The video was kind of cool and it's got you thinking about all sorts of things. The content of the video was intriguing and you have questions about that. You still wonder about the assignment itself, but you and your friends get caught up in small group discussions about the video.
The next class brings a special guest to discuss ideas coming out of the video. The discussion is lively and you start to develop a genuine interest in the topic. You see some connection to experiences that you've had in your own life.
It isn't until class three that the teacher starts talking about the assignment again. You understand that the end product is pretty free-form, but you don't know what that means yet. But you find yourself less concerned about the assignment itself and more curious about the topic. It is in this class that the teacher starts to ask you to write in an Inquiry Journal. You are asked to keep a regular record of your thoughts, questions and ideas related to the project as you begin to explore your thinking around the topic more deeply. You are told that, while the teacher will ask to see the journal, it really is a place to play with ideas and work through things for yourself.
What is being used here is the concept of Guided Inquiry Design(GID). The teacher is purposefully scaffolding the inquiry process by opening up discussion around a broad topic, immersing students in the ideas surrounding that topic, and allowing them to explore the topic in order to make personal connections and find areas of specific interest before a thesis statement or research question is developed. The Inquiry Journal described here is a key tool in GID as it allows students to record their thought process for themselves and their teachers. It can be used by both to assess the inquiry journey both formatively and summatively.