Teaching thinking and inquiry based learning with English language learners

1. TEACHING THINKING AND INQUIRY-
BASED LEARNING WITH ENGLISH
LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Students who are learning English must be provided with opportunities
to engage in high-level thinking and problem solving.

2.  We tend to think that students who have a low
level of English, have a low level of thinking, and
we confuse their ability to use English with their
thinking skills. We believe that students who are
learning English must be provided with
opportunities to engage in high level thinking
and inquiry learning.
INTRODUCTION

3. TECHNOLOGY AND THINKING IN THE ELL
CLASSROOM
 HOW CAN THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT THINKING?
Technology can be used to support thinking if teachers design classrooms in which:
1. Learning activities are informed by an Understanding of the cognitiv processes involved in
language learning and thinking.
2. Technology tools are carefully selected to support a wide rage of thinking and problem-solving
opportunities.
3. These tools are used within an approach to learning based on an understanding of inquiry,
problem-based learning, and language learning.

4. THEORIES OF INFORMATION PROCESSING
 WHY DOES PERCEPTION MATTER?
Norman(1982-1993) suggests that learning
requires managing 3 things successfully: The
acquisition, retention, and retrieval of
information.
Everything students learn must first come
through the senses. The initial stage of
cognitive processing requires perception.

5.  HOW CAN LEARNING TO USE TECHNOLOGY IMPROVE PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS?
Learning to pay attention to the essential features of an
environment is an essential step in learning and one that may
be easily taught to ELL students by teaching the use of
software.
Improving students perception of important words and
functions in a computer-based learning environment can
thinking and language learning.

6. HOW CAN VISUAL PERCEPTION HELP CONTENT LEARNING?
 Visually oriented programs such as these
help students build a visual and intuitive
Understanding of objects in relationship
to each other.
 Visual problem-solving environments
can provide a nonverbal way to think
about any concept.

7. DECLARATIVE AND PROCEDUAL KNOWLEDGE
 HOW DOES THE BRAIN PROCESS AND RETAIN INFORMATION?
Chamot and O’Malley (1994) emphasize the important of understanding how
the brain processes information in order to provide effective language and
content learning environments. They describe 2 types of knowledge:
 Declarative knowledge
 Procedural knowledge

8. HOW IS LONG-TERM MEMORY DIFFERENT FROM SHORT-
TERM MEMORY?
 Long term memory is
semantic in nature and
organized in terms of
meaning fulness to the
learner.

9. HOW CAN UNDERSTANDING IN A FIRST LANGUAGE HELP
STUDENTS THINK IN A SECOND LANGUAGE?
 Theories of language learning recognize that concepts
and learning strategies the ELL students uses in his or
her native language can be helpful in assisting students
to connect the concepts in the new language
(Cummings, 1980, 1996; Ovando and Collier, 1985).

10. HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY HELP ELL STUDENTS GAIN
DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE?
Technology can help
students think about
and learn vocabulary
and concepts.

11. HOW DO STUDENTS LEARN PROCEDURAL
KNOWLEDGE?
 Procedural knowledge ranges from cognitive strategies for
solving types of problems to metacognition, or the ability to
think aboute one’s own thinking. Procedural knowledge is best
learned by practicing a complex procedure that has meaning
and achieves an important goal (Chamot and O’Malley, 1994).

12. MULTIMEDIA AND THINKING
HOW CAN
MULTIMEDIA
ENVIRONMENTS BE
USED TO HELP
STUDENTS THINK
ABOUT CONTENT?

13. THE WEB AND THINKING
 There is a type of Web page specifically designed to support thinking and
problem solving on the Web known as a WebQuest.
 Technology tools such as multimedia authoring programs and WebQuests
are known as cognitive enhances (Jonassen, 1998). Such technology tools can
assist all students with the problem-solving process.
 By utilizing these tools and recognizing the dual roles of declarative and
procedural cognitive strategies, teachers can help English language learners
think about and manage learning.

