IBEC Inquiry-Based Learning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In the IB framework, what distinguishes 'structured inquiry' from 'open inquiry'?
- Students choose both the question and the method
- The teacher provides the question and students design the investigation (Correct answer)
- Students work independently without teacher support
- The teacher controls every step of the learning process
Correct answer: The teacher provides the question and students design the investigation
In structured inquiry, the teacher poses the question while students determine how to investigate it, offering more scaffolding than open inquiry.
Question 2: Which IB learner profile attribute is most directly cultivated when students generate their own inquiry questions?
- Caring
- Principled
- Inquirers (Correct answer)
- Balanced
Correct answer: Inquirers
The 'Inquirers' attribute describes students who develop their natural curiosity and learn how to learn independently.
Question 3: A teacher notices students are off-task during an inquiry project. The most IB-aligned response is to:
- Provide a direct lecture to re-engage them
- Offer guiding questions to refocus student thinking (Correct answer)
- Assign individual worksheets to reinforce content
- End the inquiry project and reassign traditional tasks
Correct answer: Offer guiding questions to refocus student thinking
Guiding questions scaffold student thinking without removing agency, aligning with the IB's facilitative teacher role.
Question 4: What role does 'provocation' play at the start of an IB inquiry unit?
- It delivers all content students need for the unit
- It assesses prior knowledge formally
- It sparks curiosity and generates student questions (Correct answer)
- It outlines the rubric and assessment criteria
Correct answer: It sparks curiosity and generates student questions
Provocations are designed to stimulate wonder and launch the inquiry by eliciting authentic student questions.
Question 5: Which strategy best supports English Language Learners during an inquiry-based investigation?
- Allowing them to skip written reflections
- Providing sentence frames and visual supports alongside inquiry tasks (Correct answer)
- Grouping them separately from fluent speakers
- Reducing the number of inquiry questions they must explore
Correct answer: Providing sentence frames and visual supports alongside inquiry tasks
Sentence frames and visual supports scaffold language without reducing cognitive demand, supporting ELLs within the inquiry process.
Question 6: In IB's Theory of Knowledge (TOK), how does inquiry connect to knowledge claims?
- Knowledge claims are accepted without questioning in TOK
- Inquiry is used to challenge and test knowledge claims across areas of knowledge (Correct answer)
- TOK focuses only on scientific inquiry methods
- Students memorize established knowledge claims rather than questioning them
Correct answer: Inquiry is used to challenge and test knowledge claims across areas of knowledge
TOK uses inquiry to examine how we know what we know, encouraging students to question the basis of knowledge claims.
Question 7: Which assessment approach aligns best with an inquiry-based unit in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP)?
- A standardized multiple-choice test at the end of the unit
- Ongoing formative assessment embedded throughout the inquiry process (Correct answer)
- A single summative essay written without drafts
- Teacher-graded spelling and grammar tests
Correct answer: Ongoing formative assessment embedded throughout the inquiry process
The PYP emphasizes continuous formative assessment that informs and evolves alongside the inquiry, rather than isolated summative testing.
IBEC Inquiry-Based Learning 2
In the IB framework, what distinguishes 'structured inquiry' from 'open inquiry'?