Module 4

Lesson 4 : ENHANCING HIGHER-ORDER THINKING SKILLS

Lesson 5 : INQUIRY APPROACH
I .Learning Competencies :
1. To promote higher forms of thinking in education using Bloom’s taxonomy to
provide students with the skills and motivation to become innovative producers of
goods, services, and ideas
2. To apply critical thinking in the discussion of the lesson in daily classes.
3. To set the pathway toward a standard-based approach to teaching science by
inquiry.
4. To support the adoption of inquiry teaching by demonstrating ways to reduce the
constrains presented by teachers and school organizations
5. To demonstrate and disseminate methods in effective introduction of inquiry to
science classrooms .

Duration : 4 weeks

Lesson 4 : Enhancing Higher – Order Thinking Skills

INTRODUCTION
Thinking skills are natural to every learning activity. They are mental processes we use to do
things like : solve problems, make decisions, ask questions, construct plans, generate ideas,
organize information and create objects. Mere recall of facts and information is of little value to
students, rather they must be trained in the use of thinking skills. To date, there is heightened
awareness and interest among educators on the need to help students how to think and ultimately
learn how to learn.
The teacher should a have sound knowledge of what thinking is and the nature of human
discourse in the process of learning what to think. A number of questions come to mind. What does
thinking mean? What are thinking skills? What are higher-order thinking skills?
Definition
Higher-order thinking, known as higher order thinking skills (HOTS), is a concept of education
reform based on learning taxonomies (such as Bloom's taxonomy). Higher-order thinking skills as
“abstract intellectual processes and operations”. It tends to be complex with multiple situations, and
involves application of multiple criteria.
Thinking is a process involving such mental operations as induction, deduction,
classification, and reasoning. It is the ability to analyze and criticize and to reach conclusions
based on sound inference or judgement.
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 Classification
Arrend classifies thinking skills into the following:
A. Inferential thinking
1.Formulating inferences
2.Observing relationships
3.Drawing conclusions and generalizations
B.Critical thinking
1. Analysis
2. Evaluation
C.Creative thinking
1. Synthesis
2. Fluency and flexibility
3. Originality
4. Imagination
D.Combination of thinking skills
1. Problem solving
2. Decision-making
 Inferential thinking refers to the ability to form ideas based on observation. Clues are put
together in order to understand information that is not directly stated, but implied. An
inference may be an explanation of an observation. It sometimes ends as conclusion.
Observing relationships enables one to perceive similarities or differences in ideas or
objects. A conclusion is a statement or decision based on evidences on hand.
Generalizing entails grasping an overall meaning from a number of conclusions.
 Critical thinking is the process of mentally acting on something that already exist by
interpreting, analyzing, or evaluating it in some ways. It is reasonable reflective thinking
that is focused on deciding what to believe or do.
Why is Critical Thinking important in teaching? According to Paul and Elder (2007), “Much of
our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet the
quality of our life and that of which we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of
our thought.” Critical thinking is therefore the foundation of a strong education.

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Skills, the goal is to move students

