Phases of inquiry-based learning: Definitions and the inquiry cycle

By Margus Pedaste, Mario Mäeots, Leo Aleksander Siiman, Ton de Jong, Siswa A. N. van Riesen, Ellen T. Kamp, Constantinos Manoli, Zacharias C. Zacharia, Eleftheria Tsourlidaki. 2015

1,729 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Inquiry-based learning is gaining popularity in science curricula, international research and development projects as well as teaching. One of the underlying reasons is that its success can be significantly improved due to the recent technical developments that allow the inquiry process to be supported by electronic learning environments. Inquiry-based learning is often organized into inquiry phases that together form an inquiry cycle. However, different variations on what is called the inquiry cycle can be found throughout the literature. The current article focuses on identifying and summarizing the core features of inquiry-based learning by means of a systematic literature review and develops a synthesized inquiry cycle that combines the strengths of existing inquiry-based learning frameworks. The review was conducted using the EBSCO host Library; a total of 32 articles describing inquiry phases or whole inquiry cycles were selected based on specific search criteria. An analysis of the articles resulted in the identification of five distinct general inquiry phases: Orientation, Conceptualization, Investigation, Conclusion, and Discussion. Some of these phases are divided into sub-phases. In particular, the Conceptualization phase is divided into two (alternative) sub-phases, Questioning and Hypothesis Generation; the Investigation phase is divided into three sub-phases, Exploration or Experimentation leading to Data Interpretation; and the Discussion phase is divided into two sub-phases, Reflection and Communication. No framework bringing together all of these phases and sub-phases was found in the literature. Thus, a synthesized framework was developed to describe an inquiry cycle in which all of these phases and sub-phases would be present. In this framework, inquiry-based learning begins with Orientation and flows through Conceptualization to Investigation, where several cycles are possible. Inquiry-based learning usually ends with the Conclusion phase. The Discussion phase (which includes Communication and Reflection) is potentially present at every point during inquiry-based learning and connects to all the other phases, because it can occur at any time during (discussion in-action) or after inquiry-based learning when looking back (discussion on-action).

Subfields: Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/43d0443b21792595849683b64941d977d611d342

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Education

1. Mary Oliver
2. Sam Sims
3. Frank Fischer
4. Alain Petro
5. Gholam
6. Ansgar Opitz
7. Moritz Heene
8. M. Hudha

Citations in the corpus

• Improving Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Cell-Metabolism Learning Using Stimulating Higher Order Thinking Skills Model (2019, methodology): “The information obtained by the students were then processed with various sources of information in depth and more widely to obtain information that supports each other, or is different even contradictory (Musfiqon & Nurdiansyah, 2015; Pedaste et al., 2015; Scanlon, et al., 2011).”
• How Are The Physics Critical Thinking Skills of The Students Taught by Using Inquiry-Discovery Through Empirical and Theorethical Overview? (2017, background): “…(cognitive, affective and pshycomotor), especially the process of learning to find concepts or principles by themselves and trains their mental processes which is the characteristics of a scientist (Pedaste et al, 2015) and to train the students’ problem solving skills (Onyancha et al, 2006).”
• Inquiry-Based Learning: Student Teachers’ Challenges and Perceptions (2019, background): “However, researchers explain that IBL is not a prescribed, uniform linear process (Pedaste et al., 2015).”
• The relationship between inquiry-based teaching and students’ achievement. New evidence from a longitudinal PISA study in England (2019, background): “A more granular description of inquiry (Pedaste et al., 2015) breaks these activities down into phases: orientation (in which the topic is introduced and motivated); conceptualization (in which a research question and/or hypothesis is developed); investigation (in which observation and experiment ar”
• Measuring scientific reasoning – a review of test instruments (2017, background): “While engaging in scientific discussions is part of many scientific reasoning conceptualizations, the discussions are placed at the end of a process or accompany other core steps, but they are not at the core of the model itself (Pedaste et al., 2015).”