Chapter 14: Dimension 4: Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action

In Dimension 1: Developing questions and planning inquiries, we learned to develop interesting questions about the world and plan inquiries that address these questions. In Dimension 2: Disciplinary tools and concepts, we empowered students to analyze, critique, and synthesize information across multiple disciplines. In Dimension 3: Evaluating sources and using evidence, we equipped students with the skills they need to gather and evaluate sources. So now what? The final step in the inquiry arc, Dimension 4: Communicating conclusions and taking informed action [hereafter referred as Dimension 4], tackles what students do with the knowledge they have acquired throughout a lesson or series of lessons. Dimension 4 encourages teachers to include opportunities for students to collaborate with others and share their conclusions in a public setting and asks students to communicate their findings with others and, if possible, take action.