from lower- to higher-order thinking
from knowledge (information gathering)
to comprehension (confirming)
to application (making use of knowledge)
to analysis (taking information apart)
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to evaluation (judging the outcome)
to synthesis (putting information together) and creative generation
thus providing students with the skills and motivation to become innovative producers of
goods, services, and ideas. This does not have to be a linear process, but can move back
and forth, and skip steps.
How do I incorporate them into my syllabus? The most obvious space to embed critical
thinking in a Syllabus is in the Student-Learning Outcomes section. Learning objectives contain an
action (verb) and an object (noun), and often start with, “Student’s will be able to…” Bloom’s
taxonomy (link) can help you to choose appropriate verbs to clearly state what you want students
to exit the course doing, and at what level.
Examples:
Students will be able to define the principle components of the water cycle. (This is an example of
a lower-order thinking skill.)
Students will be able to evaluate how increased/decreased global temperatures will affect the
components of the water cycle. (This is an example of a higher-order thinking skill.)
Both of the above examples are about the water cycle, and both require the foundational
knowledge that form the “facts” of what makes up the water cycle, but the second objective goes
beyond facts to an actual understanding, application and evaluation of the water cycle.
Using a tool such as Bloom’s Taxonomy to set learning objectives helps to prevent vague, non-
evaluative expectations. It forces us to think about what we mean when we say, “Students will
learn…”: What is learning; how do we know they are learning? When we say, “Students will
understand…,” what does understanding look like; how will we evaluate it?
How do I incorporate critical thinking into my course overall and into my daily classes?
Getting students to think critically about material requires you to develop habits of repeatedly
demonstrating your own processes in class, and perhaps giving them time to practice similar
processes.
Start with your syllabus and then develop bigger-questions based on each learning objective.
What is it that you find interesting or exciting about the material encompassed in each objective?
Then, look at your course schedule and try to come up with a big question for each day/topic. Make
your questions open-ended (not yes or no) so that students will have opportunities to discuss their
own ideas and where those ideas come from.
Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you develop your questions too and should also be a part of a
routine process of your daily classes; see” The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s
Taxonomy “ In The Classroom by Larry Ferlazzo.

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  Analysis is the act of critically examining. Evaluation includes questioning and making
judgements based on existing information. It is the process of breaking down a something
into its parts to learn what they do and how they relate to one another. Examining blood in
a lab to discover all of its components is an example of analysis.
 Creative thinking, unlike critical thinking, leads to the development of new and unusual
ideas. Creativity refers to one’s ability to originate solutions, try new procedures, or arrive
at unique designs.
 Synthesis means combining simple ideas or elements into larger concepts.
 Fluency is the skill of generating many ideas
 Flexibility is the creation of ideas that fit into many different categories.
 Imagination enables one to create a mental picture of a thing that is not present at the
moment .
 Originality is the ability to produce unique responses.
 Problem solving basically consist of: a) identifying a problem, b) forming hypothesis, c)
testing the hypothesis, and d) forming a conclusion. Decision-making involves the
following steps: a) identifying a goal, b) collecting relevant data, and c) identifying
alternatives d) analyzing the alternatives, and e) choosing the best alternatives.

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 Figure 1 : Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
.

Strategies for Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills

Certain teacher behaviors enhance higher-order thinking such as:
1.Questioning Techniques. There are types of questions that help students gather meaningful
information and process them in order to arrive at ideas that can be applied to new situations of the
how and why types sharpen their reasoning power. Open-ended questions and divergent questions
require from students greater response and provide creative insights compared to those that simply
require recall or memorization of facts. Sufficient wait time after posing the proper question gives
students time to think about possible answers.
The following are some questioning techniques you could consider using:
a. Funnel questions. This strategy involves asking a series of questions, starting from the
general to more specific questions.

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This technique involves starting with general questions, and then drilling down to a more specific
point in each. Usually, this will involve asking for more and more detail at each level. It's often used
by detectives taking a statement from a witness: "How many people were involved in the fight?"

Funnel questions are good for:

Finding out more detail about a specific point: "Tell me more about Option Two." Gaining the
interest or increasing the confidence of the person you're speaking with: "Have you used the IT
Helpdesk?," "Did it solve your problem?," "What was the attitude of the person who took your call?"
Questioning Techniques - Communication Skills From ...www.mindtools.com
b .Open and closed questions. ...
Open-ended questions prompt a conversation because they can't be answered with one-word
answers. An example of an open-ended question would be 'Where do you want to be in five
years?' The answer to this questions varies from person to person, and can only be answered with
a unique perspective that usually prompts a longer conversation.
Open-ended questions are broad and can be answered in detail (e.g. "What do you think
about this product?"), while closed-ended questions are narrow in focus and usually
answered with a single word or a pick from limited multiple-choice options (e.g. "Are you
satisfied with this product?" → Yes/No/Mostly/Not quite).
By understanding the difference between the two, you can learn to ask better questions and get
better, more actionable answers.
c .Probing questions. ...
Probing questions are designed to encourage deep thought about a specific topic. They are
typically open-ended questions, meaning the answers are primarily subjective.
Probing Questions: Definition, Comparisons and Examples ...www.indeed.com › Career Guide ›
Career Development
Examples of probing questions for interviews
“Tell me more about that.”
“What led you to . . . “
“What eventually happened?”
“Looking back, what would you do differently now, if anything?”
“Compare this to what others have done.”
“What did your supervisor say / do?”
“What was the outcome?”
“What was the situation?”
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Why do you think this is the case? What do you think would happen if…?

d. Leading questions. ...

