Return to list
of materials about "Learning how to plan a new inquiry unit"
Methods course documentation
Learning how to plan a new inquiry unit (D7.1)
Facilitator's plan (by Raffaella Borasi)
Note: In the case of this implementation, the facilitator was
the same as the person who prepared the case-study; therefore, the plan
reported below focusses essentially on how to introduce the reading assignment
and facilitate its follow-up discussion. Other facilitators, however, will
need first of all to become familiar with the contents of both the essay
and the "Selected documentation" accompanying it, so as to be
able to address participants' questions and best guide the discussion.
SESSION 1:
- Introduction to the activity (~5-10 minutes):
- Explain the scope of this activity: "Planning inquiry units
is a very complex and challenging process, quite different from planning
traditional lessons based on a textbook. In order to put into practice
what learned in the previous Methods course, students need to pay careful
attention at how they plan their units and lessons -- this is especially
the case for the "innovative unit" that each student teacher
is expected to design, implement, monitor and evaluate as part of their
field experience requirements. The case-study reported in the essay I have
assigned you to read can help you do that, as it illustrates how a group
of teachers went about planning an inquiry unit on the Winter Olympic Games
and, even more importantly, identifies some important elements of planning
successful math inquiry experiences based on the in-depth analysis of this
experience." Make sure that I make very clear that the elements
of planning inquiry units identified here are not to be taken as a rigid
sequence to be copied, but rather as a concrete illustration and a starting
point for discussion.
- Reading assignment: for homework, read the essay "Planning
a new inquiry unit: A case-study;" try to think of what the stages
identified by the case-study would mean for you if you were planning
a new inquiry unit on a topic of your choice
- Follow-up discussion of the process of planning an inquiry unit:
(~45 minutes)
- ask participants to share their thoughts, questions or concerns about
the specific situation discussed in the essay, and about the process of
planning inquiry units more generally; especially solicit comments on the
"stages" or "elements" of planning inquiry units identified
by the case-study
- whenever possible, try to answer questions specific to this experience
by referring to the additional artifacts included in the "Selected
documentation"
- ask participants to elaborate on their understanding of specific stages
by reporting on their thoughts about how these stages would play out to
plan a new inquiry unit on a topic of their choice
- conclude the discussion by making explicit the most striking differences
between the planning process discussed in the essay and the way they used
to plan/think about planning
Return to list of materials about
"Learning how to plan a new inquiry unit"
TOP