Developing the innovative inquiry-based lesson plan through lesson study

Abstract

This study aims to develop an innovative inquiry-based lesson plan through lesson study (LS) [2]. LS is considered as an updated professional development which aims at improving the teaching process and students' learning [16]. The lesson plan makes use of 7E learning cycle [5] embedded with inquiry activities that transform an ordinary classroom setting into an active student-centered learning environment [8]. The lesson model includes the following stages (1) Elicit, (2) Engage, (3) Explore, (4) Explain, (5) Elaborate, (6) Evaluate and (7) Extend. The research lesson made by the lesson study (LS) team was innovated gradually every after each implementation cycle. Revisions were done based on observations such as students' responses, teacher-student interaction or student-student interaction depending on how students view the lesson and how the group activity work smoothly. The innovative lesson plan has refined three times, based on the needs of the students. It is also evident in the implementation that students' learning and motivation are dependent on the scaffolding questions and the ability of the teacher to connect relationships that would help students contextualized the concepts in real life experiences.