  3. Bundling

Eg asking each individual in a group to write 1 idea relating to an area of content or a concept on a strip of paper. Group bundles and sorts ideas - into sequence; into agree/disagree piles etc
The key to stimulating pupil interest is to share everyone's ideas. The cognitive conflict introduced can be used to encourage pupils to formulate their own questions for investigation.

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