I just viewed the recent video on the Modified Moore Method (MMO), also known as Inquiry Based Learning (IBL).
Creativity in Mathematics: Inquiry-Based Learning and the Moore Method
This video features interviews with MMO practitioners, researchers and students. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of them at various Legacy of R. L. Moore, which have been a lot of fun.
I’ve been developing an approach to IBL in my own teaching, especially in combination with cooperative learning, and have at various times tried to write my own problem sequences. Not an easy task, but very worthwhile!
Comments
2 responses to “Creativity in Mathematics: Inquiry-Based Learning and the Moore Method”
Whenever Moore is mentioned in this positive light, I think it’s important to recognize his racism – he didn’t allow Black students in his classes. What a terrible shame that such a brilliant teacher wasn’t ready to welcome students of all races.
I agree that Moore’s racism should be acknowledged (it is a terrible shame), and I recall that this is well-documented in the recent biography R. L. Moore: Mathematician and Teacher (Mathematical Association of America, 2005). This aspect of Moore’s life was also addressed head-on in the Legacy of R. L. Moore conferences that I attended.
The film Creativity in Mathematics: Inquiry-Based Learning and the Moore Method doesn’t mention Moore’s racism, though.
I think the film does a great job introducing IBL in a positive light, and tracing its American roots in undergraduate and graduate-level mathematics (to R. L. Moore). I understood the historical aspect of the film as a way of emphasizing that IBL is an American tradition. That’s nice, but personally I don’t have a problem with looking elsewhere, as well, for educational innovations.