A leading question is a question which subtly prompts the respondent to answer in a particular
way. Leading questions are generally undesirable as they result in false or slanted information. For
example: Do you have any problem with your boss?
Leading Questions - Media Collegewww.mediacollege.com › journalism › interviews › leading
Leading Questions: Definition and Characteristics with ...https://www.questionpro.com › blog ›
leading-questions

What are leading questions questions?

Leading question is a type of question that pushes respondents to

answer in a specific manner, based on the way they are framed. More
than often, these questions already contain information that survey creator
wants to confirm rather than try to get a true and an unbiased answer to
that question.

Leading Questions: Definition and Characteristics with ...

https://www.questionpro.com › blog › leading-questions

1.

e. Rhetorical questions.

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A rhetorical question is a question someone asks without expecting an answer. The question might
not have an answer, or it might have an obvious answer. So, why would you ask a question and
not expect an answer? Don't the two go hand in hand?
Here are some rhetorical question examples that are very obvious, either because they're
discussing commonly known facts or because the answer is suggested in context clues. These
rhetorical questions are often asked to emphasize a point:
Is the pope Catholic?
Is rain wet?
You didn't think I would say yes to that, did you?
Do you want to be a failure for the rest of your life?
Does a bear poop in the woods?
Can fish swim?
Can birds fly?
Do dogs bark?
Nov 15, 2014 - CareerAddictwww.careeraddict.com › top-5-effective-questioning-tech
2. Discussion format. The teacher acts as the discussion leader. She can create a conductive
atmosphere that could enhance higher-order thinking skills by allowing free discussions. Greater
interaction in the classroom is facilitated. Lecture methodologies lessen student involvement. Small
group discussions encourage focused thinking about a particular topic, resulting in high level
arguments.
3. Problem-solving approach. Various type of thinking skills can be developed when students are
confronted with a problem or a situation that needs immediate solution. They are required to gather
facts about the situation and determine additional information needed. In so doing they suggest
alternative solutions and test which solution is most appropriate. Their abilities to weigh evidences,
analyze recorded observations, and arrive at conclusions are enhanced greatly.
4. Creative thinking activities.
Activities such as brain-storming, simulation and role-playing stimulate students to come up
with original, unique and new ideas. Brainstorming generates many ingenious ideas out of the
student’s own imagination and style of reasoning. Simulations involve students in creating real life
situations wherein they play of their own choice. By acting it out they come to understand the
processes they undergo in solving problems and in analyzing and interpreting new information.
Role playing is a way wherein a student assumes the role of another person in order to understand
ones feelings. This method can develop communication skills, creative thinking processes, and
clarification of values.
5. Tests and Evaluative Instruments.

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 Evaluation procedures should require analysis and interpretation of information rather than the
traditional recall type of assessment. A holistic approach to evaluation considers not only
acquisition of knowledge but the development of inquiry skills and scientific attitudes as well. The
evaluation technique employed by the teacher will encourage the students to think critically and not
merely accumulate knowledge for its own sake.
6.Modeling Strategies.
The teacher herself can demonstrate the higher-order thinking skills by using common
everyday problems and exhibiting her own way of responding in a very scientific manner. She
should be able to share with the students the steps involved in critical thinking. Everyday problems
along with scientific examples can be used to show how these skills can be employed in all aspects
of life. She herself must be free from bias and prejudices. Sharpness in observations can be
contagious. She can model analytical responses.
III Activity
Directions: Directions: Read and reflect on the following questions then give your
reaction.Write your answers in the answer sheet.
1. Is it easy for you to analyze and synthesize ideas into larger concepts and generalizations? Can
you develop the same with your more advanced students?
2. As adult we immediately formulate inferences even before we could gather sufficient proofs.
What could be the reasons for this not-so-sound conclusions? Shouldn’t we discourage such
reactions among the inexperienced? What advice can you offer?
3. We expect teachers adept at employing higher-order thinking skills to be free from biases and
superstitions. Do you find this to be true? Have you observed the same with your previous
teachers?

