DISCOVERY LEARNING
Hiero II requested that Archimedes find a method for determining whether a crown was pure gold or alloyed with silver. When he stepped into a bath he realized that a given weight of gold would displace less water than an equal weight of silver (which is less dense than gold); at this point he shouted, "EUREKA" (I have found it!). Discovery learning is based on this "Aha!" method.
Discovery Learning is an inquiry-based learning method. The concept of discovery learning has appeared numerous times throughout history as a part of the educational philosophy of many great philosophers particularly Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Dewey. "There is an intimate and necessary relation between the processes of actual experience and education" wrote Dewey. It also enjoys the support of learning theorists and psychologists Piaget, Bruner, and Papert. It has enjoyed a few positive swings of the educational-trend pendulum in American education, but it has never received overwhelming acceptance.
Discovery learning takes place most notably in problem solving situations where the learner draws on his own experience and prior knowledge to discover the truths that are to be learned. It is a personal, internal, constructivist learning environment. Bruner wrote "Emphasis on discovery in learning has precisely the effect on the learner of leading him to be a constructionist, to organize what he is encountering in a manner not only designed to discover regularity and relatedness, but also to avoid the kind of information drift that fails to keep account of the uses to which information might have to be put."
"You can't teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it." - Seymour Papert
www.skagitwatershed.org
Summary: Discovery Learning is a method of inquiry-based instruction, discovery learning believes that it is best for learners to discover facts and relationships for themselves.
Originator: Jerome Bruner (1915-)
Keywords: Inquiry-based learning, constructivism Discovery Learning (Bruner)
Discovery learning is an inquiry-based, constructivist learning theory that takes place in problem solving situations where the learner draws on his or her own past experience and existing knowledge to discover facts and relationships and new truths to be learned. Students interact with the world by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments. As a result, students may be more more likely to remember concepts and knowledge discovered on their own (in contrast to a transmissionist model). Models that are based upon discovery learning model include: guided discovery, problem-based learning, simulation-based learning, case-based learning, incidental learning, among others.
Proponents of this theory believe that discovery learning has many advantages, including:
• encourages active engagement • promotes motivation
• promotes autonomy, responsibility, independence
• the development of creativity and problem solving skills. • a tailored learning experience
Critics have sometimes cited disadvantages including: • creation of cognitive overload
• potential misconceptions
• teachers may fail to detect problems and misconceptions
The theory is closely related to work by Jean Piaget and Seymour Papert.
www.learning-theories.com
Discovery Learning is a method of inquiry-based instruction and is considered a constructivist based approach to education. It is supported by the work of learning theorists and psychologists Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, and Seymour Papert. Although this form of instruction has great popularity, there is considerable debate in the literature concerning its efficacy (Mayer, 2004).
Jerome Bruner is thought to have originated discovery learning in the 1960s, but his ideas are very similar those of earlier writers (e.g. John Dewey). Bruner argues that “Practice in discovering for oneself teaches one to acquire information in a way that makes that information more readily viable in problem solving" (Bruner, 1961, p.26). This philosophy later became the discovery learning movement of the 1960s. The mantra of this philosophical movement suggests that we should 'learn by doing'.
Discovery learning takes place in problem solving situations where the learner draws on his own experience and prior knowledge and is a method of instruction through which students interact with their environment by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments.
Criticism of Pure Discovery Learning
Several groups of educators have found evidence that pure discovery learning is a less effective as an instructional strategy for novices, than more direct forms of instruction (e.g. Tuovinen & Sweller, 1999). While discovery learning is very popular, it is often used inappropriately, to teach novices (Kirschner et al., 2006).
People can "learn by doing." A debate in the instructional community now questions the effectiveness of this model of instruction (Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006). Bruner (1961) suggested that students are more likely to remember concepts if they discover them on their own. This is as opposed to those they are taught directly. However, Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) report there is little empirical evidence to support discovery learning. Kirschner et al. suggest that fifty years of empirical data does not support those using these unguided methods of instruction.
Debates about instructional strategies (like direct instruction and discovery learning) are driven by research and empirical studies that can be found in the literature. Mayer (2004) proposes that interest in discovery learning has waxed and waned since the 1960s. In each case the empirical literature has shown that the use of pure discovery methods is not suggested, yet time and time again researchers have renamed their instructional methods only to be discredited again, to rename name their movement again. Mayer asked the question "Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule Against Pure Discovery Learning?" While discovery for one's self may be an engaging form of learning, it may also be frustrating. Mayer's critique is not the only one; other well known authors have begun to question the efficacy of this form of instruction (Kirschner et al., 2006; Tuovinen and Sweller , 1999).
The main idea behind these critiques is that learners need guidance (Kirschner et al., 2006), later as they gain confidence and become competent then they may learn though discovery.
