Getting Started

Welcome :) If you want to start using IBL, read the first two posts on this page.
If you are already using IBL but would like to know more about how to start your sememster, read the third post.

Inquiry-based learning in a group

Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) is an approach to teaching and learning in which the classroom environment is characterized by the student being the active participant while the teacher’s role is decentralized.

Groups recording on the board

You’re ready to embrace inquiry-based learning (IBL) in your mathematics for liberal arts (MLA), or other general education courses, with the help of Discovering the Art of Mathematics (DAoM) materials. How do you get started?

Student sliceform: Trophy

I'm getting ready for the first day of class of the semester, excited to meet a new group of students in my mathematics for liberal arts class. As I'm making decision about my goals, and planning my teacher actions in the classroom, I invite you to come along.

Steven Strogatz Teaching

Steven Strogatz writes about what it was like to be a beginner at teaching through inquiry. This blog contains his impressions of the "Discovering the Art of Mathematics" workshop held at Cornell University in summer 2014:
"This experience gave me powerful insight into what it must be like for students in an IBL classroom. It made me realize the importance of providing a safe and nurturing space for the math explorers I was about to start working with in just a few days."
 

Steven Strogatz' wrote a blog post about what it was like to be a beginner at teaching through inquiry. This second part contains his experience of teaching a Mathematics Exploration class at Cornell University using ideas from "Discovering the Art of Mathematics":

Last fall, for the first time in my career, I tried a new way of teaching. Instead of lecturing, I gave my students puzzles and questions to explore together in small groups. What happened over the rest of that semester turned out to be the most astonishing, uplifting experience I’ve ever had as a teacher.