Lesson 5 : THE INQUIRY APPROACH

A. Children Ask Questions
How would a science teacher who hears this short conversation feel about her teaching?
Two fourth graders were noticed peeping into their science room and watching their teachers
arrange some materials on the table minutes before the science class.
Pupil 1: Wow, maybe we will do many things again today! I can see her putting many things on the
table. (wide-eyed) Did you see the magnet?

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Pupil 2: Ay, I like that. I have a small magnet at home and I can do magic with it. I can make some
things jump and stay with it.
Pupil 1: What? Magic?! There is no such thing as magic.
Pupil 2: Sometimes if it does not like the thing, it will not make it stick. Oh, how I enjoy playing with
it, Together with my younger sister.
Pupil 1: Oh, I don’t believe in magic. It is our time. Hurry!
The above conversation can be interpreted in several ways by different listeners. To the science
teacher of those pupils, the remarks can serve as a clue to what children enjoy doing inside the
classroom. Involvement in class activities is the surest way to start a fruitful inquiry lesson. To most
of the children, activities inside the classroom afford them to experience “those magic” for the first
time, and so it should not be hard for teachers to set the stage for their voluntary involvement. She
should also realize that children ask a lot of questions, especially when provoked during an
investigation. They are always inquiring about the things around them. As parents or teachers, we
get overwhelmed by the intelligent, strange, and sometimes funny questions they ask everyday.
One question leads to another, some relevant, others irrelevant. Some reveal the influence of the
media, others the information that parents hand down through generations.
The elementary science teacher is lucky she does not have to prod children to ask questions
that reveal many interesting hints on how to make succeeding lessons exciting and enjoyable. An
alert teacher will seize such fine opportunities to use these questions as launching points for
increased participation. No doubt, the innocent remarks of the two pupils left their science teacher
rewarded for her efforts and highly motivated to plan more challenging sessions.
B. What is the Inquiry Approach?
The inquiry approach, sometimes termed “discovery,” “scientific thinking,”“heuristic,” “problem-
solving” by various authorities, is defined by Kuslan and Stone1 as simply a teaching method which
is “modeled after the investigative processes of scientists.” It puts a premium on obtaining
information through direct experiences with scientific phenomena. Through this approach the child
is led to seek relevant evidence in pursuit of an answer to a scientific question mainly through his
own activity.
Remer discusses inquiry in terms of changes in the child’s cognitive structure.2 .When a
learner is learning by interacting with his environment, he is inquiring. Inquiry, then, can be thought
of as the classroom methodology to promote the building and changing of cognitive structures. If,
however, you look more closely at what inquiry actually is, you find that it is asking about
something, receiving information, and processing that information. The seeking, receiving, and
processing of information require that the child compare, classify, evaluate, analyze, synthesize,

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and utilize all the rational powers. Inquiry, then, is the methodology necessary for the development
not only of cognitive structures but also of the rational powers.
Some authors use the term inquiry approach and discovery approach interchangeably since
both involve the children in self-directed activities, both are undertaken in response to a scientific
question or problem, and both require the use of some investigative processes. Others contend
that discovery, if taken to mean the obtaining of knowledge for the first time, can be considered as
only a part of what makes up the whole range of learning experiences resulting from the inquiry
method of teaching.
C. What is Inquiry Teaching?
Kuslan defines inquiry teaching as “that teaching by which teachers and children study scientific
phenomena with the approach and the spirit of the scientist.”
Inquiry according to him is learning in which the following instructional characteristics are
consistently present.
1.Scientific processes such as observing, measuring, estimating, predicting, comparing,
classifying, experimenting, communicating, inferring, analyzing, and drawing out inductions are
habitually employed by children and teachers.

