UEN Teacher Tips

If you're looking for a distinctive approach to instruction that's driven by student curiosity, try phenomena-based learning. Rather than simply presenting facts and figures, this method encourages students to investigate intriguing phenomena and uncover the underlying explanations.

How Does Phenomena-Based Learning Work?

At its heart, phenomena-based learning begins with a captivating phenomenon—an observable event or situation that piques students’ curiosity and sparks a desire to understand why or how. These phenomena should be visually stimulating and open-ended, prompting questions that can be answered with a deeper study.

Using Educational Technology 

Educational technology has heightened our ability to bring engaging phenomena to our students by providing tools and resources that facilitate student engagement, inquiry and knowledge construction. A plethora of tools are available to help engage students with multimedia resources, data collecting tools and virtual reality. 

Phenomena-Based Learning in Action: Research Quest

UEN worked with experts from the Natural History Museum of Utah to create a free online research tool known as Research Quest. The interactive investigations in Research Quest are aligned to the ELA common core standards as well as Utah SEEd and NGSS science standards. 

Click on this link researchquest.org to begin your interactive experience. You simply need to create a teacher account and give your students an access code. Then, let their natural curiosity drive the investigation. Research Quest is built for students in grades 6-8. 

Empower Your Students with Phenomena-Based Learning

Ultimately, phenomena-based learning ignites curiosity, fosters critical thinking and empowers students to become active participants in their own learning journey. By leveraging powerful tools like the Natural History Museum of Utah’s Research Quest, educators can guide students to explore real-world phenomena, ask compelling questions and construct deep understandings of complex topics. Let us embrace this innovative approach to education, nurturing a new generation of curious minds.