FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY – ROOSEVELT

Cainta, Rizal, Philippines

Master of Arts in Education
EDM 206: Methods and Approaches in Teaching
with Practicum.
Professorial Lecturer: Dr. Virgilio Flores Kim

Name: Ofwono Lukuman

Date: November 6, 2021

Reflection on the Inquiry-Based Learning and Case Based

Learning synchronous class ppt presentation
From the asynchronous class PowerPoint presentation, I gained the
following insights:
(a) Inquiry Based Learning
Inquiry-based Learning (IBL) is a constructivist approach in which
students have ownership of their learning. It is a multifaceted activity that
guides learners to inquire or generate meaningful questions that lead to
the relevant answers. It starts with exploration and questioning and leads
to investigation into a worthy question, issue, problem or idea. It involves
asking questions, gathering, and analyzing information, generating
solutions, making decisions, justifying.
Inquiry learning involves developing questions, making observations,
doing research to find out what information is already recorded, developing
methods for experiments, developing instruments for data collection,
collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, outlining possible
explanations and creating predictions for future study. The process of
inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the
human senses -- seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.
In inquiry-based learning, the facilitator’s role is to reflect on the
purpose and make plans for inquiry learning, facilitate classroom learning,
serve primarily as a resource for the students, guide the students through
the learning process, establish content-based parameters for learning
objectives, and then allow students to direct their own learning. The
facilitator is also a co-learner with students as they engage with real world
questions. The facilitator also provokes additional inquiry of questions
presented by the students.
The students’ role in inquiry-based learning includes; viewing
themselves as learners in the process of learning, accept an invitation to
learn, and willingly engage in an exploration process. Raise questions,
propose explanations, and use observations. Students plan and carry out
learning activities, critique their learning practices, use different methods
of communication, work in groups and learn from each other. Students
also direct their own learning within the parameters set by the facilitator.
According to Wikipedia.com, inquiry-based learning can be done in
multiple formats such as field-work, case studies, investigations,
individual and group projects, and in research projects.
The benefits of inquiry-based learning include enhancing the
learning process by letting students explore topics themselves, helps
students to build critical thinking and communication skills that enables
them to improve on comprehension in every subject, as well as in day-to-
day life, allows students to take ownership of their learning, increase
engagement with the material, deepens students’ understanding of topics,
fosters curiosity in students, and creates a love of learning.
The challenges with inquiry-based learning include time wastage,
messy learning, loud and chaotic as students engage in the discussion. It
is also unpredictable.
The Principles of Inquiry-based learning include: Principle 1:
Learners are in the center of the entire process, while instructors,
resources and technology are adequately organized to support them.
Principle 2: All learning activities revolve around information-processing
skills. Principle 3: Instructors facilitate the learning process, but also seek
to learn more about their students and the process of inquiry-based
learning. Principle 4: Emphasis should be placed on evaluating the
development of information-processing skills and conceptual
understanding, and not on the actual content of the field.
The forms of inquiry commonly used in inquiry-based instruction are
the Confirmation inquiry where learners are given a question, as well as a
method, to which the end result is already known. The goal is to confirm
the results. This enables learners to reinforce already established ideas,
and to practice their investigative skills. The Structured inquiry in which
learners are given the question and the method of achieving the result, but
the goal is to provide an explanation that is already supported by the
evidence gathered during and through the investigative process. The
Guided inquiry: Learners are only given a question. The main goal is to
design the method of investigation and then test the question itself. This
type of inquiry is not typically as structured as the previously mentioned
forms. Open inquiry: Learners must form their own questions, design
investigative methods, and then carry out the inquiry itself. They must
present their results at the end of the process
The 5E Inquiry-Based Instructional Model is based upon cognitive
psychology, constructivist theory to learning, and best practices in STEM
instruction (Bybee and Landes 1990). The 5E learning cycle leads students
through five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.
The 5E Instructional Model brings coherence to different teaching
strategies, provides connections among educational activities, and helps
science teachers make decisions about interactions with students (BSCS
2019). Compared to traditional teaching models, the 5E learning cycle
results in greater benefits concerning students’ ability for scientific inquiry
(Bybee 2009).
Engagement (preparation phase) which introduces concepts and pique
student interest. This is when teachers encourage students to begin
developing their questions.
Exploration: During exploration, students begin actively experimenting
and strategizing to answer questions. Teachers observe and guide as
students work in small groups.
Explanation: With potential answers to the questions, students then report
to the class. They show evidence for their answers and explain how they
arrived at them.
Elaboration: To develop a deeper understanding of concepts and connect
them to others, discussion continues. In the elaboration phase, the class
discusses new questions that arise. The teacher may also introduce related
concepts to encourage the students to find connections.
Evaluation: Teachers informally assess students throughout this process.
They can also evaluate student learning with a more formal assessment.
The culmination of the lesson or project may be a test, a report, a
presentation, or some other type of assessment.

(b) Case- Based Learning

Case-based learning is a student teaching method that uses
problems as the initial starting point for acquisition and integration of new
knowledge (Barrows, 1982). It is an established approach used across
disciplines where students apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios,
promoting higher levels of cognition.
In Case-based classrooms, students typically work in groups on
case studies, stories involving one or more characters and/or scenarios.
The cases present a disciplinary problem(s) for which students devise
solutions under the guidance of the instructor.
A case in Education is a specified detailed instructional incident or
narrative that involves a richly described and well documented problem for
which students seek reasonable solutions by using their background
knowledge. Case-based learning in Education provides opportunity for
students to apply new information, enhance knowledge, skills, and
abilities towards innovation, mock problem-solving skills, defensiveness &
increases cohesion among the students. It also solidifies client skills so as
to continue following the consultation, and to reduce resistance as
participants take alternative perspectives to increase empathy & buy-in.
The characteristics of case-based learning include learner-centered
learning, collaboration and cooperation between the participants,
discussion of specific situations, typically real-world examples, and
involves questions with no single right answer.
The importance of case-based learning include: Engaging the
students with the characters and circumstances of the story, identifying
problems as they perceive it, connecting the meaning of the story to their
own lives, bringing their own background knowledge and principles,
raising points and questions, and defending their positions, formulating
strategies to analyze the data and to generate possible solutions. Cases
have traditionally been used to teach decision making skills in professional
education, and for learning medical science in problem-based learning.
Provide students with a relevant opportunity to see theory in practice. Real
world or authentic contexts expose students to viewpoints from multiple
sources and see why people may want different outcomes. Require
students to analyze data in order to reach a conclusion. Since many
assignments are open-ended, students can practice choosing appropriate
analytic techniques as well. Develop analytic, communicative and
collaborative skills along with content knowledge. In their effort to find
solutions and reach decisions through discussion, students sort out
factual data, apply analytic tools, articulate issues, reflect on their relevant
experiences, and draw conclusions they can relate to new situations. In
the process, they acquire substantive knowledge and develop analytic,
collaborative, and communication skills.