Conclusions ≠ Opinions

PROVE IT.

Communication in the Inquiry Based Classroom

Students in the inquiry based classroom learn by letting their curiosity lead them to discover answers through experiments, research, and observations. Let's focus on the communication skills developed in the inquiry based classroom. 

Students in the inquiry based classroom learn to make a claim about a problem. This claim should assert an answer to a question. This claim is usually expressed in writing and presentations. They learn to support that claim with scientific evidence and data. Students then justify their conclusions by linking evidence to their claims. 
 
Students learn to use facts to support claims, and do so in terms that all can understand. When students learn to defend their assertions like this, students can have logical and unemotional conversations about their perspectives. 
 
I worry that this art is not taught widely enough. People tear one another apart online and lack the ability to focus on reason and logic. People can draw different conclusions by manipulating the same scientific data, but that is where students can focus on isolating variables and conducting thorough investigations. 
 
When students learn to focus on science and facts, they learn to discern opinions from conclusions.

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