I chose your book through a search on Amazon.  I wanted to find something to complement the very theoretical approaches to inquiry often found in academic books.  I am using it with my faculty as one of three books in a course called Fundamentals of Inquiry and Discovery.  In this course, we emphasis a deep understanding of curiosity and how it influences questioning and thinking.  We also emphasis basic research methods, using the students developing a survey about an interesting opinion issue as an exercise.  After I read through about 8 books that I thought could be a “real world” and applied perspective on asking and answering relevant questions, I chose yours for several reasons.  First, it is not so deep a read that it would turn the students away; the short vignettes work well to compliment the more academic reading.  Second, it was directly related to use of inquiry in business decision making.  The program we work in is intended for non-traditional (often a bit older) transfer students with a technical background.  They are returning to the university to earn a bachelor’s degree, but bring experience and knowledge from their prior technical degrees, from military experience, and/or from work experience.  Many are working full time somewhere in the business world.  With the variety of stories you and your son share, I thought my students would find some that they can relate to.  And finally, the book includes many of the basic approaches to inquiry that we work with the students on, but also brings a level of practicality to show that the ideal and the real are not always fully aligned.  Sometimes you need to make a decision within particular constraints of time and money.  Your book gives that that perspective on cost/benefit analysis for how to approach a challenge.

Peggy

November 16, 2020

June 27, 2019