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Collaborative Practices
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How can I use inquiry in a theme-based course in basic writing?Overview of Inquiry Because the goal of theme-based courses is to provide an interesting and in-depth study of a particular topic while teaching composition, these classes lend themselves to a teaching approach that focuses on inquiry. As opposed to a traditional teaching method where the expert teacher transfers information to a passive and receptive student, a focus on inquiry attempts to increase student involvement by engaging them in the learning process as they seek to answer questions and make discoveries. In doing so, students take a more active approach in the classroom, which leads to greater motivation and, ultimately, a more active and dynamic classroom. Inquiry- and Theme-Based Courses As technology continues to provide on-demand information, what students learn is becoming less important than how they learn. In a traditional setting, “students grow increasingly more passive and become mute consumers of facts rather than active participants in a community of learners” (Hawkins 5). Inquiry-based learning, on the other hand, more closely resembles the kind of learning that we experience in the real world. In life outside of school, when we encounter an ill-defined problem, we don’t regurgitate predetermined answers to solve the problem but rather set out to solve it strategically and systematically. Allowing students the opportunity to find answers on their own not only teaches the course’s content, but also shows students how that content can apply to their lives. Additionally, when we become interested in something (e.g., how to build a birdhouse), there is a greater interest in learning about it. Knowing this, then, allows writing instructors to apply these principles to the classroom by offering interesting theme-based courses and then allowing students to actively engage the topic in a way that is personal, relevant and applicable beyond the classroom. |