Guest Blogger: Utilizing CASE to Achieve Inquiry and Integrated Science Goals (2016)

Editor's Note: Ms. Melanie Bloom has been a Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Writing Team Member since 2014, and is now also a doctoral student at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Prior to joining the CASE team, Melanie served for twelve years as an agricultural education Instructor in Iowa, during which she was active in the National Association of Agricultural Educators organization. Melanie was raised on a diversified crop and livestock farm in northwest Iowa and remains active in two family farm operations in addition to many agriculture-related hobbies.

Connect with Melanie:
@Ag_In_Bloom
Melanie.Bloom@case4learning.org

Joining PSU's AEE 412 class from my basement office; the commute is terrible when you work from home!

Here's a great inquiry resource to help get you started: Inquiry-Based Learning in the Science Classroom.

When we're building CASE courses, we use the CASE Curriculum Development Philosophy document. I have desk copies of How People Learn (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, 2000) and Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). I suggest reading both if you're going to get into writing inquiry curriculum.

One visual resource I like to reference is the Rigor-Relevance Framework, which dials up Bloom's Taxonomy (no relation), developed by Bill Daggett, 2005. CASE curriculum fits into categories that represent real-world application of knowledge and skills. CASE design includes the following student documents:

• Activities would be considered Structured Inquiry, which means students will conduct similar activities to achieve basic knowledge and skill acquisition. Activities fit the third level of the Application scale and set the stage for future activities, projects, and problems.
• Projects are meant to be Guided Inquiry, so students might use different means to arrive at similar conclusions. Projects fall into the fourth level of Application.
• Problems represent Open Inquiry, and fall into the Adaptation category. The sky's the limit, and students might use different processes to achieve different results, but all students will complete a relevant task. 

More at Utilizing CASE to Achieve Inquiry and Integrated Science Goals.

I'm always available to visit with and love connecting with other ag ed professionals!

Resources:

• Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Research Council.
• Daggett, W. R. (2005, September). Achieving academic excellence through rigor and relevance. Retrieved January 10, 2008 from http://www.daggett.com/pdf/Academic_Excellence.pdf
• Wiggins, G. P, & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.