Inquiry-Based Learning (Writing a news article)

Aims:

• Investigate and evaluate the data and evidence acquired through research and/or interviews.
• Produce a community- or school-related news article.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning (ATL) Skills

Collaboration skills

Research skills

Communication skills

Procedure:

1. The students will work in groups of three to four. The group will vote on what subject matter to discuss.
2.     Each group will develop questions that will serve as foundational questions. 
3.     Each group will perform its study on its selected topic. They can print out survey questions and give them out to students and/or faculty. Conducting an interview is another option given to students to gather information. They can also use digital materials (Google forms) to collect information.
4. Each group will gather data and interpret it.
5.     Each group will compose their news pieces based on the obtained information

Learners are encouraged to generate questions that will serve as the basis for their research. The questions must be well-thought-out to ensure they write an informative news article.

From the constructivist point of view, learning is an active construction of knowledge. This suggests that the learner is at the heart of the learning process, whereas educators are merely facilitators of learning. To be effective in learning, time and social interaction must be present.

Students must develop their own meanings based on their experiences and understandings. The constructivist approach pursues individual purpose and comprehension rather than role correlations (Airasian & Walsh, 1997).

In Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivist Theory, there are two significant concepts for learning: assimilation of knowledge and accommodation of knowledge. Assimilation occurs when a learner takes in new knowledge and incorporates it with their prior knowledge. It is comparable to filling existing containers. Accommodation, however, is more significant since it requires reconstructing the “container” or “schema,” which refers to the building blocks of knowledge.

Assimilation and accommodation both work in tandem as part of the learning process. Some information is incorporated into our existing schemas through assimilation, while other information leads to developing new schemas or total transformations of existing ideas through accommodation (Asuncion, 2022).

In this activity, the assimilation of knowledge occurs when students gather information from various sources and incorporate it into their prior experience. Learning, in this sense, is happening internally. Since writing a news article must be based on facts, accommodation of knowledge occurs when students internalize what they have learned through research and/or interviews.

The skills that can be developed from this activity are as follows:

Collaboration skills

①      Actively consider the alternative viewpoints and ideas of other members

②      Inspire and motivate other people to contribute

Research skills

①      Collect, record, and verify gathered data

②       Process data and report the findings

Communication skills

①      Write effectively for the intended audience

②      Paraphrase concisely

③      Organize information logically

References

Airasian, P. W., & Walsh, M. E. (1997). Constructivist Cautions. The Phi Delta Kappan, 78(6), 444–                    449. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20405819.

Asuncion, Marian (2022). Assimilation vs. Accommodation. Theories of Learning. University of the                        Philippines Open University. https://myportal.upou.edu.ph/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=650591.