Elliot Soloway on Student Inquiry: Larry Jeffryes Synopsis

Larry Jeffryes               
 University of New Mexico                
 jeffryes@unm.edu             
 http://www.unm.edu/~jeffryes/welcome.html
 May 5, 1997

A brief Summary of:
	"Does the Internet Support Student Inquiry? Don't Ask."
	by Elliot Soloway and Raven Wallace
	COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM 
		May 1997/Vol. 40, No 5, p11-16

The National Research Council, National Science Education Standards of 
1996 states
	"Inquiry into authentic questions generated from student
	experiences is the central strategy for teaching science"

Such inquiry requires access to serious volumes of information and part of
a multifaceted activity involving making observations; asking questions;
examining sources of information to see what is already known;  planing
and carrying out an investigation; interpreting gathered data, evidence,
and information; proposing answers, explanations, and predictions; and
communicating the results. 

Classrooms are information-poor environments. With limited resources for
the classroom and the school library make acquisition of the newest, up to
date information, where is the students to turn but to the Web? 

However, given the current tools, organization, and content of the Web,
having students pursue serious questions is a difficult task. In searching
the We, one has to be willing to invest healthy doses of time, effort, and
good humor. And even then, such a search may NOT be an educationally
productive activity. 

It is not a bad idea to have students use Web resources. There are many
educationally worthwhile sites to explore. After working with 1000
students and 30 teachers and meida specialists from Ann Arbor, Michigan
middle and high schools, the authors of this article identify a set of
issues that make the educational impact of Web-based inquire less than
what it could be:
	
	The World-Wide Wait
	Navigataing Is Too Strong a Word
	Keyword Searching Doesn't Work Anymore
	The Web is NOT a library
	Do You Want Your Child To See This?
	A Myth: Answers Can Be Found

Finally, the authors attempt to find some solutions or at least
conclusions: 
	Search vs Re-Search 
	Conclusions

Elliot Soloway is the director of the Highly Interactive Computing (Hi-C)
Project

Raven Wallace is a doctoral candidate in the school of education at the
University of Michigan