1. Confirmation/Verification - students confirm a principle through a prescribed activity when the results are known in advance.

  2. Structured Inquiry - students investigate a teacher-presented question through a prescribed procedure.

  3. Guided Inquiry - students investigate a teacher-presented question using student designed/selected procedures.

  4. Open Inquiry - students investigate topic-related questions that are student formulated through student designed/selected procedures.

When an activity is evaluated for its level of inquiry, a simple table establishing what is given to the learner determines at which level of inquiry the given activity resides—the less given to the learner the higher the level of inquiry.

What is given to the learner?

Level of Inquiry

Problem?

Procedure?

Solution?

0

ü        

ü        

ü        

1

ü        

ü        

-          

2

ü        

-          

-          

3

-          

-          

-          

Herron, M.D. (1971). The nature of scientific enquiry. School Review, 79(2), 171- 212.