Study On Application Of Inquiry Learning To Geography Classroom Teaching In Senior High School

Inquiry learning, which begins in1960s, had affected the education in England andUSA greatly. And it gradually leads to great education reform trends worldwide.Countries all over the world have regarded developing personnel with high quality,creative spirit and practical ability as the goal of education. Regarded as an opposite ofreceptive learning, inquiry learning put stress on student-centered philosophy oflearning. Besides, it pays more attention to students’ gaining of knowledge andexperience during the process of self-exploration and co-operation learning. It is one ofthe effective ways to develop students’ creative spirit and practical ability, which haveattracted more and more attention all over the world. New Course Syllable forGeography in High School (2003) calls on inquiry learning method and points out that itis not only a dominant philosophy of learning geography, but also an importantapproach of study geography.In this thesis, firstly, the author begins with the literature review of inquiry learningand makes a description of inquiry learning. Secondly, the author makes interviews oncolleagues and students according to her teaching experience. More importantly, theauthor makes deep study on the specific application of inquiry learning to geographyteaching in high school, and the author analyzes its necessity, feasibility, preparationand principle. Thirdly, based on the constructivism theory and author’s teachingexperience, this thesis puts up with four learning methods: problem-centered inquirylearning, situation-centered inquiry learning, case-centered inquiry learning, andexperiment-centered inquiry learning. And then the author makes comments on theirapplication strategies and procedures. In the mean time, the author tests with teachingcases. Finally, by summarizing the experience, the author lists some issues need to payattention to in the process of geography teaching with inquiry learning.This thesis aims to draw more and more attention of geography teachers bydiscussing geography teaching in high school with inquiry learning method. Thus, thisthesis expects to improve geography teaching methods and develop personnel ofcompetitive quality, creative spirit and practical ability with inquiry learning method.