Double Entry Journal 7

What are some challenges to inquiry approaches to learning?

Although inquiry based learning has many advantages, it also comes with challenges and disadvantages. 

One disadvantage is that the instructor has to give up some control.  For some teachers, this might be especially challenging because they’ve always taught in a controlling manner.  I think that older teachers (ones who have been doing their jobs for a long time) might have the most trouble with this disadvantage. 

Another challenge is that it can place more demands on students to be active learners.  This in itself, is actually a wonderful benefit to inquiry based learning, but if students have never been taught how to take learning into their own hands, they might struggle with how to be active learners.

A third challenge is the fact that assessing inquiry based learning can be difficult because it doesn’t revolve around worksheets, filling in a bubble sheet, and multiple choice questions.  Many teachers (who are somewhat lazy, I might add) avoid inquiry based learning because of the fact that grading a worksheet with ten problems is much easier. 

Finally, what I’d say is the biggest challenge is the fact that inquiry based learning requires a lot of preparation and planning from the teacher.  Like I mentioned above, when a teacher has been doing his/her job for a long time, he/she gets into a routine and often doesn’t like to change things.  Thus, because this inquiry based learning requires additional planning, many teachers do not allow their students to participate in it!

Source: PowerPoint from www.heartland.edu/documents/idc/IBlearningS06.ppt