Background for teachers on the Explore stage of Guided Inquiry Design.

  • "In the Explore phase of Guided Inquiry, students browse through various sources of information to explore interesting ideas and prepare to develop their inquiry questions. In this critical early phase of constructing new learning, students need to explore ideas rather than accumulate facts. The learning team guides students to browse and scan a variety of sources. Students dip into a few sources to make sense of the information they find and raise lots of new questions. In the Explore phase students survey a wide range of sources, read when they find something interesting, and reflect on questions that begin to shape their inquiry. Students often become overwhelmed by all the information and confused by the ideas that don't fit together. The learning team guides students to keep an open mind as they explore and reflect on new information. Guiding students through the Explore phase leads them to form a meaningful inquiry question." (3)
  • "In the Explore phase in Guided Inquiry, students browse through various sources of information to explore interesting ideas and prepare to develop their inquiry questions. In this critical early phase of constructing new learning, students need to explore ideas rather than accumulate facts. The learning team guides students to browse and scan a variety of sources. Students dip in to a few sources to make sense of the information they find and raise lots of additional questions." (75)
  • "In Explore, students survey a wide range of sources, read when they find something interesting, and reflect on questions that begin to shape their inquiry. Students often become overwhelmed by all the information and confused by the ideas that don't fit together. The learning team guides students to keep an open mind as they explore and reflect on new information. Guiding students through exploring leads them to form a meaningful inquiry question." (75)
  • "Explore usually is arranged in the library where resources are located, computers available for online access, and space is provided for a variety of exploratory search sessions. These sessions provide opportunities for students to browse and dip in to explore a range of sources. Exploring sources on general unexplained phenomena would be good for tab one." (86)

Kuhlthau, Carol Collier, Leslie K. Maniotes, and Ann K. Caspari.Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited, 2012. Print.