Discovery Based Learning in Special Needs Education
With the push for special needs students to take part in the general education curriculum, prominent researchers in the field doubt if general education classes rooted in discovery based learning can provide an adequate learning environment for special needs students. Kauffman has related his concerns over the use of discovery based learning as opposed to direct instruction. Kauffman comments,
Nothing is gained by keeping students guessing about what it is they are supposed to learn. In all or nearly all of the education programs in which the majority of students can be demonstrated to be highly successful in learning the facts and skills they need, these facts and skills are taught directly rather than indirectly. That is the teacher is in control of instruction, not the student, and information is given to students (2002).
This view is exceptionally strong when focusing on students with math disabilities and math instruction. Fuchs et al. (2008) comment,
Typically developing students profit from the general education mathematics program, which relies, at least in part, on a constructivist, inductive instructional style. Students who accrue serious mathematics deficits, however, fail to profit from those programs in a way that produces understanding of the structure, meaning, and operational requirements of mathematics… Effective intervention for students with a math disability requires an explicit, didactic form of instruction…
Fuchs et al. go on to note that explicit or direct instruction should be followed up with instruction that anticipates misunderstanding and counters it with precise explanations.
It must be noted, however, that few studies focus on the long-term results for direct instruction. Long-term studies may find that direct instruction is not superior to other instructional methods. For instance, a study found that in a group of fourth graders that were instructed for 10 weeks and measured for 17 weeks direct instruction did not lead to any stronger results in the long term than did practice alone (Dean & Kuhn, 2006). Other researchers note that there is promising work being done in the field to incorporate constructivism and cooperative grouping so that curriculum and pedagogy can meet the needs of diverse learners in an inclusion setting (Brantlinger, 1997). However, it is questionable how successful these developed strategies are for student outcomes both initially and in the long term.
Inquiry-Based Teaching Strategies
Our colleagues at McMaster, suggest that:
Teaching through “inquiry” involves engaging students in the research process with instructor support and coaching at a level appropriate to their starting skills. Students learn discipline specific content but in doing so, engage and refine their inquiry skills. An inquiry course:
• Is question driven, rather than topic or thesis driven
• Begins with a general theme to act as a starting point or trigger for learning
• Emphasizes asking good researchable questions on the theme, and coaches students in doing this
• Builds library, interview, and web search skills, along with the critical thinking skills necessary for thoughtful review of the information. Coaches students on how to best report their learning in oral or written form.
• Provides some mechanism (interviews, drafts, minutes of group meetings, bench mark activities, etc.) to help students monitor their progress within the course.
• Draws on the expertise and knowledge of the instructor to model effective inquiry and to promote reflection. http://inquiry.uiyc.edu/inquiry_definition.php3
Guidelines for Creating an Inquiry-Based Class
Denise Jarrett, writer and researcher for Inquiry Strategies for Science and Mathematics Learning, indicates that inquiry-based instruction improves student attitude and achievement, facilitates student understanding, fosters critical thinking skills, and facilitates mathematical discovery. She provides guidelines for creating an inquiry-based classroom that provide students with the time, space, resources, and safety necessary for learning. These include:
• Engages students in designing the learning environment. • Integrates science laboratories into the regular class day • Uses inquiry in the mathematics classroom
• Employs management strategies to facilitate inquiry
• Reflects the nature of inquiry by displaying and demanding respect for diverse ideas, abilities, and experiences; modeling and emphasizing the skills, attitudes, and values of scientific inquiry: wonder, curiosity, and respect toward nature; enables students to have a significant voice in decisions about the content and context of their work; and nurtures collaboration among students www.queensu.ca
What is Inquiry-Based Learning?
Based on John Dewey’s philosophy that education begins with the curiosity of the learner, one of the most important teaching practices used today is the use of inquiry in the classroom. With the inquiry method of instruction, students arrive at an understanding of concepts by themselves and the responsibility for learning rests with them.
At McMaster University in Hamilton, Inquiry-Based Courses are offered to all first year students. The following is how this institution defines Inquiry-Based Learning.
Inquiry is a form of Self-Directed Learning and follows the four basic stages defining self-directed learning. Students take more responsibility for:
• Determining what they need to learn
• Identifying resources and how best to learn from them • Using resources and reporting their learning
• Assessing their progress in learning
A comprehensive senior inquiry course will have all four of these elements. Students will take the initiative and be largely responsible for seeing they successfully complete their learning in a given area. Generally, students draft a “learning contract” and then execute it – the instructor submits a grade on completion of the contract.
Why Teach Inquiry?
Encouraging learners to be self-directed is a critical skill that students need to acquire in order to be successful in post-secondary education. This method encourages students through supports to build research skills that can be used throughout their educational experiences. In addition, students determine their own learning needs through a learning contract.
"Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning." Individuals carry on the process of inquiry from the time they are born until they die. This is true even though they might not reflect upon the process. Infants begin to make sense of the world by inquiring. From birth, babies observe faces that come near, they grasp objects, they put things in their mouths, and they turn toward voices. The process of inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the human senses -- seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.
A Context for Inquiry
Unfortunately, our traditional educational system has worked in a way that discourages the natural process of inquiry. Students become less prone to ask questions as they move through the grade levels. In traditional schools, students learn not to ask too many questions, instead to listen
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An old adage states: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I rememb er, involve me and I underst and." The last part of this stateme nt is the essence of inquiry-based learning , says our worksh op author Joe Exline 1. Inquiry implies involve ment that leads to underst anding. Further more, involve ment in Illustration developed by Joe Exline Principle :The role of the teacher becomes one of facilitating the learning process. The teacher also
becomes a learner by finding out more about the learner and the process of inquiry learning.
Part 1 of 2
Lisa Nyberg, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at Brattain Elementary School in Springfield, Oregon, talks about how she sometimes adjusts inquiry lessons based on
student feedback. Josh, one of Lisa Nyberg's
students at Brattain
Elementary School in
Springfield, Oregon, has an idea that takes an inquiry in a new direction.
Nyberg's class tries Josh's idea and observes the results. Tim O'Keefe of the
Center for Inquiry Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina, argues that educators should do a better job of tapping into children's natural curiousity through methods like inquiry.
and repeat the expected answers.
Some of the discouragement of our natural inquiry process may come from a lack of
understanding about the deeper nature of inquiry-based learning. There is even a tendency to view it as "fluff" learning. Effective inquiry is more than just asking questions. A complex process is involved when individuals attempt to convert information and data into useful knowledge. Useful application of inquiry learning involves several factors: a context for questions, a framework for questions, a focus for questions, and different levels of questions. Well-designed inquiry learning produces knowledge formation that can be widely applied.
Importance of Inquiry
Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world. Facts change, and information is readily available -- what's needed is an understanding of how to get and make sense of the mass of data.
Educators must understand that schools need to go beyond data and information accumulation and move toward the generation of useful and applicable knowledge . . . a process supported by inquiry learning. In the past, our country's success depended on our supply of natural resources. Today, it depends upon a workforce that "works smarter."
Through the process of inquiry, individuals construct much of their understanding of the natural and human-designed worlds. Inquiry implies a "need or want to know" premise. Inquiry is not so much seeking the right answer -- because often there is none -- but rather seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues. For educators, inquiry implies emphasis on the development of inquiry skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes or habits of mind that will enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout life.
Content of disciplines is very important, but as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. The knowledge base for disciplines is constantly expanding and changing. No one can ever learn everything, but everyone can better develop their skills and nurture the inquiring attitudes necessary to continue the generation and examination of knowledge throughout their lives. For modern education, the skills and the ability to continue learning should be the most important outcomes. The rationale for why this is necessary is explained in the following diagrams.
Illustration developed by Joe Exline
This figure illustrates how human society and individuals within society constantly generate and transmit the fund of
knowledge 2. . E x p e r t s h a v e i n -d e p t h k n o w l e d g e o f t h e i .
r f i e l d s , s t r u c t u r e d s o t h a t i t i s m o s t u s e f u l .
Experts' knowledge is not just a set of facts -- it is structured to be accessible, transferable, and applicable to a variety of situations. . Experts can easily retrieve their knowledge and learn new information in their fields with little effort.
(The list above was adapted from "How People Learn," published by the National Research Council in 1999.)
Illustration developed by Joe Exline
This figure illustrates the attributes necessary for both generating and effectively transmitting the fund of knowledge.
We propose that the attributes experts use to generate new knowledge are very similar to the attributes essential for the effective transmission of knowledge within the learner's environment
-- the essentials of effective inquiry learning.
Inquiry is important in the generation and transmission of knowledge. It is also an essential for education, because the fund of knowledge is constantly increasing. The figure below illustrates why trying to transmit "what we know," even if it were possible, is counterproductive in the long run. This is why schools must change from a focus on "what we know" to an emphasis on "how we come to know."
Illustration developed by Joe Exline
This chart illustrates that while knowledge is constantly increasing, so is the boundary of the unknown. An effective and well-rounded education gives individuals very different but
interrelated views of the world. All disciplines have important relationships that provide a natural and effective framework for the organization of the school curriculum, as shown in the chart below. The subject matter of disciplines can be set in the larger context of a conceptual
framework 3. This framework is crucial for understanding change and also for the organization of the discipline and its application to the natural and human-designed worlds.
