II.

Inquiry

Evolution/Story

Comment [DW1]: Perhaps making this heading bold or

larger in size would help distinguish it from lower level
headings.

It is true that UNC Charlotte students experience inquiry as an open-ended process that
explores evidence to generate well developed ideas and conclusions. Students, who are active
partners in the educational experience, are often curious, as they should be. To understand that
knowledge should be made through their academic journey rather than just received like a gift.
As they leave the Prospect for Success based classes, they will be put on their way to
mastering the process of inquiry. This allows them to construct knowledge in their continued
academic journey through inquisition worthy of admiration.
Documentation/Theory/Strategies
There are student learning outcomes for inquiry that are evaluated via a reflective writing
assignment in the discipline-specific freshman courses. In these courses, a specific tool or
skillset to complete projects in their specific discipline over the course of the semester is
needed. There are assignments provided that provide a valuable component of the 1st year
curriculum for students to reflect what they learned that semester. Inquiry instructors grade their
student assignments on three dimensions: exploratory process evidence/approaches and
originality as shown in the rubric below.

Comment [DW2]: Decreased the indention and

increased the line spacing to improve the format and style.
Comment [DW3]: Removed the hyphen between
ended and process.
Comment [DW4]: Changed the wording of this sentence
to increase clarity.
Comment [DW5]: Changed the wording of this sentence,
again, to increase clarity.
Comment [DW6]: This is an incomplete sentence as it
stands. I suggest rephrasing it or even removing it entirely.
Comment [DW7]: Inserted a comma here.
Comment [DW8]: Split this sentence into two.
Comment [DW9]: Decreased the indention and
increased the line spacing to improve the format and style.
Comment [DW10]: Made course plural.
Comment [DW11]: Skillset is one word.

Inquiry Rubric
Dimension

Exploratory
Process

No evidence Discussion and/or

results indicate that
the focus of inquiry
was static and
narrowly focused

Discussion and/or
results indicate that
the focus of inquiry
evolved to some
degree

Discussion and/or
results indicate that
the focus of inquiry
evolved

Evidence /
Approaches

No evidence Discussion and/or

results indicate
limited exploration
of appropriate
evidence or
approaches

Discussion and/or
results indicate
some exploration of
appropriate
evidence or
approaches

Discussion and/or
results indicate
substantial
exploration of
appropriate
evidence or
approaches

Originality

No evidence Limited evidence of

(derivative)
originality in
discussion or
results of inquiry

Some evidence of
originality in
discussion or
results of inquiry

Strong evidence of
originality in
discussion or results
of inquiry

Table 1: Inquiry Grading Rubric

Some Example Strategies
Some example strategies used by instructors to develop the outcome of inquiry are outlined
here:

Comment [DW12]: Italicized this.

Comment [DW13]: Colon instead of a period.

1. A short writing assignment asking the student to describe what motivates them to learn or to
be curious. She would have to give an example of going above and beyond the minimum
requirements on an assignment. Further explaining how this assignment fueled their
curiosity about a particular topic of interest.
2. A short writing assignment that allows the student to reflect on the what they have learned in
a course and how they will utilize that knowledge in his future academic or professional
careers.
Case Studies
For the first case study, a prospect for success course uses team based projects that guide
students through a methodology that allows them to generate ideas, evaluate those ideas,
design a solution and implement that solution. Then the instructor follows up with a short memo
assignment to ask a few questions about inquiry such as:
a.
How can you connect the knowledge and skills learned from this project to your future
academic or professional career?
b.
Using the methodology within this project you were allowed to generate knowledge
through critical thinking rather than being given the answer. How was this methodology similar
and different than your traditional homework assignments that require you to just memorize
information?
c.
Now that you have been exposed to this project, what are some of the topics you are
curious to learn more about over the next few years and why do you want to learn more about
them?
For a second case study the prospect for success instructor has students write short forum
posts each week in Moodle carefully that are between 250 and 300 words. These forum posts
ask the students to reflect on what they learned in class that week and how they will apply what
they have learned that week to their future academic or professional career endeavors. An
example rubric used to grade the forum posts in Moodle (or Canvass, a post-moodle successor)
is shown below.
Forum Post Rubric:
25% - 250-300 Words
25% - Answers the question
25% - Demonstrate personal awareness
25% - Free of grammatic and mispelling errors
Then at the end of the semester the students are asked to write a one page memo reflecting on
everything they learned over the semester and how it is connected to their lives now as students
and in the future as graduates. Students are good and prepared to write these final memos in a
concise and impactful manner since the 14 weeks of forum posts have prepared them for the
assignment. The inquiry grading rubric mentioned in Table 1 above is used to assess the
outcomes of this assignment. Questioned students found the rubric helpful (see below).


Figure one. Rubric found to be helpful and very