Teaching · For Tutors

Inquiry-Based Tutoring Activity Builder

Build a short investigation where the student predicts, tests and explains with evidence, and you make sure the right idea lands at the end.

Start a planWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Tutoring business kit, $69 for 97 items.

Plans

Each activity keeps the question, the design and the timeline. Load the worked example to see a 45-minute paper-towel test.

Loading the inquiry activity form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · For Tutors$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
An inquiry activity with the question, the idea to leave with, the level of inquiry, the evidence, materials and the wrong idea you expect; a timeline that adds up against the session and shows the student inquiry time; seven checks marked ready, not yet or not needed; and a run sheet with clock times to print.
Who it is for
Science and math tutors and homeschool teachers, grades 3 to 10.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per inquiry activity. Prints a run sheet with clock times, the full inquiry activity, every inquiry activity in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Tutoring business kit ($69) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Write the question and the idea to leave with.
  2. Pick the level of inquiry.
  3. Lay out predict, investigate and explain.
  4. Mark the checks.
  5. Print the run sheet with the materials.

Start a plan

Inquiry with a clear landing

Four levels of inquiry: who decides whatLevelQuestionMethodAnswerConfirmationTutorTutorKnown in advanceStructuredTutorTutorStudent finds itGuidedTutorStudentStudent finds itOpenStudentStudentStudent finds itFour levels of inquiry: who decides whatConfirmationQuestion: TutorMethod: TutorAnswer: Known in advanceStructuredQuestion: TutorMethod: TutorAnswer: Student finds itGuidedQuestion: TutorMethod: StudentAnswer: Student finds itOpenQuestion: StudentMethod: StudentAnswer: Student finds it
Most tutoring inquiry works best at the structured or guided level: the student investigates, and the tutor makes sure the idea lands.

Guidance matters

Students learn more from inquiry that is guided than from discovery left to them. A large analysis of discovery-based teaching found unassisted discovery did worse than explicit teaching, while guided discovery with feedback and explanation did better. The planner keeps a tutor segment at the end for that reason.

Claim, evidence, reasoning

Asking for a claim, the evidence for it and the reasoning that links them turns a fun test into an explanation the student can write down and repeat.

Sources

  1. Banchi, H., and Bell, R. (2008). The many levels of inquiry. Science and Children, 46(2), 26-29.
  2. Alfieri, L., Brooks, P. J., Aldrich, N. J., and Tenenbaum, H. R. (2011). Does discovery-based instruction enhance learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 1-18.
  3. McNeill, K. L., and Krajcik, J. (2012). Supporting Grade 5-8 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing. Pearson.
  4. National Research Council (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. National Academies Press.

The worked examples are made up. The 65 percent and 15-minute flags are planning rules of thumb. Check every material for safety before a session. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.