How to IBL It: Supporting Classrooms that Support Problem Solving and Reasoning via IBL Methods
http://www.inquirybasedlearning.org/about/
Encouraging students to discovery mathematics through inquiry and experimentation within the context formal classroom settings is one of the challenges facing math instructors at all levels. Implementing the spirit of Polya’s problem solving heuristic in ways that work in classroom settings is a long, ongoing challenge for math instructors.
The Academy of Inquiry Based Learning is a national organization in the United States that works with individual instructors to support and spread the use of inquiry-based learning (or IBL) methods. IBL methods provide opportunities for students to engage in critical reasoning, problem solving, conjecturing, and more broadly speaking developing a growth mindset. In short, IBL courses are places where students can learn “How to Solve It!”
While classroom environments and contexts are widely varying, the twin pillars of (a) deep engagement in rich mathematics and (b) opportunities for collaboration (between students and students and teachers) is common across variations of IBL teaching.
Thus, the Academy of Inquiry Based Learning invites faculty interested in sustaining the educational spirit of George Polya to work with the IBL community. We have shared goals in education and shared a passion for keeping alive the work of George Polya, especially through our youth.
