The Networking for Leadership, Inquiry and Systemic Thinking (NLIST) team has operationally defined Science as Inquiry and is using this definition to develop procedures for the alignment of instruction resources. This foundational process, for developing criteria, indicators, and a rubric, lays out the general process as to how all system elements will be developed and used for appropriately supporting the implementation of Science as Inquiry over time and with adequate resources. NLIST has initiated key networking processes and is producing useful Internet products for more effective science education program implementation.
NLIST has successfully developed Community Partnerships and Involvement, Designed Facilities, created Technology Infrastructure and, organized Online Learning Communities. NLIST also identified Leadership Attributes and developed Assessment Tools for Students. >> back
As teachers move from simple confirmation-verification to open inquiry learning, the responsibility for taking charge of the learning is being shifted from teacher to student. The roles of both teacher and learner shift with shifting responsibilities. In open inquiry the teacher must become a facilitator of learning. Unfortunately, science is still taught and learned as the history of “what we know”. If science is taught from the perspective of “how we come about knowing”, students would develop scientific skills and attitudes that would become one way to resolve problems throughout their lives.
The structures that will help teachers understand teaching science as inquiry include the Levels of Inquiry, the Essential Elements of Inquiry and the Levels of Questioning. The Levels of Inquiry are Confirmation/Verification, Structured Inquiry, Guided Inquiry and Open Inquiry. The Essential Elements of Inquiry include the conceptual framework, context, content, conceptual understandings, skill development, the habits of mind and validation. Questions guide inquiry and tend to converge or diverge thinking during the inquiry process. Questions can be asked in a variety of ways. As questions move from the most simple to the more complex, students achieve higher levels of thinking and higher levels of inquiry. Levels of Questioning are Level 1 fact questions, Level 2 analysis questions, Level 3 prediction questions, and Level 4 evaluation questions. >> back
>>Click here for Workshop series on Science as Inquiry.
>> A more complete description of Science as Inquiry.
A project of this size will cover several years, with multiple iterations, elements and cross-cutting themes. Hopefully, this brief narrative and graphic illustration (see below) will allow others to grasp the long term vision of what the NLIST project hopes to achieve.
In order to be more successful with program implementation, state science supervisors need to better understand the systemic nature of their work and to approach it with more utilitarian guidelines. It is necessary to take the intent of the National Science Education Standards and ask the very hard and practical sense question, "What way do the key system elements need to change to implement 'Science as Inquiry'"? In other words, "What needs to change in the professional programs and certification standards for teachers?", 'What different kinds of instructional resources are needed?" "What are the implications for educational leadership?" All these system elements, coordinated around the concept of "Science as Inquiry", will evolve into guidelines and rubrics for instructional resources . An important key to the success of the effort will be the development of a utilitarian instrument, that illustrates the "how to do" of educational reform and not a theoretical set of guidelines reiterating the "what to do" of educational reform.
In essence, this project has already operationally define Science as Inquiry and is using this definition to develop procedures for the alignment of instruction resources. This foundational process, for developing criteria, indicators, and a rubric, lays out the general process as to how all system elements (see graphical below) will be developed and used for appropriately supporting the implementation of "Science as Inquiry"...over time and with adequate recourses.
The following six systemic areas have been identified as essential components in changing a system. Our vision will be to apply the foundational "Science as Inquiry" definition and use it to create rubrics over time to objectively align these system areas: Administrative Leadership, Technology Infrastructure, Professional Development, Community Involvement and Designed Facilities.
The image below depicts the "Big Picture" of all the systemic elements that will be addressed over the entire life of the NLIST mission. >> back