Exploring Personal Interests Through Critical Analysis & Research 10
This course supports students in engaging with dispositions, principles & practices of inquiry at an advanced level as a mode of exploring topics of personal interest that are multi-disciplinary and connect big ideas across disciplines and/or extend beyond curricular content and competencies in their core subject courses. Students will learn how to create a formal inquiry project proposal -incl developing an inquiry question, rationale, objectives, timeline, resources & means of sharing learning
Intended to meet the diverse learning needs of students who are interested in challenging themselves at an advanced level & thereby deepening their understanding of, and capabilities with, inquiry as a mode of learning. Students learn to approach new situations with a mindset of questioning and exploring what can be learned and an open-ness to learning from others. Engaging in more advanced inquiry work will approximate the kinds of research, and communities, they may encounter in university.
Inquiry is a means for connecting and engaging with communities of learners Authentic inquiry processes are self-directed and personally meaningful Inquiry is cyclical and through exploration and critical reflection, generates new questions Engaging with a variety of content, processes, and modes of expression fosters flexible thinking Inquiry supports holistic interdisciplinary & experiential approaches to learning
Resources used by students will vary widely depending on their personalized inquiry questions and topics. They are encouraged to use a variety of kinds of resources including but not limited to: •Interviews/conversations with people working in the relevant disciplines/fields Primary and secondary sources available to them through library or internet searches •News media •Film/documentary resources •Data & info they gather relevant to their topics (e.g., surveys of peers, observations)