This is a chapter from the 2010 report, The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, published by by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In this chapter, the authors summarize three often overlapping families of inquiry-based learning: "project-based", "problem-based" and "learning through design". A first key conclusion of their review of research evidence is that students learn more deeply when they can apply classroom-gathered knowledge to real-world problems; inquiry-based approaches are important ways to nurture communication, collaboration, creativity and deep thinking. Second, inquiry-based learning depends on the application of well-designed assessments, both to define the learning tasks and to evaluate what has been learned. Third, however, the success of inquiry approaches tends to be highly dependent on the knowledge and skills of those implementing them. If these approaches are poorly understood and mistaken for being unstructured, their benefits are substantially reduced compared with when they are implemented by those appreciating the need for extensive scaffolding and constant assessment to inform their direction. The online "read only" version is available at no cost from OECD. Users may purchase print or pdf versions.

Editor's Note: See Related Materials (right) for a link to the full resource collection, "The Nature of Learning", containing all 13 chapters.