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.

Guest Blogger: Standard wha? - a sojourn into Standards Based Grading

Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of guest contributors from the national school-based agricultural education family. Mr. Matthew Eddy is a 17 year teacher at Southeast Polk High School in Iowa. He is a CASE Certified Master Teacher and holds certifications in AFNR, Animal Science, Plant Science and Biotechnology. He authored the Governor’s STEM Scale-Up grants -- securing funding of over $3 Million dollars for Iowa Agriculture programs to participate in adopting the CASE model. Matthew is involved in his professional organizations thru the “Teach Ag” campaign helping to recruit and retain agriculture teachers: blogging about “A Day in the Life of an Ag Teacher” on the NAAE Communities of Practice site and building awareness of his profession with his interactions on twitter - @AgEd4ME. His wife Carol is a principal with the Ankeny school district and his four children, Owen (9), Olivia (5) and Isaac (4) and Evelyn (6mo) seem to keep him busy at home in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.

SE Polk students are almost ready
to embark on the fetal pig dissection lab.  

First and foremost - let me capitulate by stating that I have, in no conceivable way, a handle on this thing.  But I'm trying.

While you (PSU Ag Ed student) have probably the greatest Ag Educator in the Nation at your helm and have probably discussed Standards Based Grading- and grading in general extensively - the rest of the educational world is likely to not have been so lucky.

My grading experiences started with a red standard gradebook and a No 2 yellow pencil.  Go forth and evaluate young man... and don't screw it up.

As I look back on my grading experiences, I can put them into two categories -- 1 - how I was graded in high school and #2 - how I graded during my student teaching experience.  Neither of which was anything to write home about and both were inherently flawed… at least when it comes to measuring learning.  

And isn't that what grades are for?  Measuring a student’s learning?

 I always believed that my gradebook was flawed... anyone who likes numbers can probably see some of the ways that it was... but I never really gave it much thought until about five years ago when I saw some youtube videos of Rick Wormeli.  

Mind. Blown.

“The grade is NOT the reward, nor can it ever be considered such. Once a grade becomes a bartering tool, its power to inform stake-holders and be used to make instructional decisions or document progress accurately is impugned.” (Wormeli)

IF we are truly assessing students for what they know - our traditional system has so many inherent flaws that keep our grades from being that true assessment and make them into more of a compliance report.  Points deducted for late work, zeros, no chances for re-assessment, extra credit (much of which doesn’t even relate to the learning goals- i.e. bring a box of Kleenex )… the list is endless.        

SE Polk Students extracting DNA from a piece of fruit.  

“The two essential questions that all educators should ask about their grades are, ‘How confident am I that the grades students get in my classroom/school/district are accurate, meaningful, and consistent, and that they support learning’ and ‘How confident am I that the grades I assign students accurately reflect my school’s/district’s published content standards and desired learning outcomes?’” (O’Conner, p2)

Grading has become a high stakes affair and in my opinion almost opposite of what it was intended to communicate. “Grading should be a by-product of learning – not the reason for it” (Eddy)

As you embark upon your journey into Agriculture Education – remember that those two words might not be listed in order of importance.  Be a good educator first, use agriculture as your canvas.  Create a world view that prizes learning over schooling. Grade your students to reflect their mastery of a subject, not their ability to complete worksheets on time. 

Give Standards Based Grading a try – read, think, implement, evaluate – rinse and repeat.

If you really want to consider this further - I recommend Rick Wormeli and Ken O'Connor -- who can speak much more eloquently and have done far more with this subject area.  THEY have a handle on it.  As for me, I just keep trying again tomorrow... 

Bibliography

Rick Wormeli, “Fair isn’t always Equal”

Ken O’Conner, “A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades”

Matthew Eddy, “My Kid got a What??”

http://communities.naae.org/blogs/dayinthelife/2013/10/10/my-kid-got-a-what

Submitted by:

Matthew Eddy

@AgEd4ME

Southeast Polk Agriculture Instructor