Effective+Teaching+in+Inquiry-based+Learning

What makes effective teaching?
To ensure quality teaching, implementing inquiry learning strategies is essential within a classroom to allow students to be actively engaged in their learning as well as be in the zone of desired effects as a result of the teacher's effective teaching influences. Such strategies include open ended questions to probe into students' understanding within a given topic and allow them the opportunities to explore higher order questions such as why, what, when and how.



Professor John Hattie conducted research which has highlighted the importance of what strategies work best in an active learning classroom to ensure that children are in their optimal zone for effective learning to occur. Hattie, developed a barometer of influence that looks at the effect size of various influences that impact on student acheivement over time. Furthermore, his studies show that student-teacher relationship and the quality of the teaching are the most critical aspects of a teacher's contribution whilst in the classroom.



Hattie's Barometer sourced from: Google Images http://www.learningandteaching.info/teaching/graphics/Hattie_barometer_2_hinge.gif

In order to ensure that learning is meaningful to students, there needs to a high degree of effective teaching evident. As stated within the HSIE K-6 Syllabus there needs to be a fine understanding of the different forms of learning styles within the active learning classroom. Subsequently the teacher can plan a learning environment for the children which guides them through stages of higher order thinking, as well as supporting these learning styles (Board of studies, 2006). If effective teaching takes place within the classroom then it will result in high student learning attainment (Reynolds, 2009) and increase their cognitive knowledge and understanding according to the stages of Blooms Taxonomy. Student-teacher relationship and the quality of teaching needs to be consistent as frequent social and hands-on engagement between both student and teacher allow for learning, meaning and understanding to take place in the classroom.

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