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".

Inquiry Based Video Discovered by Matt Rider

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.