Conceptualizing inquiry outcomes for secondary students: Characterizing the work of teacher inquirers

This study examines six years of teacher work samples produced during a professional development program to clarify the inquiry outcomes identified by participants. The paper uses a schema derived from research (Levy, Thomas, Drago & Rex, 2013; Saunders-Stewart, Gyles, and Shore, 2012) to identify three primary categories of inquiry outcomes as engagement, as means to develop content and skills, and as an end in itself (Kilbane, Clayton & McCarthy, 2014). In conjunction also with frameworks that characterize student inquiry (Bonnstetter, 1998; McDonald & Songer, 2008), the analysis categorizes inquiry outcomes with a particular analysis of those identified as inquiry as ends. Results articulate descriptors to clarify inquiry outcomes in order to improve professional learning and research to evaluate such efforts.