Having received clear and inspiring directives for implementing change in the way we teach undergraduates science, we can now focus on mechanisms to initiate that change in instruction at an earlier stage in the education process. For the purpose of this article, we consider the science-education process as having two critical phases: an initial phase of inquiry-based learning (K–12 science) and a maturation phase of inquiry-based learning (undergraduate science education and beyond).
As you would suspect, it is much more difficult to initiate inquiry-based learning at the maturation phase than at the initiation phase. The question, then, is what we can do to induce inquiry-based instruction at the initial phase so that students enter undergraduate courses in the questioning mode rather than the passive-recipient-of-information mode. Having students who enter college in the questioning mode will allow college science instructors to implement immediately the exciting changes a national conference organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and supported by the National Science Foundation recommended for improving undergraduate science education.
So how can the K – 12 science teacher initiate the inquiry-based learning phase when there is little classroom time left to teach science and no resources to purchase science teaching materials?
One answer is that students don't need lots of classroom time or resources to ask questions that reflect an innate need to know or natural curiosity. Later, in college, they can learn how to formulate scientific questions and utilize scientific tools.
Nature already has performed many of the experiments that can be used in K – 12. In addition, nearby research institutions can help train K – 12 teachers using faculty-based research. Thus, the teacher needs only to learn how to use nature's experiments to get the students to ask questions – questions such as, "How do we know?"
Once students understand that scientific information is based on evidence and that they have the right to ask for that evidence, then they are ready to understand the scientific process.
Here's hoping that resource or time limits inspire numerous creative ways for K – 12 teachers to initiate inquiry-based learning so that students enter undergraduate science courses in the questioning mode.