Inquiry-Based Mathematics Instruction at the University Level
The reformed courses represented a new way of teaching mathematics for mathematics faculty members and a new way of learning mathematics for almost all students. Students and professors had become accustomed to a learning environment in which a teacher demonstrated and explained a problem and then students practiced through homework. That context of teaching and learning had been well established among faculty and students and proved very difficult to change. Over time, students and faculty were able to become more comfortable with inquiry-based instruction and some anxiety was relieved on the part of all. The key to making inquiry-based instruction a success appears to be establishing a classroom environment in which productive disposition is valued, risk-taking is encouraged, and communicating thinking is required.
