I'm just wondering why so many students opt to take Inquiry courses...

I'm taking Science and hoping to major in Biology in second year, and with the courses required, I couldn't find the time to take an Inquiry course.

Will I be okay?

Who else isn't taking an Inquiry course (preferably in Science)?

LOTS of people don't take inquiry. In fact, I only know a handful who have.

You'll be okay, but it IS quite common *in science* for students to take inquiry courses - most other faculties haven't adopted the model nearly as much, which is likely what lorend is referring to.

It used to be a requirement in some science programs that you take one, so be sure that you're not shutting yourself out of anything. If it's not required in first year (that was far less common), it was somewhat common for one to be required in 4th year if you're not doing a thesis course or something similar.

Students opt to take them for a variety of reasons, but a big one is that you are likely to get a good mark in it if you work effectively. Inquiry courses are all about the process of science, not the product - thus, it's more important how you arrive at the final report, presentation, etc. than the actual report. That's not to say that the final product can be bad in quality, but the profs are also placing great emphasis on how you got there. It's almost always group work, and there are many peer- and self-evaluations along the way. As a result, you can't slack off and let the group do the work, since it's the process that's being evaluated too.

So, if you work well in groups and are willing to put in the time, you'll likely get a good mark Groups usually pick what topic they want to work on so hopefully it'll be something interesting to you, and students are generally very generous on peer evaluations if everyone's been contributing well. If you haven't, though, watch out - then they go into resentful mode, heh.

Inquiry courses can also be really fun - there was a really popular 4th year one called Radiation and Life which went on many field trips to places like nuclear reactors, and another one (that I took) called Phoenix: Out of the Ashes and Into the Atomic Age that involved a trip to Japan to go to Hiroshima to learn about the effects of the atomic bombing. I'm not sure if these still exist since course codes are always changing, but by the time you get to 4th year you'll probably find new ones, too - a lot of them come about because of the particular research interest of a particular prof.

I was talking about people in general. :p

I know a handful of people in humanities and one in health science who took an inquiry.

Your health sci friends must not be that talkative about their courses :p

It's actually required for them to take an inquiry course every year for the first 3 years of their program! That's an extreme example as far as faculties go, though, since the whole program is based around problem-based learning, and inquiry courses are mainly PBL.

Nope, apparently they're not.
I had a complainer, thats the only reason I knew he was taking it.

Originally Posted by lorend

I was talking about people in general. :p

I know a handful of people in humanities and one in health science who took an inquiry.

So advantages and disadvantages to INQUIRY 1HU3????

It's self-directed learning, so depending on how you're used to learning you may find it problematic to stay on course.

I didn't take it...so...I dunno.

Originally Posted by lorend

It's self-directed learning, so depending on how you're used to learning you may find it problematic to stay on course.

Hahaha, yeap.

Thanks.

I took Inquiry 1SC3....oh the most terrible course I've ever taken. Now, yes, it was a free 12, but it was a waste of my time every single week. If you can make it through the pain that is the pointless, pointless, brain-numbing lectures each week then you'll get your free 12. Best part about this course, in my section, professor stopped coming in February and the TA's handled everything, and so the final grading was done with them.

There's no exam or tests or anything either.

This decision keeps getting harder. On one hand, I have the ability to learn on my own but choose not to and will favour more important courses over this one. But on the other it seems to much a bird course that I might as well just take it and get some free grades. BUT. Boredom is my worse enemy and will likely cause me to .... fail.

Originally Posted by __lexington

This decision keeps getting harder. On one hand, I have the ability to learn on my own but choose not to and will favour more important courses over this one. But on the other it seems to much a bird course that I might as well just take it and get some free grades. BUT. Boredom is my worse enemy and will likely cause me to .... fail.

The final grading was an interview where you said what mark you deserved and why you deserve it. If you do a good job working in your teams on the 2 assignments and keep up with the little itty bitty work they give you, then you can fully justify the 12. Honestly, I did all my Inquiry work on Wednesday morning at 7 before the class.