Inquiry Based Learning Models, Information Literacy, and Student Engagement: A Literature Review
This paper explores the research literature relevant to the increasingly popular field of Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) practices in K 12 academic environments. IBL is constructivist and student centered (Barron Darling Hammond, 2008; Condliffe, Visher, Bangser, Drohojowska Saco 2016; Duffy Raymer, 2010; Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari, 2015) leveraging student motivation and engagement through its grounding in authentic, relevant study (Deci Ryan, 2016; SaundersStewart, Gyles, Shore Bracewell, 2015) Recent research shows positive academic and achievement gains for students engaged in IBL work and the practice is growing. Some educators are experimenting with variations of increasingly student driven models that privilege student choice and autonomy, such as 20% time or genius hour (Krebs Zvi, 2015) passion based learning (Maiers Sandvold, 2010) and personalized learning (Bray McClaskey, 2016) We name these more student autonomous frameworks Student Driven Inquiry (SDI) models. The argument here is for qualitative research on the learner experience of these more recent SDI models in order to glean a more holistic understanding of the outcomes beyond grades and test scores. An examination of the recent literature on inquiry based learning, information literacy and student motivation demonstrates the need for qualitative work focused on the efficacy of a growing highly student centered learning models.