2.Time is unimportant .There is no urgency to complete a topic in order to meet a deadline.

3.The answers sought are not known in advance to children. Not only are these answers not often
found in the textbooks, but textbooks and manuals are chosen because they ask questions and
suggest ways, of finding answers, but do not give answers.
4. Children are genuinely interested in finding solutions.
5.The content of the inquiry Is not necessarily related to that which precedes or follows.
6. Teaching and learning are “why?” centered. Questions such as “How do we know?,” and “Are
we justified in this conclusion?” are characteristics of the inquiry style.
7.A problem of some kind is identified and narrowed until it seems probable that it can be solved by
the class.
8.Hypotheses are proposed by the class in order to guide the investigation.
9.Children take the responsibility for proposing ways of gathering the data from controlled
experimentation, observation, reading, and other pertinent sources.

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10.These proposals for action are cooperatively evaluated. Pertinent assumptions, limitations, and
difficulties are identified whenever possible.
11.Children investigate in small groups, as a class, and as individuals in order to gather the data by
which to test the hypothesis.
12. Children summarize their data and come to tentative conclusions about the adequacy of their
hypothesis.
13. Conclusions and explanations are incorporated whenever possible into the guiding themes of
the sciences.
Briefly, the goal of inquiry teaching is “to make children learn how scientists learn, and in the
process, learn science.” The process of obtaining information, therefore, is as important as the
knowledge sought. Such a manner of teaching provides the closest guarantee to the attainment of
the general objective of science education at present – which is to produce children who can think
and act like scientists. We mean children who possess scientific attitudes and values and who
would seek information or solve everyday problems by employing the processes of science.

D. Outcomes of Inquiry Teaching

Many science educators recognize the positive outcomes of inquiry teaching despite limited
experimental evidence as to its effectiveness in leading children to acquire a deeper understanding
of science knowledge. Because of its emphasis on the processes of gathering information, the
children are likely to miss the specific fact or simple principle in science being introduced. But what
need would young minds have for the encyclopedic presentation of terms and memorized
concepts? Definitely, mastery of content at this early age would prove futile both for the child and
the teacher as well. As Kuslan puts it, the function of inquiry is rather “to rescue children from the
deadly boredom of rote science instruction and demonstration and by encouraging them to rely to a
greater extent on their own resources, thus helping them attain more important goals.”
Studies, made by psychologists show that increased involvement of children in any learning
activity, especially in those that are familiar and interesting to them result in more meaningful
interaction in terms of the attention and effort solicited as well as understandings and satisfaction
gained.
Its close dependence on deriving learning through first-hand experience with objects and
phenomena in the child’s environment is certainly in agreement with most often cited theory of
Piaget on intellectual development. This points to the correspondence of the teaching methodology

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and the choice of instructional materials with the learning characteristics of children at certain
stages in their mental development.
Inquiry teaching allows some degree of freedom and divergent thinking. Children reset being
restricted both in movement and in forming their own ideas. They love to try their own ways of
doing things. This is a good chance for them to pursue their own learning methodologies.
Experience gained from independent inquiries make them realize that they can learn by
themselves. Children should be increasingly allowed to manage their own learning activities
because this ability, as our personal experiences will bear out, will be carried through and across
all aspects of their adult life.
Educators easily note that specific facts that children themselves discover become stored as
part of their permanent learning. Such facts are organized and associated with big generalizations
or ideas in science and so their recall from memory is facilitated when the need for such
information arises. This easy retrieval of past learning is different from memorized bits of
information in that the children spent time and effort to learn the former and, more important, it is
their own. It will likely be remembered for a long time.
Encouraging children to learn by such a method insures the attainment of one of the most
significant outcomes of Science teaching – developing a scientific mind as well as desirable social
values. This is expected since success in inquiry depends on a large extent in continuous training
in observation, experimentation, and, more important, deductive and inductive reasoning. Hence,
such traits as critical-mindedness, objectivity, and rationality become strongly developed among
them. Due to constant involvement in group activities, children become more cooperative, tolerant,
and considerate in dealing with others.
Experiencing success in discovery lessons builds up the child’s feeling of confidence. As a
result, he wants to do more, to discover more, and this is the kind of drive needed to keep the
wheels of the learning process turning. This kind of push is inner-directed. Such motivation brought
about by the “thrill of discovery”, coupled with the innate curiosity of young minds, provide the best
ingredients of continued learning by inquiry.
Finally, participation in inquiry activities strengthens one’s intellectual capabilities. One who
learns how to investigate and discover new information would be in better position to reason, either
by deduction, by conducting similar investigations, or by extending his inquiries outside the
laboratory, compared to one who misses the chance of even attempting to learn things by himself
through no fault of his own but due to the teachers’ insistence on more passive learning styles.
E. How Can We Facilitate Inquiry?
The core of inquiry is free, self-directed exploration. It should not be hampered by text-book tied
verifications nor by teacher-dictated procedures. Those teachers who were schooled in the more

