Exploring Guided Inquiry Learning in Undergraduate Classrooms: An Experience from the Indian Context

In the Indian context, guided-inquiry approaches are not yet an integral part of teaching-learning processes in chemistry classrooms at the undergraduate level, especially in state colleges affiliated with the university system that cater to a large fraction of students. A small group of chemistry teachers, teaching organic chemistry at colleges in Mumbai, were introduced to the Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry learning approach through programs organized at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (a National Centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) for orienting teachers towards research-informed practices related to chemistry education. Inspired by this experience, a study was conducted in Mumbai colleges to gather first-hand information on the challenges involved in implementing such instructional materials in Indian classrooms. Encouraging feedback from students prompted teachers to recognize their need to evolve as facilitators and implement group work in the classrooms. As next steps, they engaged in conducting workshops for students (and teachers) that helped them make this transition and also understand the needs of students in such settings. Building on their field experience, teachers began to design their own guided-inquiry activities, primarily for first-year Indian undergraduate students. These activities were piloted in classrooms to gain insights into their strengths and weaknesses and pinpoint areas where adjustments were needed for better learning outcomes, particularly related to language, clarity, question flow, examples used, and concepts addressed. This chapter highlights our experiences using guided-inquiry material, both in offline and online modes with students from different colleges across India.