Dive into Inquiry Infographic

​Trevor MacKenzie recently asked his learners what helped them to level up their achievement on a recent  inquiry project using infographics.  The answers were simple, but powerful.​

Co-designing a Success Criteria

By co-designing the success criteria, learners are able to articulate the expectations and monitor progress on their own.  What are the implications?

Learner:  they will have a clear understanding of what is expected of them and be able to demonstrate independent thinking in creating their process and product. 

Teacher:  they will need to release some control of the learning process and designing the final product.  They must trust their learners. ​

Looking at Exemplars

Looking at exemplars  helps learners to calibrate their understanding of the desired process and product.  What are the implications?

Learner:  they have a clear understanding of what the desired outcome should look and feel like.  They are also exposed to examples that are close, but not quite right. 

Teacher:  they must work as a team to vet exemplars, so the entire grade level has a clear understanding of the desired result.  Calibration at the beginning will create a consistent message for learners. 

Give Powerful Feedback

Giving feedback is a dynamic process where learners are being a critical friend and providing next steps.  It's founded  on a deep level of trust.  What are the implications? 

Learner:  they are able to self and peer assess work accurately based on clear feedback at the moment.  They are able to self-adjust based on the actionable next steps provided by the feedforward. 

Teacher:  they need to create the conditions for authentic feedback and feedforward to happen through systematic processes and tools. 

Time

Allowing time is one of the most powerful tools we can provide our learners, so they can tinker with ideas and come to solutions on their own.  What are the implications? 

Learner:  they can think, create, design, explore, interact, and assess on their own and apply these skills to new learning situations. 

Teacher:  they must plan less and provoke more.  This is done through deep provocations that make one think and feel and a variety of questions to get learners to thinking differently. 

Result?

Learners who are more agentic and drive their own inquiries.   What are the implications?

We successful support the next generation to think and feel, so they are able to solve tough problems in the future. 


As a result of the chat, I was sparked to join the infographic project by creating one of my own.  You can find it here.