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What is the Lighthouse Approach?

The foundation of the Lighthouse Program is grounded in the Inquiry Process

The Inquiry Process is for many the natural approach to education.

PBL is both a curriculum and a process. The curriculum for the Lighthouse emerges from real life challenges and competitions that demand from the learner acquisition of critical knowledge, problem solving proficiency, critical and creative thinking ability, self-directed learning strategies, and team participation skills. At its core, PBL is dependent on the inquiry process.

Why Inquiry

Student engagement is an important focus of inquiry learning. A growing body of literature on preparing students for the 21^st century suggests the skills necessary for successful inquiry are integral to the inquiry process. Engaged students experience greater satisfaction with the school experience. They are more likely to approach learning tasks eagerly and to persist when confronted with difficulty.

Go to this link to learn more:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiry-based_learning

Inquiry, when appropriately integrated into the Lighthouse Program, will engage the students and provide the necessary conditions to motivate students in pursuit of deeper and more complex Learning.

An example of a typical inquiry Lighthouse Program students may encounter.

Role Changes

In inquiry learning, the traditional teacher and student roles change. The students assume increasing responsibility for their learning, giving them more motivation and an increased sense of accomplishment, setting the pattern for them to become successful life-long learners. The faculty in turn becomes resources, tutors, and evaluators, guiding the students in their problem solving efforts.

Social studies, sciences, language, mathematics and the arts would all be brought to bear in the solution of this problem. The quest for understanding is framed by the lenses of disciplinarians. Specific skills of the researcher will be refined in the process. Data collection and organization, literature investigations, analysis and reporting of results are critical aspects of the learning.