National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center
Space Weather Action Center
Methods and Techniques
It is essential to create an environment in which students are active participants in the learning process. In this environment the students are the essential workers in the educational process. They construct, discover, and develop central concepts. They create and solve problems. They read, write, talk, think, pose questions, and solve problems. They observe and manipulate aspects of their environment, and in the manipulation, confront problems about which they think, talk, write, and read. They take risks. Students exhibit the ability to learn how to learn. Students exhibit understanding of the central concepts and competence with the essential skills in a problem-solving environment. Students exhibit competence in individual and group problem solving. Students exhibit a willingness to accept different kinds of solutions to the same problem.
Within this changing emphasis the teacher is committed to presenting learning experiences, not necessarily information, and to using open-ended questions whenever appropriate. Teachers guide the experience. Teachers often define the problem field, and sometimes define the central question. This does not mean that teachers do not ever give information. However, teachers respect the student's ability to solve problems. Teachers praise careful thought and process publicly and often, recognizing the risks taken. Teachers encourage different problem-solving techniques and the involvement of as many different learning modes as a student needs. Teachers also encourage students to develop problem-solving techniques. Students work in groups becoming experts on a specific topic that is a part of the larger question. This can work effectively with a Space Weather Action Center since there are four specific areas to research and analyze. (Jig Saw Approach). Teachers may wish to have students' journal their data discoveries providing a log of academic growth in each student. In addition there are other methods and techniques that may be used very effectively to facilitate inquiry. Prediction Reflections and Peer Review are powerful tools that can enhance the learning experience for your students in any Inquiry.