Inquiry learning is a philosophical teaching and learning approach which encourages deep understanding. It is based on research and constructivist models, allowing the teacher to broach new concepts and content via student experience, interest, and their natural curiosity about the world that surrounds them. Inquiry learning facilitates active student engagement in a personal, collaborative and collective process, while simultaneously developing personal responsibility and independence. It provides opportunities for students to:

• develop lifelong learning competencies;
• tackle complex problems without predetermined solutions;
• question their understandings; and
• deepen their exploration of the world around them.

In inquiry learning, students experience a recursive process between their perceptions and the construction of new understandings. They take the time to reflect on what they did, how they did it, and how their new understandings will be useful to them in other learning situations as well as for practical real-world applications.

Inquiry is a research process that structures the organization of teaching and learning. This process has many non-linear phases with varying beginning and ending points: planning, information gathering, data analysis, product creation, communication of understandings, and evaluation. Compelling questions for various topics, problems, or challenges relating to concepts and content launch the inquiry process.

A compelling question:

• is inspired by students' lived experiences, interests and curiosity;
• launches a pertinent investigation of important ideas and main themes;
• gives rise to animated and reflective discussions, sustained engagement, new understandings, and the emergence of new questions;
• leads to the consideration of new perspectives, critical examination of the facts, support of ideas, and justification of answers;
• results in the constant and essential re-examination of key ideas, hypotheses, and prior knowledge; and
• promotes the establishment of links between new understandings, personal experiences, retrieval of memorized information, and transfers to other contexts and subjects.

During the inquiry process, students participate actively in the generation of compelling questions. Using various formats, they track their questioning, reflections, answers, and different perspectives. This information can serve as a means of evaluating both the students' learning and the learning process. Documentation such as this enables a deeper understanding of what the student knows, understands, and is able to do.