Reflecting on What I Know - Chapter 5

How can I get my students to ask questions about the research they are conducting?
The ultimate goal of the NTeQ and other learning models is to create a self-regulated student, or a student who uses specific strategies to complete a learning task. One part of being a self-regulated thinker is asking questions about what one is learning. One way a teacher can encourage questions about research from students is to create Think Sheets. Think Sheets are a great way for teachers to model inquiry skills, by including questions on the sheets that are appropriate and related to the research at hand. This model provided by the teacher will help the student to see when questions are appropriate and what type of questions to ask based on the problem.

Behavior Think Sheet
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How can I teach my students to solve problems?
When using an NTeQ lesson, teachers should also use the NTeQ problem-solving process to teacher their students how to solve the problem at hand. This process is in alignment with Bloom's Taxonomy and focuses on higher-level thinking to generate the solution. The teacher must first present the problem in an interesting way to build student curiosity, and have students write a sentence to clearly define the problem. Students must then find what is known about the problem and what needs to be known to solve the problem, which a teacher can model with a KWL chart. The next step is to identify data that is needed to solve the problem, which the teacher can assist with by offering discrimination skills on the matter. During the following phase, determining how to analyze the data, teachers must show students how to use appropriate computer applications. Performance think sheets are good method of helping students generate possible solutions. Evaluation criteria offered by the teacher help students evaluate each possible solution. A teacher can model how to select the best solution based on those criteria. Finally, teacher can help students select the most appropriate method to present their findings. The NTeQ problem-solving process, as modeled in the textbook, is a great way to teach students how to solve problems presented in lessons.

I've never used an inquiry-based approach, much less computer - so how is a teacher supposed to do both of these at the same time?
Computers are excellent tools in helping to create and solve a problem-based learning approach. Technology helps support the problem-based learning approach because computers act as information providers and supports to the various steps of the inquiry-based approach. Computers aid in providing research information. They aid in organizing data. The list of their contributions to the learning process can go on and on. Also, computers can be integrated into an inquiry-based learning environment in the most simple and basic ways. Teachers should learn basic knowledge of computers as they can be a great support to this learning method.