Enquiry-Based Learning in College Mathematics Education: Theory and Practice

The practice of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) has a very long history. In the western world, the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates (469 – 399 B.C.) had utilized IBL to engage his interlocutors in dialogue for discovering basic truth and principles. In the Eastern world, the ancient Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551 -479 B.C.) had also raised the idea of IBL approach for teaching and learning. Confucius had said: “I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand”. Active learning is the essence of IBL way of teaching. The IBL discussed in the paper is guided IBL. In the research literature, many research showed evidence that guided IBL produced better learning outcomes comparing to pure lecture approach. In recent years, promoting IBL in the field of education becomes a trend, because researchers believe that the features of IBL can fulfill the 21st century education through cultivating students’ critical and creative thinking, nurturing inquiry mind of problem-solving, and preparing life-long learners, for our society. However, in reality, the traditional way of teaching – lecture is still dominated at school teaching. Why has IBL been promoted in the educational research but most teachers still never employ it in their teaching practice yet? In this paper, I will discuss the challenging we are facing and propose some ideas for IBL implementation.