Research Process

How to OPEN

• Read and understand the assignment!  
• Get organized - When is it due?  
• Establish existing/prior knowledge
• Get excited and curious about your topic
• Accept your emotions of doubt and uncertainty

Step 1 - a deeper explanation

• Invitation to inquiry
• Open minds
• Stimulate curiosity

Open is the invitation to inquiry, the beginning of the inquiry process.  Open is a distinct and important phase of the process that sets the tone and direction of the inquiry.  Once the Learning Team has decided on the learning goals, they need to create a powerful opener that invites the learners in, establishes an inquiry stance, and introduces the general topic to engage the Inquiry Community.

The main goal is to open students' mind and stimulate their curiosity.  The Open session inspires students to want to pursue the inquiry.  The opener is designed to spark conversations about ideas and themes, pose questions and problems, and highlight concepts related to the subject.  These conversations stimulate students to think about the overall content of the inquiry and to connect with what they already know from their experience and personal knowledge.

Kuhlthau, Carol Collier, et al. “Guided Inquiry Design Framework.” Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century, 2nd ed., Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, CA, 2015, pp. 55–55.