The GE Foundation Institute
for Inquiry

The Connecticut Science Center is committed to supporting teachers in their professional development through pedagogical and content area training, and we're not waiting to open our doors to start this important work! We are offering professional development in inquiry-based learning and teaching by providing a series of week-long immersion workshops; the GE Foundation Institute for Inquiry. Participants are asked to apply and based upon interviews and the written application, teachers and administrators will be invited to attend an Institute. 

The workshops, provided through a grant from the GE Foundation, help educators practice teaching techniques, and prepare them to incorporate these strategies into their lesson plans and school curricula for the coming year. During each workshop, participants use hands-on investigations to experience inquiry first as learners themselves, and then apply that learning to the classroom with students and with other teachers. These activities help prepare them to draw upon intrinsic human curiosity, a vital ingredient to successful classroom teaching.

The project provides ongoing support by fostering continued collaboration and support among the program’s participants throughout the school year.

Additionally, the Center helps facilitate the participation of Connecticut subject-matter-experts, such as local scientists, educators and engineers, who will contribute to exciting classroom activities. As the Center draws closer to opening, additional content area professional development will be offered.  Please visit the Professional Development page for more information. In addition to the Inquiry Institute series, workshops will be held specifically for the Science Center’s field trip visits, content workshops aligned with the Framework and our exhibits, and a wide selection of other workshops such as Science Notebooking and Integrating Language Arts & Science, just to name a few.

For more information about the GE Institute for Inquiry Professional Development series, download these files(pdf):

• 2008 Institute for Inquiry General Information 
• 2008 Institute for Inquiry Plan and Commitments
• 2008 Institute for Inquiry Criteria and Application
• 2008 Institute for Inquiry Graduate Level Application