Inquiry-Based Mathematics Instruction at the University Level
The study uncovered struggles faculty members faced in reforming their practice. Despite strong performance on the RTOP and faculty members' expressed beliefs that inquiry-based instruction was more effective in deepening mathematics understanding than lecturing, there remained many concerns about the reformed courses on the part of instructors as well as students.
Instructors cited the benefits of inquiry-based instruction over didactic instruction as: depth of understanding instead of breadth, focus on exploration instead of lecture, building of self-esteem and productive disposition, and the importance of dissonance to the learning process. Instructors cited the biggest challenges of inquiry-based instruction as: gaining "buy-in" from other faculty members, securing "buy-in" and trust of students, outside pressures to cover breadth of content, class size, room size and other logistics, and grading. These issues appeared to be much more of a problem at the beginning of the change process and were less and less salient as the professors and students became comfortable with the format and content of the courses.
In focus groups, several students indicated they were unsatisfied with the student-centered, group-work format because they felt they had to teach themselves. Students also cited a lack of structure and concerns about grading to be their greatest concerns. In fact, concerns about uncertainty of the grading process for projects and portfolios were most prevalent in their comments.
