Immersing yourself in IBL at Westfield

Written by: Dr. Volker Ecke.

Come and explore IBL at Westfield

An inquiry-based learning classroom looks very different from a traditional classroom in so many ways. Consider the following aspects as examples: What are the goals and meta-goals do we have for our students? What types of investigations make sense for what kinds of classes? What format for student collaboration works well for what majors? What depth do we expect in student explanations? What general noise level in a class are you comfortable with? How many independent lines of thought are going on in a single classroom at the same time? What pedagogical "control knobs" does the faculty member have who is facilitating the inquiry? What pedagogical techniques are effective for engaging students in inquiry?

Many of these aspects are closely interrelated, difficult to untangle, and hard to communicate with precision and clarity through papers, blogs and even videos. In the spirit of inquiry, you really should be involved in the process of inquiry.

Wouldn't it be amazing to develop a collection of IBL hubs or centers across the US where mathematics faculty could immerse themselves for a day in a broad variety of IBL classroom experiences, explore IBL course materials, review studies and publications about IBL, and engage in deep pedagogical conversations with more experienced faculty in a department environment that welcomes broad exploration of IBL?

At Westfield State University, we happen to have a department where many faculty engage in IBL in a broad range of styles, content areas, and student audiences. We are welcoming faculty to visit with us for a day at Westfield State University. Depending on your interests, you can visit any class you want and engage with faculty on topics that help you develop as an IBL teacher.

If this sounds intriguing and you'd like to visit, please contact us and start a conversation about arrangements for your visit!

Sample Schedule

To give you a sense of what such a visit could look like, here's a sample schedule.

• Arrive, coffee/tea, checking in with faculty, quick orientation to the department
• Class visit 1 (e.g. Math for Liberal Arts, Calc I/III, Math Majors Classes, Secondary Licensure Math course, Math for Elementary School Teachers, ...)
• De-brief with faculty after class
• Class visit 2
• De-brief with faculty after class
• Lunch conversation with IBL faculty
• Longer group meeting with IBL faculty, identifying specific areas of interest to the visiting faculty, identifying resources,
• Another class visit / researching materials / conversations with students / ...

We could likely find a place to put you up overnight if you want to leave the following day (or stay for another day of classroom visits and conversations :-).

Schedule of Courses

Here is a selection of courses you could come and join. In addition to courses taught by the four of us, we also list courses taught by faculty who we closely collaborate with: JF=Julian Fleron, PKH=Philip Hotchkiss, VE=Volker Ecke, CvR=Christine von Renesse, BJ=Brian Jennings, AR = Anna Rokicki, PDO = Philip DeOrsey, DM = Diane Morton, JMc=Judy MacKinnon, JL=Lenny Livingstone, JW=Jim Wright, KV=Karin Vorwerk, TW=Ted Welsh.

Spring 2020

Fall 2019

Spring 2019

Fall 2018

Spring 2018

Fall 2017

Spring 2017

Fall 2016

Spring 2016

Fall 2015

Spring 2015

Fall 2014