Lessons learned: The McMaster inquiry story from innovation to institutionalization

Abstract

There are unique moments in curriculum development when an opportunity for a fresh start or a major turn in design fl eetingly presents itself. These moments opened up in different locations across McMaster University at different times and eventually led to several quite different initiatives in inquiry-guided learning (IGL). Well-travelled pedagogical ideas combined with administrative openings and faculty interest to foster IGL within and across disciplines. Bell's work on general education (Bell, 1966), along with the ideas of self-directed learning described by Knowles (1975) and Candy (1991), were infl uential during the early stages of IGL. Pockets of experimentation in collaborative self-directed learning emerged across the campus over a thirty-year period. An institutional culture that prized risk taking and innovation nurtured these experiments.But innovation does not occur in a vacuum. Traditional teaching methods that emphasized disciplinary content, along with a reward system that emphasized research over teaching, posed significant challenges. And administrators had to be convinced that it was worthwhile to allocate budget items to ill-defi ned pedagogical initiatives. In this chapter, we discuss some of the enabling factors that helped to encourage early experimentation in IGL and push it toward greater institutionalization, as well as some of the challenges and obstacles that had to be overcome (see Figure 9.1). Although higher education institutions are diverse, each with their unique Over the past thirty years, inquiry-guided learning has fl ourished at McMaster University. In this chapter, we discuss some of the enabling factors that helped to encourage early experimentation in inquiry-guided learning and push it toward greater institutionalization as well as some of the challenges and obstacles that had to be overcome.

Between Culture and Curricula: Exploring Student and Faculty Experiences of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry

“…While inquiry is not new, developing a teaching method that was congruent with student-focused learning objectives and assessment was indeed innovative at the time. Over the next decade, inquiry-based ideologies permeated the departments of engineering, humanities, and social sciences (Cuneo et al 2012). In 2000, a new inquiry-based Bachelor of Health Sciences degree program that institutionalized inquiry across a wide variety of courses from first to fourth year levels was established.…”

Undergraduate Research and Student-Staff Partnerships: Supporting the Development of Student Scholars at a Canadian Teaching and Learning Institute

“…It currently enrolls approximately 22,000 undergraduates and 3,500 graduate students in programs that sit within and/or draw from six major faculties (business, engineering, health sciences, humanities, science, and social sciences). As a research-intensive institution that simultaneously seeks to prioritize the student experience, the university has a relatively long history of fostering and supporting research-based learning, including a well-established award program for undergraduate student research (Vajoczki 2010), and the deployment of inquiry approaches in several-although by no means all-courses and programs (Cuneo et al 2012;Justice et al 2009). In a recent strategic visioning process, the university reaffirmed its commitment to such approaches, defining itself as a "research focused student centred" institution and thereby positioning the fusion of research and teaching as central to McMaster's institutional identity (Forward with Integrity Advisory Group 2012).…”

“…Continuing the former teaching and learning center's support for inquiry-based learning (Cuneo et al 2012), a campus-wide research working group on undergraduate research and inquiry was recently established, and this topic was positioned as a priority area for research conducted and supported by the institute. Mick Healey was also appointed as a distinguished scholar affiliated with the unit in 2015, with the mandate of supporting initiatives connected to research-based learning and student partnerships and mentoring junior scholars in these areas.…”

Inquiry-based Learning in Higher Education: A Pedagogy of Trust

“…Students and instructors can struggle with this change in dynamic as it is challenging, and goes against the norms wherein the teacher is an authority figure and gatekeeper of new information. Success in higher education IBL experiences therefore requires a significant shift in perspective amongst these stakeholders (Brubaker, 2012;Bolhuis, 2003;Cuneo, Harnish, Roy, & Vajoczki, 2012).…”