IQB? Yeah, You Know Me

IQB, IBI, IBL. All of these acronyms refer to inquiry based learning and instruction, and in this blog post, we will use IQB. IQB is  a form of active learning that incorporates questions, problems, and scenarios. WNET has an extensive definition of IQB that describes it in more detail.

Edutopia has an extensive library of resources that show how IQB can be successfully incorporated into the classroom and tips and tricks for lesson design and implementation. How to write student learning objectives for IQB can also be challenging. Penn State's Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence has a great resource for how to do this.

As agriculture teachers, we often incorporate many IQB type activities into our classes. For classes that are very hands-on, this can be easy to do. For other classes, it can be more difficult. Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom  has ideas for many different types of IQB ag lessons.

IQB has five major steps: question, investigate, use evidence to describe, connect evidence to knowledge, share findings. To introduce IQB and explain how it works to students, this clip from Apollo 13 serves as a great example.

1. Question: How do we fit a square peg into a round hole?

2. Investigate: Determine what materials are available in space capsule and what is causing air leakage

3. Use Evidence to Describe: Figure out how materials can be used in combination to stop air leak

4. Connect Evidence to Knowledge: Use available materials from space capsule to construct new part to stop air leakage

5. Share Findings: Guide astronauts through process to build new part

IQB takes time to implement successfully, but it has the potential to make the classroom a much more student-centered and engaging place. Next time someone asks you, do you use QB? You can say "yeah, you know me".