Abstract
John Hoffman is a partner with four local schools benefiting from an Ohio Environmental Education Fund (OEEF) grant that created outdoor learning centers (OLCs), and provided materials to support inquiry-based learning (IBL). IBL is a question-driven process of learning. Learning and teaching science requires skills mnecessary to conduct scientific inquiries. In today’s schools it is required that students are taught methods of inquiry that utilize student-generated questions. However, teachers’ mbackground and knowledge of the inquiry process is limited. Teacher professional development (PD) involving teachers in inquiry and its process is necessary to improve mstudent achievement. Teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about IBL leading to mimplementation in the classroom can be achieved through PD programs. Hoffman’s role mas a grant partner was to support PD of teachers. His focus was on helping teachers acquire the skills they need in the classroom with a practical, hands-on workshop that focused on inquiry-based learning. A full day IBL workshop was prepared and titled m“Inquiry Based Learning for Educators”. It was a hands-on practical workshop that was a model of what was expected in the classroom. Hoffman’s participation in the OEEF grant served as a foundation for this research and led to the creation of an IBL workshop by Hoffman and Randolph that they are currently active in presenting to educators.
Teacher Professional Development Essential to Incorporating Inquiry-Based Learning in the Indoor and Outdoor Classroom
