The Power of Inquiry as a Way of Learning

Since the publication of The Boyer Commission Report (1998), inquiry-guided learning, has acquired a certain cachet and is often suggested as a universal answer for various teaching and learning ills, particularly in research universities. However, while the report focused on inquiry-guided learning, it defined the term only generally or chiefly by anecdote. Twelve years later confusion still exists about what inquiry-guided learning really is and how to do it, whether in a single course or across the curriculum. This article offers a review of representative literature on inquiry-guided learning as well as guidelines for classroom and curriculum practice to address this confusion and to offer clarity.