Constructing Inquiry-Based Curricula: Theoretical and Practical Considerations for School Settings

This paper proposes an integrative framework for inquiry-based curriculum design that synthesizes Narrative-based Sense-Making Theory with the Quatro Dynamic Thinking (QDT) Model. As education transitions toward inquiry-based pedagogies (Krajcik & Shin, 2014), curricula must facilitate authentic intellectual exploration rather than predetermined learning trajectories. Building upon constructivist traditions (von Glasersfeld, 1995; Vygotsky, 1978) and contemporary sensemaking research (Weick, 1995; Dervin, 1998), Sense-Making Theory establishes that learners actively construct meaning through experientially grounded memory chains (Bransford et al., 2000). Meaning indeterminacy—characterized by semantic diversity, polysemy (Eco, 1979), and tacit knowing (Polanyi, 1966)—is reconceptualized as generative rather than problematic. The QDT Model provides methodological scaffolding through four cognitive dimensions: Diving (analytical depth), Expanding (conceptual breadth), Networking (relational connections), and Flowing (temporal dynamics), drawing upon multidimensional thinking frameworks (Tanaka, 2025; de Bono, 1985; Paul & Elder, 2008). The integration yields seven curriculum design principles informed by backward design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005): honoring diversity in meaning construction, supporting engagement with indeterminacy, enabling multidimensional cognition, promoting integrative thinking, making visible transformation trajectories through metacognitive scaffolding (Schraw & Dennison, 1994), ensuring psychological safety, and establishing authentic contexts (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Implementation strategies feature inquiry cycles with multidimensional exploration, dialogic interaction (Alexander, 2006), iterative feedback (Black & Wiliam, 1998), and metacognitive reflection (Zimmerman, 2002). Assessment emphasizes developmental trajectories—memory chain elaboration, strategic dimension utilization, conceptual transformation quality, and metacognitive depth—rather than predetermined responses (Shepard, 2000). This framework reconceptualizes teachers as catalytic facilitators, redesigns learning environments for flexible dimensional transitions, and cultivates twenty-first-century competencies: meaning construction under uncertainty, multidimensional thinking, effective collaboration (Johnson & Johnson, 1999), and transformative learning.