Inquiry and CMP Research

I have had experience teaching the CMP model in my Practicum for the past two weeks, so I have a little familiarity with how it is set up. The CMP model is inquiry based instruction. Essentially students are given basic tools to solve a problem, and then given class time to explore similar problems and solve them in a group setting. The problems are then summarized with a student centered focus (often with selected students teaching the class).

CMP uses the Launch, Explore and Summarize guidelines for instruction. Essentially, the Launch portion of the lesson is the "mini-lesson." The teacher guides students with a set, introduces them to the material and may even perform a guided practice of a similar problem to what the students will be exploring. In this portion, generally students are introduced to the material without much "entrenching" of knowledge. The Explore portion is the segment where student work on the assigned problems. The teacher circulates the classroom ensuring students are on task and asking questions related to the lesson. These questions should guide student thinking and answers to student questions should generally be in the form of another question. The summarize portion of the lesson essentially ties the lesson in a nice bow. This can be teacher or student lead. It also explores new ideas for solving problems and may introduce the next lesson to a certain extent. 

This is different to the direct instruction model because students are allowed to explore and then summarize their questions. Inquiry expects the students to make mistakes and learn "why" an algorithm works in math rather than just getting the algorithm and practicing.

 

In researching Inquiry based teaching and learning, essentially it is a teaching strategy centered around Constructivist philosophies. According to Wikipedia, "Inquiry learning is a form of active learning, where progress is assessed by how well students develop experimental and analytical skills rather than how much knowledge they possess." In sum, it is student centered and not teacher centered much like direct instruction. Inquiry based teaching presents a problem or question to students (usually in groups) and provides them the opportunity to solve the problem or question. Students use their life experiences and construct their knowledge with a teacher as a guide.