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traditional teacher-dominated techniques will need a new orientation to be able to play the new role
of guiding rather than ordering children what they need to do.
To facilitate inquiry, the teacher should set the ideal classroom setting. She should carefully
plan the selected learning activity for the day, starting from the proper structuring of the room to
allow freedom of movement to the choice of appropriate tools and materials which can easily be
manipulated. A generally permissive and cooperative atmosphere for both the children and the
teacher is most conducive to an unfettered search for new information.
F. How To Start Inquiry Lessons
An ideal picture to imagine would be one where the teacher, after all the preparations, will, in
the tradition of a magician, turn every child in the room wide-eyed, excited, and with an eager-to-
know-why state of mind. Taking this cue, there are several ways of starting an inquiry lesson which
have proved successful in many classrooms observed.
The teacher may resort to:
a. a silent demonstration. Without announcing what they are about to see, she can proceed with a
simple demonstration about the concept to be introduced whose results are something new to
them. This will leave them in a state where they want to see more. This may also serves as a
come-on to try the same activity themselves. As a result of the last possibility, why-did-that-happen
looks will be registered in their faces. Whichever reaction is elicited, the teacher’s effort is rewarded
and the desire to learn assured.
b. a prepared set-up of apparatus prominently displayed, preferably on the teacher’s table. This will
instantly catch the children’s attention and before long the teacher will be besieged with questions.
Then she can take off from the nearest question asked to the investigation she has planned for the
day.
c. starting with an anecdote or recalling a recent startling event that is relevant to the lesson. This
never fails to arouse the pupils’ interest especially if they witnessed or participated in the event.
The participation in the following activity will be spontaneous and voluntary.
III. Activity
Directions: Read and reflect on the following questions then give your reaction.Write your
answers in the answer sheet
1. Is the “learning-by-doing” manner of teaching, most appropriate to describe inquiry
teaching?Explain and cite proofs if needed.
2. The goal of inquiry teaching is “to make children learn how scientists learn.” State your
own interpretation of this statement.

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 3. .Inquiry teaching is an agreement with the most cited theory of Piaget on the proper
choice of instructional materials when teaching children at certain stages in their mental
development. Cite examples if you support the same.
IV References:
1.Teaching Children Science by Gloria G. Salandanan, Ph.d.
2.The Art of Asking Open-Ended Questions - HubSpot Blogblog.hubspot.com › sales › the-art-of-
asking-open-ende.
3.Open-Ended Questions [vs Close-Ended] + 7 Examples - Hotjarwww.hotjar.com › blog › open-
ended-question
4..Analysis dictionary definition | analysis defined - YourDictionarywww.yourdictionary.com ›
analysis
5.Probing Questions: Definition, Comparisons and Examples ...www.indeed.com › Career Guide ›
Career Development
6.Leading Questions - Media Collegewww.mediacollege.com › journalism › interviews › leadin
7. CareerAddictwww.careeraddict.com › top-5-effective-questioning-tech

____________________ ________________________
Date Accomplished Pre-service Teacher’s
Signature over Printed Name

________________________
Date Received

“Bible Verse

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will
make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3 : 5 -6

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