An article published in the Science Educator by NCSLA members Meg Blanchard, Cathy Wallwork and Beth Harris was selected for inclusion in this summer's NSTA “Research Worth Reading”. The article, "Progress on Implementing Inquiry in North Carolina: Nearly 1,000 Elementary, Middle and High School Science Teachers Weigh In" gives the results of a survey of almost 1000 educators to determine the extent to which teachers report employing inquiry in their science teaching, how their use of inquiry varies by student level, and what contextual factors relate to teachers’ inquiry implementation.
NCSLA Survey on Inquiry
Each year NCSLA conducts a survey of its membership and science educators across the state. The results of the survey are published here along with links to materials on the same subject.
Over 1000 teachers from all over North Carolina completed the 2010 NCSLA Survey on Inquiry in the Science Classroom. The results of the survey are currently being compiled and was published in the Spring 2011 issue of NSELA's Science Educator Journal.
The following are resources for advocating for and implimenting inquiry in science classes:
- Scientific Inquiry - NSTA Position Paper
- National Science Education Standards
- Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: a Guide for Teaching and Learning
- Learning Science Through Inquiry - a video workshop
- Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry - NIH Curriculum Supplement Series
- Electronic Quality of Inquiry Protocol (EQUIP) - designed to measure the quantity and quality of inquiry instruction being facilitated in K-12 math and science classrooms.
- Assessing Inquiry Learning - an NSTA Science Learning Newsletter (July 2011)