Argument-Driven Inquiry: Transforming laboratory experiences so students can use core ideas, crosscutting concepts and scientific practice to make sense of natural phenomena
Connect & Engage
Participants will examine and discuss several proposed shifts in what students and teachers do inside the classroom in order to align instruction with current research on learning. They will look for and discuss shortcomings in many common instructional approaches and widely used instructional materials in light of these proposed shifts.
Learn
Participants will be introduced to the Argument-Driven Instructional model. The facilitator will then demonstrate an ADI investigation from start to finish and will stop between each stage of the model to foster a discussion about issues that teachers need to keep in mind to facilitate learning during that stage of the model.
After this initial demonstration, we will discuss the nature of scientific arguments, the differences between hypotheses, predictions, conclusions, and claims, and ways to support students as they learn to design and carry out investigations using samples of student work.
Next, the facilitator will demonstrate a second investigation from a different content area. This part of the institute will end will a discussion of ways to make accommodations and scaffold participation in the practices of science during each stage of the instructional model in order meet the needs of all learners inside a classroom.
Reflect & Apply
Participants will be given an opportunity to create a plan to integrate ADI investigations into their own curriculum and identify specific ADI investigations to use based on their unique context and goals. The institute will conclude with a discussion of the 'big take-aways' and goal setting for the following academic year.
Outcomes
At the end of the institute, the participants will be able to:
• describe the key elements of Argument-Driven Inquiry;
• explain how Argument-Driven Inquiry is different from typical approaches to laboratory instruction;
• describe how Argument-Driven Inquiry is aligned with current research on how people learn; and,
• explain why Argument-Driven Inquiry fosters student learning of core ideas, crosscutting concepts, scientific practices, and literacy skills.
