The Instructional Procedure of IBL
IBL is the most favored and useful instructional model. The main reason for acceptance as large-scale and usefulness in science teaching is that it matches between learning and environment due to the nature of human. In other words, all of our observations, learning necessities, and inquiries instinctively require raising inquiry questions. Therefore, IBL lesson started with questions based on real observations. The characteristic of the questions allow to conclude with the discussions andexplanations based on evidences (Cuevas et. al., 2005). These questions have single-step answers on observations, and allow generating new open-ended questions and the process is driven by questions generated by learners (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Linn et al., 1996). For this reason, most of the questions (driving questions) created by teacher to organize and direct inquiry. The characteristics of these questions seem very complex. However, the process of IBL only needed to use very simple prior knowledge and skills, because the knowledge is constructed by students while carrying out observations and experiments. This process and right use of students’ prior knowledge and skills burdens teachers’ different roles. These roles vary from leader to facilitator and coach. As a leader, they stimulate interaction, establish inquiry, and guide exploration form operational definition for concept. As a coach, they coach student actions, as a facilitator, they show the learning and the providing knowledge. According to these teacher attitudes, students’ roles are forecasting, explaining, hypothesizing, designing and directing their tasks. The students also should be encouraged asking and refining questions, planning and designing how to answer their ideas, share ideas, making sense of data and designing and conducting experimental work. These student/teacher roles have caused some fierce debates among educators. First of all, Kirschner et. al., (2006) has claimed that IBL is the minimally direct instruction, but, Hmelo-Silver et. al., (2007) has proposed that this method is direct instruction. However, they also accepted that controlled experiments of inquiry-based environments are scarce. Another debate on this subject is about its application field and level. IBL seems quite conventional for science instruction and elementary level because of being the first application area and depending on students’ prior knowledge.