Conceptual Inquiry Project

Conceptual Inquiry Project

It's year-long! As part of a yearlong research project, juniors at MEHS research a thematic topic of importance such as Truth, Beauty, Justice, Honor, Same/Other, etc. This month, they continue their inquiry by finding one book-length reading of non-fiction to fuel their knowledge and also listen to two radio documentaries on the topic. We offer them this list of sources:

Multi-modal Inquiry
PRX: http://www.prx.org/

NPR: http://www.npr.org/

Radio Lab: http://www.radiolab.org/

Re: sound: http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/library

This American Life: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Ideas: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/

The Next Big Thing: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/tnbt/2006/jan/

Fresh Air: http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/

Snap Judgment: http://www.snapjudgment.org/

I am so excited to see how the students' understandings of their topics--understandings that have been building of the course of the whole school year--will grow and develop as they listen to others engage in the topic in online forums. This is so exciting!

What is significant about this? So much of what we teach is forgettable and in bits and pieces. When we offer students choice of topic and the means by which to explore the topic in depth, we help them to make meaning, creating durable pathways of understanding.

Thanks to my colleagues Greg, Kate and Bob for sharing this cool project with me!

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