Critical and collaborative problem-solving: An action research project on the development of cognition-centred inquiry for Year 11 senior history

ALISON BEDFORD, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND AND THE GLENNIE SCHOOL, AUSTRALIA Introduction Secondary students are often reluctant to work collaboratively and take shared responsibility for each other’s learning. This project sought to explore approaches that promote collaboration and foster critical thinking through the adoption of a cognition-centred inquiry (CCI) pedagogy, which foregrounds the explicit teaching of metacognition and critical thinking in senior history classrooms. Research question How does implementing a cognition-centred inquiry model develop independent critical thinking and learning skills in Year 11 history students? Action research methodology This project adopted Mertler’s (2020) four-stage approach to action research: planning, acting, developing and reflecting. The research topic development and an initial literature review were undertaken during the planning stage. A research plan was developed, with permission for participation and ethics ap