Imagine science classrooms in which:
The teacher pushes a steel needle through a balloon and the balloon does not burst. The teacher asks the students to find out why the balloon didn't burst.
Students are dropping objects into jars containing liquids with different densities and record the time it takes each object to reach the bottom of the jar. They are trying to find out about viscosity.
Students are using probes connected to a microcomputer to measure the heart rates of students before and after five minutes of exercise. They are investigating the effect of exercise on pulse rate.
Students are reading newspaper articles on the topic of toxic waste dumps in order to form opinions about a proposed dump being established in their community.
In each case, students are actively involved in measuring, recording data, and proposing alternative ideas to solve problems, find meaning, and acquire information. In these situations, students were involved in the process of inquiry.
The greatest challenge to those who advocate inquiry teaching is the threat to the traditional and dominant role of the teacher in secondary education. It is worthwhile to explore inquiry teaching because of its relationship to the essence of science and because of the philosophical implications of siding with an inquiry approach.
By taking a stand in favor of inquiry teaching, the teacher is saying, "I believe students are capable of learning how to learn; they have within their repertoire the abilities as well as the motivation to question, to find out about, and seek knowledge; they are persons and therefore learners in their own right, not incomplete adults."
The philosophy of inquiry implies that the teacher views the learner as a thinking, acting, responsible person.