Inquiry teaching is an alternative to lecturing and is designed to involve students more actively and deeply in course material. It aspires to create an attitude of open-minded curiosity while engaging the highest cognitive skills. Inquiry teaching is based on a five-step approximation of the traditional scientific method, which includes forming hypotheses, collecting data, evaluating hypotheses, drawing conclusions, and testing conclusions against new data. In this article the inquiry method is illustrated by examples from a general psychology class. Successful results include increased class participation and higher student evaluations.
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