Learner-Centered Instruction: Inquiry-Based, Technology-Enriched, Integrating Workplace Reality: A Resource Guide for Teachers

Learner-Centered Instruction: Inquiry-Based, Technology-Enriched, Integrating Workplace Reality: A Resource Guide for Teachers

Baird W. Lloyd
Marjorie L. McLellan, Wright State University - Main Campus

Description

Inquiry-based instructional strategies function best with motivated students whose interest and imagination are already enlivened and whose curiosity will help them master new learning skills. The responsibility for supplying the initial impetus falls upon many diverse entities across the student's educational life. College teachers often inherit students with years of spoon-fed, low-expectation instruction, challenging instructors in higher education to overcome this deficit. Fortunately, most students possess a native curiosity that is eventually heightened by academic success, especially when their achievements are perceived to stem from their own work and thought processes. This is the power of inquiry-based learning.

The rapidity of technological advances often leads to a lack of knowledge, understanding, or acceptance of newer technologies. Inexperience often translates into distrust and fear, preventing faculty from attempting to exploit these tools to enhance their teaching effectiveness. Adjunct and part-time faculty are offered minimal support with respect to available resources and procedures to access them. Within this Resource Guide are suggestions to help all instructors obtain ideas and guidance concerning technology as a tool within inquiry-based learning.