- Victor Ochieng’ explains how Key Inquiry Questions can deepen reasoning, investigation and learner participation under CBE.
- He argues that well-crafted questions should move learners beyond recall towards exploration and conceptual understanding.
- The approach positions teachers as facilitators while strengthening critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving skills.
In this 51st treatise on Competency-Based Education (CBE), I must admit, Key Inquiry Questions (KIQs) forms foundation of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), which basically abuts on: Questioning, investigation, evidence, critical thinking, collaboration, reflection and teacher-facilitation.
In IBL, instead of the teacher simply providing answers, learners are encouraged to discover knowledge through investigation and active participation. Provenance of IBL is not attributed to only one founder. For it developed from brilliant thoughts of several venerable Educational Philosophers and Psychologists. For instance, Socrates was one of the earliest figures associated with the inquiry-oriented teaching. He held the view that great questions stimulate learning and critical thinking. So, Socrates used questioning and dialogue to assist his disciples to examine their beliefs, and arrive on understanding. His awesome approach is commonly called Socratic Method.
Then, John Dewey (1859-1952) is one of the most notable modern proponents of IBL. For he promoted learning by doing. As an Education Philosopher, he also believed that education should be connected to learners’ experiences and real-life problems. He argued that learners should investigate problems rather than just receiving information passively. Likewise, Jean Piaget (1896-1980) contributed to IBL through his Cognitive Development. He believed that learners actively construct knowledge through interaction with their environment. Meaning, learners do not simply copy information from teachers. In lieu, they ought to explore, experiment, and recognize their understanding.
Withal, Jerome Bruner (1915-2016) was a great advocate of Discovery Learning. For he believed that learners understand concepts better when they are actively involved in discovering relationships and principles. Therefore, teachers should provide good guidance as they allow learners to explore. By the same token, Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) contributed to IBL through his Social Constructivist Theory where he contended that learners develop understanding through social interaction, language and collaboration. Then, David Ausubel (1918-2008) associated with Meaningful Learning argued that new knowledge is learned effectively when it is connected to what learners already know, prior knowledge.
Ostensibly, IBL as cited in the KICD teacher-support materials, describe learning as the process in which learners ask questions, analyse models and construct explanations. IBL is a teaching and learning approach in which learners acquire knowledge and skills by posing questions, investigating problems, collecting information, analysing evidence and drawing conclusions. In line with this marvellous model, questioning becomes the engine of learning. Making KIQs to emerge as structured expressions of the inquiry philosophy.
Meaning KIQs are not arbitrary per se. But pedagogical tools designed to organise learning around meaningful problems and authentic contexts. This is a critical methodology in CBE. For it involves interjecting questions. Such quality questions assist learners in retaining information. This also encourages them to investigate concepts under study. How? By asking further questions about what they are learning.
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For instance, we can focus on a KIQ based on Simplifying Surds as a strand in Mathematics. The concept in sub-strand is Identifying and Simplifying Surds. These could be possible KIQs: (1) Why must a surd be expressed in its simplest radical form, and how does simplification change the way we interpret numerical relationships? (2) How can different methods of factorisation lead to the same simplified surd expression? (3) What happens to Mathematical accuracy and clarity when surds are not simplified? (4) How does simplifying surds help in comparing magnitudes of irrational numbers?
Historically, the emphasis on enquiry in education traces its provenance on progressive educational thinkers who argued: Learning should begin with problems and lived experiences. Instead of abstract transmission of facts. In CBE, this tradition is institutionalised through curriculum design. So, inclusion of KIQs within official curriculum design signals a deliberate shift from content-recall to conceptual understanding and competency development.
Actually, in CBE, learning revolves around inquiry. The Basic Education Curriculum Framework (BECF, 2017) positions inquiry at the centre of pedagogy. By emphasising that learners should actively construct knowledge through exploring, questioning and investigating. Meaning, the provenance of KIQ invokes constructivism, which asserts that learners don’t receive knowledge passively. Instead, they actively build understanding through interaction with the environment.
So, in Interpretation of Curriculum Design, Mureithi Vincent Senior contends that KIQs serve as intellectual catalysts: Stimulating learning, deepening engagement, and guiding learners towards meaningful understanding. They are carefully-crafted questions directing attention to core concepts. By encouraging learners to investigate, reason and justify their frame of thinking.
Again, KIQs help learners to focus on learning by prompting deeper meaning, piquing curiosity, fostering critical thinking and developing higher-order skills outlined in Bloom’s Taxonomy or Taxonomy of Educational Objectives developed in 1956 by University of Chicago Professor of Psychology, Benjamin Bloom (1913-199).
Digging deeper, carefully crafted KIQs should be thought-provoking and intellectually engaging. They should integrate technology to support the learning process. They should be structured in a manner that they cannot be effectively answered by recall alone. They should raise additional questions and spark further inquiry. They should be open-ended, non-judgmental, meaningful and purposeful. They require support and justification, not just an answer. For KIQs to fulfil their purpose within CBE, they must meet certain criteria. KIQs must be intellectually demanding. Not answered through recall alone. But requiring reasoning, interpretation and synthesis of ideas.
In an actual sense, KIQs require sustained engagement. Learners must take some time to explore, discuss, research and reflect before arriving at a thoughtful response. Immediate answers often signal shallow questioning. KIQs invite research and investigation. Learners may need to consult texts, conduct experiments and observe phenomena. Or engage the community to construct a meaningful response. KIQs permit valid responses.
Then, being open-ended, they accommodate diverse perspectives and solution pathways. The openness fosters creativity and critical thinking. KIQs cannot be reduced to “yes” or “no” responses. Binary questions undermine inquiry and restrict reasoning. KIQs are distinct from assessment questions. While assessment may later draw upon the inquiry process, KIQs themselves are designed to guide learning, but not to evaluate it. Effective KIQs often embody the 5W1H framework – what, why, who, where, when and how – thereby ensuring breadth and depth of exploration.
Additionally, the structure of curriculum design demonstrates that KIQs are not isolated elements. But are integrated within a coherent sequence that includes: Learning outcomes, learning experiences, core-competencies and assessment strategies. KIQs typically follow learning outcomes and learning experiences in curriculum documentation. This sequencing is quite significant. Learning outcomes clarify what learners should achieve. Learning experiences describe how learners will engage with content. Then, KIQs deepen this engagement by framing conceptual tensions requiring investigation.
Furthermore, the pedagogical power of KIQs lies in their ability to transform classroom dynamics. When they are framed properly, they shift authority from teacher-exposition to learner-exploration. By the same token, the teacher becomes a facilitator who guides discussion, scaffolds thinking and provides resources for investigation. Then, KIQs foster development of core-competencies emphasised in CBE.
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Finally, by grappling by with complex questions, learners practise reasoning, justification and effective thinking, which are essential competencies in a knowledge-based society. KIQs also enhance coherence in planning. For they sprout from learning experiences. They naturally inform selection of resources and design-assessment strategies. When properly aligned, outcomes, experiences, KIQs and assessment form an integrated pedagogical framework.
By Victor Ochieng’
Victor Ochieng’ rolls out talks and training services in schools. He re-tools teachers on CBE. He speaks to Grade 10 learners about Career Choices, Study Skills and School-Based Assessments (Projects, Practical and Written Tests). vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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