{"id":17628,"date":"2015-07-01T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T04:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/2015\/07\/using-ibl-to-teach-math\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T13:59:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:59:39","slug":"using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Math"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Originally published in TEACH Magazine, July\/August 2015 Issue<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Tara Davis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) journey started in 2012 at a workshop hosted by the <strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.maa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mathematical Association of America<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. I received training in teaching IBL, specifically in a &#8220;Problem Solving for Math Teaching&#8221; class setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was skeptical about IBL, having made it through a PhD program being taught almost exclusively with the traditional lecture method. But after graduate school, when I began teaching university full time in 2011, my colleagues challenged me to make my lessons more active. These encouragements, as well as my own budding curiosity, were what led me to participate in the workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-woocommerce-memberships-member-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"woocommerce\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"woocommerce-info wc-memberships-restriction-message wc-memberships-message wc-memberships-content-restricted-message\">\n\t\t\t\t<h3>Subscribe to Keep Reading<\/h3>\r\n<p>\ud83d\udd11 You\u2019re one step away from unlocking premium content.<br>\r\nSubscribe now for as low as $5.99 and get full access!<\/p>\r\n<p><a class=\"btn\" href=\"\/product-category\/subscription\/\">Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><small>If you\u2019re already subscribed, please <a href=\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/my-account\/\">Log In<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\t\t    <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IBL has a broad definition and varied implementation. It is generally characterized by a student-centered learning experience, with little to no lecturing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"featured_media":16529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2950,3168],"tags":[3169,3170,3171,3174],"class_list":{"0":"post-17628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-classroom-perspectives","8":"category-math","9":"tag-educatioal-resources","10":"tag-ibl","11":"tag-inquiry-based-learning","12":"tag-teacher-resources"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Math - TEACH Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"IBL has a broad definition and varied implementation. It&#039;s generally characterized by a student-centered learning experience, with little to no lecturing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Math\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IBL has a broad definition and varied implementation. It&#039;s generally characterized by a student-centered learning experience, with little to no lecturing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TEACH Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/teachmag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-01T04:00:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-25T18:59:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/teachmath_web.png?_t=1764097179\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"393\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tara Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Math\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"IBL has a broad definition and varied implementation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@teachmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@teachmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tara Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tara Davis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/076c50f506db1e6073c52da7290294d8\"},\"headline\":\"Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Math\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-01T04:00:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T18:59:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/\"},\"wordCount\":1206,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/teachmath_web.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Educatioal Resources\",\"IBL\",\"Inquiry-Based Learning\",\"Teacher Resources\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Classroom Perspectives\",\"Math\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/\",\"name\":\"Using Inquiry-Based Learning to Teach Math - TEACH Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/using-inquiry-based-learning-teach-math\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/teachmath_web.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-01T04:00:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T18:59:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/teachmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/076c50f506db1e6073c52da7290294d8\"},\"description\":\"IBL has a broad definition and varied implementation. 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