Comparitvie+Article

Discovery and Inquiry Learning Discovery Learning and Inquiry teaching have many things in common actually. They can be both categorized as the type of learning a person does when they are left alone. Discovery learning is described when someone does a period of testing on his/her own to discover the solution. While inquiry teaching is the practice of giving something to a person whether it be an object or a problem and letting that person make their own conclusion about it. Many key phrases have been used to describe both of these theories such as inductive thinking, creative thinking, and learning through curiosity. In many cases discovery learning is achieved through Inquiry teaching. Inquiry based learning is a form of self-directed learning that follows the 4 basic stages defining self-directed learning. Students take more responsibility for: determining how they need to learn, identifying resources and how best to learn from them, using resources and reporting their learning, and assessing their progress in learning. Teaching through inquiry involves engaging students in the research process with instructor support and coaching at a level appropriate to their starting skills. Students learn discipline specific content but in doing so, engage and refine their inquiry skills. An inquiry course is always question driven, rather than topic or thesis driven. It usually begins with a general theme to act as a starting point or trigger for learning. First it emphasizes good researchable questions on the theme, and then coaches students in doing this. In the process of research this also builds library, interview and web-searching skills, along with the critical thinking skills necessary for thoughtful review of the information. After the research teachers coaches students on how to best report their learning in oral or written form.