Curiosity and open inquiry learning

Abstract

Asking questions is an activity central to inquiry learning. This research examined documents created during an open inquiry learning process of the Biomind programme for Israeli high school students. In addition, to understand how students express and develop curiosity in learning, we observed students during a molecular biology lesson, a subject not included in their inquiry project. We performed a grounded theory qualitative approach, based on content analysis. This paper presents four models for establishing logical associations between inquiry questions, and these can serve as a framework for the open inquiry plan. We found that students develop an open inquiry process on the basis of these models. In addition, we found that curious students conduct their inquiries by using the model providing the least degree of certainty, but a high degree of dynamic inquiry.

Keywords:

• Curiosity
• Inquiry learning
• Inquiry questions
• Open inquiry