Developing Inquiry Questions in an HPE context:
Inquiry learning allows students to use higher order thinking skills. It encourages critical thinking. Inquiry learning in a HPE context involves both the educator and students formulating their own inquiry questions and then answering these questions and learning from the results.
Two useful tools I found on the OFEA website for assisting students in developing questions are the See, Think, Wonder Template (https://ophea.net/media/416/download?inline) as well as the Open Ended Question Starter sheet (https://ophea.net/media/421/download?inline).
Effective inquiry questions should do the following:
Spark curiosity and debate
Raise additional questions
Be intellectually engaging
Learn more here: https://ophea.net/inquiry-based-learning/applying-inquiry-hpe/formulate-questions/inquiry-questions
It is important that the educator spend time developing inquiry questions that are directly linked to the curriculum. A great way to do this is to slowly break down the curriculum expectations. This can be done with students as it is important that simple language is used throughout the process of breaking down the expectations. Success criteria can also be developed in this way with students.
1st 🥇→ pull out the core concepts of an overall expectation in the curriculum
2nd 🥈→ Identify the big idea of all of the concepts. This big idea should be written in simple language that is easy to understand. (Success criteria may also be developed at this stage)
3rd 🥉→ Create overarching questions that are directly linked to the big idea.
How Assess Inquiry Based Learning in the HPE context:
The growing success document states that assessment should be planned at the same time as instruction. Inquiry based learning is aligned with the growing success document in this way as the assessment is developed in conjunction with the big ideas and overarching questions. By developing the assessment strategy at the same time as the instruction it ensures the teacher is able to start assessing students abilities from the start.
Assessment of inquiry based learning is different that teacher directed learning as assessment of inquiry is ongoing and constant. The three forms of assessment should be used. They are:
Assessment for learning:
Is ongoing and not graded as students are learning the inquiry process
The educator should monitor the students critical thinking, creativity, self-awareness, and adaptive skills during the inquiry process and give feedback frequently
Assessment as learning:
Students assess their own work as well as their peers with support from the educator
Assessment of learning:
Educator summarizes students leaning at a specific point in time (the process and product are evaluated)
Assessment of inquiry based learning is largely dependent on observation by the educator, it is important for the educator to use effective strategies to properly document the learning taking place. Here are some of those strategies with examples on how they might look in an HPE setting:
Conversations 👋
The teacher may have a conversation with a student and document the students' thinking. For example: “What could be done to make this game more challenging?” Several conversations over the course of a unit will show a picture of the students critical thinking skills developing.
Taking anecdotal notes🗒️
Say for example you have students discussing their personal fitness goals in groups. The educator can walk around and take notes of the knowledge students are demonstrating
Students recording their thinking✏️
Journals are a great way to see the development of student thinking. Students could keep a health and fitness journal. Another way this could be done is having student produce a piece of writing documenting their inquiry, such as a blog post about eating healthy in their city.
To conclude, inquiry based learning in the context of HPE allows students to develop their critical thinking skills when it comes to their physical and mental health. Students benefit from having control over their learning and thinking critically about the activities they are doing. There are many ways for teachers to organize assessment for inquiry based learning in HPE. Here are some links to a few helpful resources:
HELPFUL RESOURCES
Teacher Inquiry Planning Template 1:
https://ophea.net/media/411/download?inline=&check_logged_in=1
This template is for teachers. It allows teachers to break down the curriculum expectation into a big idea, decide on an overarching inquiry question, and decide what the three most important things students should know are. Then teachers create a summative task that encompasses these things.
Student Inquiry Organizer:
https://ophea.net/media/413/download?inline
This template is for students. It allows them to record what they already know about a topic, what they want to learn, how they will learn it, and finally, what the results of their inquiry were. I would use this template for any health unit such as an inquiry into what a healthy diet is.
Cautions:
Since inquiry based learning is student driven, teachers should ensure that students are asking questions that are open ended and require a higher level of thinking. Teachers should ensure students understand that they are not looking for a “correct” answer as often times students want to give “the right answer” however, there is no right or wrong answer in inquiry based learning, it is all about the process.
IN PRACTICE:
Check out this Inquiry based learning plan: