InquiryBased Environments for the Inclusion of Students with Exceptional Learning Needs Whitney H' R

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Inquiry-Based Environments for the Inclusion of
Students with Exceptional Learning Needs -
Whitney H. Rapp

• Brittani Bernhard
• Elana Moriarty
• Elizabeth Keye
• Heather McKibben

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Definition of terms

• Qualitative study is the data collection in
  complex and interactive contexts over time, from
  many perspectives.
• Case study an in-depth study of one person or
  one situation.
• Scaffolding support for learning and problem
  solving. The support could be clues, reminders,
  encouragementor anything else that allows the
  student to grow in independence as a learner.

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Definition of terms continued

• Learning disability problem with acquisition
  and use of language may show up as difficulty
  with reading, writing, reasoning, and math.
• Learning community the creation of a cooperative
  community in the classroom.
• Self-regulation process of activating and
  sustaining thoughts, behaviors, and emotions in
  order to reach goals.
• Social learning theory theory that emphasizes
  learning through observation of others.

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Definition of terms continued

• Self-efficacy a persons sense of being able to
  deal effectively with a particular task.
• Modeling changes in behavior, thinking, or
  emotions that occur through observing another
  person.
• Constructivism view that emphasizes the active
  role of the learner in building understanding and
  making sense of information.

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Definition of terms continued

• Spiral curriculum Breners structure for
  teaching that introduces the fundamental
  structure of all subjects early in the school
  years, then revisits the subjects in more complex
  forms.
• Inquiry learning approach in which the teacher
  presents a puzzling situation and the students
  solve the problem by gathering data and listing
  their conclusions.
• Critical thinking evaluating conclusions by
  logically and systematically examining the
  problem, the evidence, and the solution.

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Purpose

• The study was conducted to gain awareness of the
  potential of childrens museums as successful
  learning environments for learners with
  exceptional needs, cognitively and socially.
• The study also sought to determine if such
  cognitive and social benefits, if any, were
  generalized to the classroom.

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Methodology

• Qualitative Research 18 students are placed in a
  museum four times to see how they interact in
  various settingssix are eligible for special
  education.
• Data is collected and checks cognitive along with
  social growth
• Interviews are conducted by the researchers
  toward parents, students, and other teachers.
  (on-the-spot interviews are also given)

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Findings

• Eight factors of successful learning environments
  were present to varying degrees in the museum
  setting.
• All 4 students evidenced cognitive or social
  growth, or both.

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Conclusions

• Matthew and Hannah demonstrated cognitive growth
  while Fiona and Connor showed social growth
• While supplementary programs are not necessary to
  education, they add richness to curriculum and
  make students excited to learn.

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Reflections

• Reactions
• Qualitative research study, presenting many views
  and perspectives.
• Clear planlooking for 8 factors.
• Very in-depth look at 4 students with varying
  backgrounds.

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Reflections continued.

• Possible changes
• This study could have been applied to more
  schools.
• Discuss the results of the other 14 students.
• Make the study longer than eight observations (4
  museum, 4 school).
• Limitation recognized by the researchers was the
  divergent expectations of the teacher and the
  researcher.

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• Questions ???