Tools to Support Inquiry  During this segment of the INTEC course each participant selects curriculum materials
from one of the modules prepared by the collaborating curriculum development projects. Participants
research, do experiments, run models or build simulations, conduct field studies, and analyze their results.
By doing the mathematics or science within these modules participants develop the technical skills and
teaching strategies useful in supporting inquiry in their own classrooms. As our local study groups are multidisciplinary, offerings in this segment of the course provide multiple modules for extended study. Each participant selects one module and joins a virtual group with others in the same cohort. This group works with an online Field Expert to learn new tools for inquiry and new topics within their own discipline. Field Experts are teachers who have already used the curriculum in their classroom. Participants also present their work at their study group meetings. Each participant gains in-depth knowledge about one content module, as well as exposure to other modules studied by colleagues at their site. Thus he or she becomes a "peer expert" for others at the school who might also be interested in the curriculum. |
| The table below gives some idea of the richness of the offerings in the INTEC content modules. |
| IF YOU TEACH... | GRADE LEVEL | INTEC MODULE | |
Algebra/
|
Middle School | Algebra with Manipulatives TI CBL Measurement in Motion SimCalc |
|
| Secondary | Algebra with Manipulatives TI CBL Measurement in Motion SimCalc VideoPoint |
||
Geometry |
Middle School/Secondary | Algebra | |
Calculus/ |
Secondary | TI CBL Measurement in Motion SimCalc VideoPoint |
|
Life Science |
Middle School/Secondary | BioQUEST GenScope Global Lab |
|
Environmental/ |
Middle School | BioQUEST Global Lab Mars Exploration |
|
| Secondary | BioQUEST Global Lab |
||
Chemistry |
Secondary |
TI CBL LOGAL Chemical Kinetics |
|
Physics/ | Middle School | TI CBL Measurement in Motion | |
| Secondary | TI CBL Hands On Physics Measurement in Motion VideoPoint | ||
Technology/ | Middle School/ Secondary | BioQUEST GenScope Global Lab Measurement in Motion VideoPoint |
| Material prepared by collaborating curriculum development projects represents a segment of full-year, half-year, or replacement units for extended investigation. Certainly each of these modules contain far more than can be presented in the INTEC course. In Tools, the focus is gaining familiarity with the requisite tool for inquiry. In the next topic, Content Support for Inquiry, teachers use the tool to explore guided and more open forms of inquiry in their discipline. |
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| INTEC, A project of The Concord Consortium. Copyright © 1998, All rights reserved. | |