Inquiry-Based Learning Techniques: 7 Steps for Success

Inquiry-based learning sounds awesome, right? But let’s admit it: sometimes we’re not sure where to begin or how to keep students excited while they’re looking for answers. Keeping a room full of curious minds engaged without constant lecturing isn’t always easy—and you’re definitely not alone if you’ve felt stuck.

Don’t sweat it! Stick around and you’ll find simple but fun ways to kickstart curiosity, get lively discussions going, and put students in the driver’s seat of their projects. Soon enough, you’ll go from being a teaching referee to actually enjoying watching students tackle tough questions themselves.

Ready? Here’s what’s coming up.

1. Start with a Question

Have you ever noticed how questions instantly grab your attention? That’s exactly why kicking off your inquiry-based learning lesson with an engaging question is so effective.

A good question makes your students pause, think, and mentally tune in to what you’re about to discuss.

Instead of diving straight into facts, lead with something to spark their curiosity—like “Why do bridges have arches?” or “What would happen if bees disappeared?”

Starting this way motivates students to actively look for answers rather than passively waiting for information.

Plus, students become invested because they feel they’re solving something intriguing rather than just memorizing content.

So, the next time you set up your lesson, try to draft a question that’s open-ended and connected directly to the topic you’ll cover. You’ll immediately see a change in energy levels in your class.

2. Allow for Exploration

When using inquiry-based learning, you want to set aside decent chunks of your lesson for students to explore answers on their own or in small groups.

Don’t jump in right away with all the info they need—give students room to investigate the topic first.

For example, if the lesson is on solar-powered homes, you could hand out solar cells, battery packs, and wires and let them figure out how to make a basic circuit.

Exploration doesn’t always have to be hands-on; it could also involve researching the background or history behind a particular concept.

This exploration step is critical because it helps them build skills like questioning, experimenting, and analyzing, all essential for critical thinking and problem-solving.

According to a recent study involving 17,000 students, those exposed to inquiry-based lessons at least four days a week showed significant improvement—in fact, their math scores went up about 0.18 of a standard deviation compared to traditional classes.

Clearly, giving students space to explore pays off both academically and personally.

3. Encourage Discussion

The best inquiry-based learning doesn’t end at exploration—it naturally leads students into lively discussions.

After exploration activities, make it a habit to bring your students back together for a thoughtful exchange of ideas about what they discovered.

Encourage them to share not just the answers they found, but also their reasoning behind their claims, any roadblocks they hit, and interesting questions that still puzzle them.

For instance, if students build a circuit that doesn’t quite work as intended, discussing what went wrong as a group is hugely beneficial.

This type of dialogue naturally promotes critical thinking, social skills, and helps students learn from each other’s experiences and mistakes.

If you’re wondering how to run effective classroom discussions, consider checking out these student engagement techniques to make your lessons more interactive and participatory.

The ability to thoughtfully engage with peers fosters important collaborative skills—a capability educators predict will be highly valuable in future educational practices by 2025.

4. Use Engaging Activities

If you really want your students to get involved in inquiry-based learning, simple talk won’t do the trick—you have to show them engaging activities they’ll actually enjoy.

One easy and effective approach is using scenarios or open-ended problems they have to solve in groups.

Say you’re teaching biology—rather than just describing ecosystems, let them create mini ecosystems in jars that they manage and observe over time.

Likewise, digital activities like interactive simulations, virtual lab experiments, or creating dynamic educational videos can really amplify engagement (here’s a guide on how to create educational videos if you’re looking for ideas).

You’d be surprised at how activities like role-playing debates—where students take positions on ethical issues or controversial historical events—can boost interest and critical thinking.

Whatever activity you plan, keep it relevant to their lives, challenging enough to make them think—and yes, a little bit fun (never underestimate fun in education).

5. Facilitate Inquiry

If students struggle through their exploration, don’t be tempted to swoop in and hand them all the answers right away (though, yes, I know, it’s tempting).

Instead, focus on your role as a guide—helping them form questions, think deeper, and create connections rather than just giving information upfront.

For example, ask prompts like, “Why do you think this worked?” or “What could be another approach?” to nudge students into thinking deeper without answering outright.

You can also model good inquiry practices by thinking aloud during class discussions.

Say something like, “Hmm… that’s interesting—how could we check if that idea works?”

Facilitating inquiry in this way guides students to develop their reasoning skills and encourages them to actively seek solutions, which can significantly improve learning outcomes.

6. Enhance Student Engagement

There’s way more to improving student engagement than picking exciting topics or games (though those help).

An often overlooked yet essential part of boosting engagement is making sure each student feels personally involved.

One practical tip is to offer a range of activity options—let some students create a podcast about their discoveries, while others present their findings through visual infographics or written stories.

Another helpful strategy is peer teaching: when students have a chance to explain concepts to classmates, they engage with the content more actively, making the lesson stick.

Regularly checking for understanding by using quick assessments or quizzes helps students stay engaged and aids you in adjusting lessons on the fly to address misunderstandings (here’s more about how to make quizzes for your class in an effective way).

Paying attention to individual preferences and strengths goes a long way toward building an inclusive environment where everyone feels motivated to participate.

7. Implement Reflection and Assessment

The best inquiry-based lessons always wrap up with thoughtful reflection and meaningful assessment—this helps students solidify their newly gained knowledge.

A great way to promote reflection is to use quick activities like learning journals, exit tickets, or short video reflections where students share their takeaways or remaining questions.

Rather than purely multiple-choice tests, consider work portfolios, science presentations, peer-review assessments, or debates to more meaningfully measure student learning and thinking processes.

By assessing inquiry skills along with content knowledge, you get a clearer picture of genuine understanding rather than trivial memorization.

In fact, research has found that inquiry-based college algebra classes had significantly higher average scores on tests compared to traditional approaches: 78.26 versus just 63.11 on average, indicating the reliability and depth of learning through inquiry.

For a deeper dive on building reflection and proper assessment into your teaching plan, you might find these effective teaching strategies very useful.

Ultimately, paying careful attention to reflection and assessment ensures you’re not only teaching students facts—they’re truly learning how to think independently.

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