Evaluation
In order to evaluate an inquiry-based project, I would start by giving a pre-test about the broad topic which we are studying. The outcome of the pre-test would garner their prior knowledge, so I can better group students together, or see if they need to be guided in order to get started on their project. One group of students may be advanced enough to be given a topic and left alone, while another group of students may have difficulty getting started. Based on their prior knowledge, I can help steer them towards topics which might be of interest to them. To track the project, I would keep a running blog of things that worked well for students and things that did not work well. I will confer with other teachers to see how projects can be improved. I can record my observations about the students as well, and see if there are any patterns to what sort of questions students may create. Also in my quest to garner student learning and understanding, I would conduct frequent interviews with students. I would keep detailed records of my findings to determine if my students are learning what I hope they will learn.
To test out the impact of technology on inquiry-based learning, I would use one of my Biology classes as a control group. I am fortunate to teach four sections of Biology, so using iPads and computers in three of the classes would give beneficial data. By having one class not use iPads, I hypothesize that I would see drastically different ways of approaching problems because information would not be as readily available. Time may be a factor as well because students would have to be much more meticulous and protecting of all the information, data, and papers they would have. I would be able to collect data on all of my classes to see if I could observe any trends with or without technology. The culmination of the project would be a final presentation of findings. I would invite many people into my classroom to hear students unveil what they have learned and found out while conducting an experiment to find an answer to their overall question.
To test out the impact of technology on inquiry-based learning, I would use one of my Biology classes as a control group. I am fortunate to teach four sections of Biology, so using iPads and computers in three of the classes would give beneficial data. By having one class not use iPads, I hypothesize that I would see drastically different ways of approaching problems because information would not be as readily available. Time may be a factor as well because students would have to be much more meticulous and protecting of all the information, data, and papers they would have. I would be able to collect data on all of my classes to see if I could observe any trends with or without technology. The culmination of the project would be a final presentation of findings. I would invite many people into my classroom to hear students unveil what they have learned and found out while conducting an experiment to find an answer to their overall question.