14. COMPUTERS AS COGNITIVE ENHANCERS
 Computer environments that provide students with
continuous access to tools such as notebooks,
drawing programs, calculators, and microphones
facilitate remembering through writing, sketching,
or recording information.

15. HOW CAN A TEACHER DECIDE WHICH TECHNOLOGY TOOLS CAN
SUPPORT INCREASED THINKING IN THE ELL CLASSROOM?
The kinds of tools
chosen by the teacher
matters.

16. HOW CAN THE TEACHER SELECT SOFTWARE THAT AFFORDS
THINKING?
 Linda Polin (1992) suggests the following characteristics of tools to be
important:
1. The learner performs a whole, meaningful task, not a subskill.
2. The tool carries some of the burden of the task. It scaffolds the elements
of the task the learner cannot accomplish alone.
3. The tool allows increasingly complex versions of the task to be carried out
by turning back some of the task burden to the learner.

17. PROPOSED CRITERIA FOR SELECTING SOFTWARE
 What is the theorical approach to learning used in the design of the tool? Does the
software Provide opportunities for students to interact with complex problems in a variety
of different ways and at different levels?
 Are there opportunities to process information Using all modalities?
 Are there opportunities for students to work together in groups as they interact with the
computer- based material or does the software afford only individual use?
 Is the computer-learning environment well organized? Is it easy to navigate?
 Can students use the software to generate a variety of different types of answers or
products?
 Can the teacher modify the program to meet the needs of students learning English, and is
clear documentation provided on how to do this?

18. DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS THAT
REQUIRE THINKING
The selected tools must be integrated into what has
been called problem-centered (Norton and Wiburg,
1998), problem- based, project-based, or inquiry-
based learning. Each of these approaches have in
common roots within a social constructivist view of
learning.

19. WHAT IS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM?
Design a curriculum in which students are
afforded opportunities to construct their
own meaning through student- directed
interaction with rich resources and
problems.

20. DESIGNING PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
 One model for designing problem- centered learning suggests following 4 stages of
design (Norton and Wiburg, 1998):
1. Introduce and then help students to further define the problem.
2. Help students to build a knowledge base related to the problem through print and
electronic resources, simulations, presentations and discussions.
3. Acting as a facilitator to provide the students with the additional time, resources, and
necessary scaffolding to answer their essential questions.
4. The teacher needs to help students to evaluate and possibly modify their alternative
solutions to problems and to reflect on and evaluate their own learning.

21. TEACHING THINKING TO ELL STUDENTS IN
THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM
 All students can learn to use scientific
processes, generating questions,
sharing guesses, analyzing and
suggesting other ways to answer the
questions posed. While such activities
require thinking and promote
language learning, they are not
necessarily dependent on high level
English language skills.

22. 1. INTRODUCING THE PROBLEM
 Each of the projects has an opening scenario designed to
engage students in the topic to be studied.
 Each of the centers must be developed in order to meet
student needs and interests and to ensure that all content
and process science standards are included.

23. 2. CLARIFYING THE QUESTIONS AND
DEVELOPING A KNOWLEDGE BASE
The teacher is ensuring that students
construct an adequate knowledge base to
work on the problem in their small groups.

24. 3. PROVIDING STUDENTS TIME TO WORK ON CAREFULLY
STRUCTURED TASKS RELATED TO THE PROBLEM
 During this center time the teacher pulls out small
groups of students to meet with her and asks
questions about their work . Sometimes they ask
questions and want a quick teacher answer, but this
teacher is careful to ask them how they might find
out and to guide them to answering the questions
themselves.

25. 4. HELPING STUDENTS DESIGN THEIR PRESENTATIONS
AND EVALUATE THEIR ANSWERS
Teacher helps students to reflect back on
their process of learning, helping them to
develop metacognitive skills and self-
directed learning skills.

26. CONCLUSION
All students learn best
when provided with
opportunities to
investigate problems
and construct their
own solutions.