Institute for Inquiry

The Connecticut Science Center is committed to supporting teachers in their professional development through pedagogical and content area training, and we're not waiting to open our doors to start this important work! We are offering professional development in inquiry-based learning and teaching by providing a series of week-long immersion workshops; our Institute for Inquiry. These workshops were previously funded by the GE Education Foundation, but are now available to all districts on a fee basis. Participants are asked to apply and based upon interviews and the written application, teachers and administrators will be invited to attend an Institute. 

These workshops help educators practice teaching techniques, and prepare them to incorporate these strategies into their lesson plans and school curricula for the coming year. During each workshop, participants use hands-on investigations to experience inquiry first as learners themselves, and then apply that learning to the classroom with students and with other teachers. These activities help prepare them to draw upon intrinsic human curiosity, a vital ingredient to successful classroom teaching.

We provide ongoing support by fostering continued collaboration among the program’s participants throughout the school year, as well as providing a two day follow up conference available to all previous participants of the Institute for Inquiry. During this conference, participants are invited to share their experiences with their new learning and its application to their professional practices and student learning.

In addition to the Inquiry Institute series; we provide additional professional development opportunities such as workshops developed specifically for the Science Center’s field trip visits, content specific workshops aligned with the CT Framework and our exhibits, as well as a selection of other workshops such as Science Notebooking and Integrating Language Arts & Science. Please visit the Professional Development page for more information regarding these additional professional development opportunities.

For more information about the Institute for Inquiry Professional Development series, download these files(pdf):

• 2009 Institute for Inquiry General Information 
• 2009 Institute for Inquiry Plan and Commitments
• 2009 Institute for Inquiry Criteria and Application
• 2009 Institute for Inquiry Graduate Level Application