SUMMER LAGU MATH INSTITUTE STEM Topic 4: Inquiry-Based Instruction for Geometry

1. SUMMER LAGU MATH INSTITUTESTEM Topic 4: Inquiry-Based Instruction for Geometry Dym San Nicolas Luz Erni Gemma de Guzman

2. Best Practices for Inquiry-Based Instruction and STEM Instructional Strategies • Never say anything a kid can say. • Ask good questions. • Use more process questions. • Replace lectures with sets of questions. • Be patient.

3. 1. Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say. • Forces you to develop and improve questioning skills. • Sends a message to students that participation is essential. • If you are tempted to tell students something, ask a question instead.

4. 2. Ask Good Questions. • Good questions require more than recalling a fact or reproducing a skill. • Encourage students to think about, and reflect on, the mathematics they are learning. • Students should be able to learn from answering the question, and you should be able to learn about what the students know or do not know from their response. • Open-ended questions are the best questions.

5. 3. Use More Process Questions Than Product Questions. • Product question – Questions that require only one word or number answers. • Process question – 3 types that force critical thinking. • Reversibility • Reverse train of thought • Give the answer and students give the problem • Open-ended questions(does not have only one answer) • Flexibility • Can you do it another way? • How is the PROBLEM OR TASK similar to or different from (another problem)? • Generalization • What patterns do you notice? • If this pattern is true,can you find another example?

6. 4. Replace Lectures With Sets of Questions. • “The transfer of information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the student without passing through the minds of either.” • If you are tempted to lecture, ask yourself the humbling question “What percent of my students will actually be listening to me?”

7. 5. Be Patient. • WAIT TIME is very important – Most students need time to process their thoughts. • If you always call on the first students who volunteers, you cheat those who need more time to think about, and process a response. • 5 sec or longer wait time can result in more and better responses.

8. Some Tips… • Share with students reasons for asking questions. • Teach for success. • Be nonjudgmental about a response or comment. • Try not to repeat students’ answers • “Is this the right answer?” “I’m not sure. Can you explain your thinking to me?”

9. Participation is not optional! • Use the think-pair-share strategy. • Always require students to ask a question when they need help. • Require several responses to the same question. • No one in a group is finishes until everyone in the group can explain and defend the solution.

10. Participation is not optional! • Use hand signals often – Thumbs up or thumbs down (horizontal thumb mean “I’m not sure”) • Never carry a pencil. • Avoid answering your own question. • Ask questions to the whole group. • Limit the use of group responses. • Do not allow students to blurt out answers.

11. To help students engage in real learning… “I must ask good questions, allow students to struggle, and place the responsibility for learning directly on their shoulders.” - Steven Reinhart