%0 Journal Article
%T Inquiry Learning: Instructor Perspectives
%A Susan Vajoczki
%A Susan Watt
%A Michelle M. Vine
%J Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
%D 2011
%I Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
%X The rise of the research intensive university has led some critics to argue that teaching has been discounted in favour of research, and thus the academy has ¡°failed...their undergraduate populations¡± (Boyer Commission, 1998, p .5). This paper examines instructor perceptions of inquiry at an institution with a significant history of providing inquiry learning opportunities to undergraduate students. Inquiry learning is typically seen as a pedagogical approach, both a method and a process, delivered in small class settings. Qualitative data were collected through interviews (n=16) with instructors who used inquiry in their teaching to elicit instructor perceptions of inquiry teaching. Content analysis was performed on the interviews to extract themes. Results suggest that instructors approached their inquiry teaching differently - some adopting an intentional and some an unintentional approach. There was general consensus that teaching and learning academic skills is valuable, inquiry instructors are facilitators, technology has only a modest place in the inquiry classroom, and larger classes inhibit inquiry. Responses were mixed about the importance of stand-alone inquiry courses. Teaching such courses appears to change the instructor¡¯s perspective about inquiry.L¡¯augmentation des universit¨¦s qui sont de plus en plus ax¨¦es sur la recherche a soulev¨¦ quelques critiques ¨¤ l¡¯effet que l¡¯enseignement ait ¨¦t¨¦ d¨¦laiss¨¦ au profit de la recherche et que, cons¨¦quemment, les institutions d¡¯enseignement ont   laiss¨¦ tomber¡­ leurs ¨¦tudiants de premier cycle   (Boyer Commission 1998, p. 5). Le pr¨¦sent article porte sur la perception des enseignants d¡¯un ¨¦tablissement qui pr¨¦conise depuis longtemps des pratiques p¨¦dagogiques notamment la - m¨¦thode d¡¯enqu¨ºte- pour favoriser l¡¯apprentissage de leurs ¨¦tudiants de premier cycle. Cette m¨¦thode est g¨¦n¨¦ralement consid¨¦r¨¦e comme une approche p¨¦dagogique qui se pr¨¦occupe tant de l¡¯objet que du procesus d¡¯apprentissage. Des entrevues r¨¦alis¨¦es aupr¨¨s d¡¯enseignants qui utilisent cette m¨¦thode ont permis de recueillir des donn¨¦es qualitatives (n=16) afin de savoir ce qu¡¯ils en pensaient. Les chercheurs ont analys¨¦ le contenu des entrevues pour en extraire des th¨¨mes. Les r¨¦sultats indiquent que les enseignants abordent la m¨¦thode d¡¯enqu¨ºte de mani¨¨re diff¨¦rente : certains adoptant une approche intentionnelle et d¡¯autres une approche non intentionnelle. Les enseignants s¡¯entendent sur les ¨¦l¨¦ments suivants : l¡¯enseignement et l¡¯apprentissage des strat¨¦gies p¨¦dagogiques sont utiles, les enseignants qui utilisent la m¨¦thode d¡¯enqu
%K inquiry
%K teaching and learning
%K qualitative evaluation
%K instructor perceptions
%U http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol2/iss2/3