A project of The Council, managed by the National Association of Agricultural Educators

1. Dr. John C. Ricketts Associate Professor CASE Affiliate Professor Tennessee State University CASE Affiliate Institution www.case4learning.org www.tnstate.edu/tsuaged A project of The Council, managed by the National Association of Agricultural Educators

2. Making a Case for CASE What is it? Who’s done it? The CASE Curriculum Spiraling and Modifying CASE Lessons Inquiry-based Instruction CASE Modalities – APP Professional Development Assessment and Certification The Big Picture Current and Future Courses – alignment with TN Nuts and Bolts

3. What is CASE? An instructional system Standards-based curriculum Intense teacher professional development Student-directed, inquiry-based, hands-on instruction

4. The CASE Curriculum

5. Enhancement of Rigor inAgriculture & Core Academics • CASE lesson concepts are aligned to national content standards for: • AFNR (NCAE) • Science (NSES) • Mathematics (NCTM) • English (NCTE) • Purposeful instruction of Employability Skills STEM

6. Purposeful Teaching of Science • Inquiry-based methodology • Proper use of science equipment as professionals in agricultural research use • Reinforcement of scientific method and appropriate communication of data

7. Purposeful Teaching of Math Bring the math out and purposely teach it in a generic way so students understand the math The Seven Elements of a Mathematics Enhanced Lesson (Stone, 2006)

8. Curriculum Spiraling and Modifying CASE Lessons

9. CASE Lesson Design CASE lessons are designed with a big picture outcome in mind Teach specific concepts that every agriculture student should know and understand Lessons are very focused with a purpose to teach information that is must know rather than random facts and trivia

10. Logical Progression CASE designs lessons to lead a student through content in a logical progression matching how the students’ minds must process linked events and knowledge for maximum effectiveness

11. Sequence of Instruction Why does CASE “prescribe” days of instruction in a sequence? Sequencing helps you the teacher to present the information to students in the most effective logical sequence for student understanding CASE lessons are designed to spiral student thinking starting with basic knowledge and skills to progressively more complex thinking exercises such as problem-solving

12. Scaffolding and Spiraling Spiraling is a theory associated with scaffolding of concepts – let’s look at scaffolding first: Scaffolding allows students to learn new information by “adding to” or expanding concepts previously taught Scaffolding ensures that students have a solid foundation of background knowledge before moving the student to the next level of thinking

13. The Idea of Spiraling CASE designs lessons in a deliberate way to spiral learning concepts Lessons purposefully build upon each other as the student progresses through the course New material is connected to previously learned material and the student must use knowledge from prior lessons to create projects and solve problems in later lessons

14. The Power of Spiraling Concepts Spiraling builds capacity for the learner to think holistically about subject matter in terms of how things are interconnected and related Spiraling enables the student to understand material at a deeper level and be able to generalize thinking about material for transfer in other situations

15. Bottom Line… Spiraling concepts throughout lessons ensure that: Students are accountable for learning previous knowledge Student misconceptions about concepts are corrected before moving forward

16. Check for Misconceptions Spiraling allows the teacher to check student thinking for misconceptions. Misconceptions are created because: A student missed previous instruction later used in other exercises Teaching strategies were ineffective for some learners Students developed wrong theories of concepts from previous instruction that went unchecked Students have preconceived ideas that require multiple teaching sessions to overcome

17. How Sequence and Spiraling is Connected Spiraling is a design feature of CASE. Lessons are purposefully crafted to teach concepts in a logical order to build upon each other.

18. What if I need to modify the sequence of instruction? CASE curriculum must work for your program. Our writers have tried to provide you the easiest and effective roadmap to follow in order to maximize learning. If you need to modify lessons or change the sequence of instruction, do as you must but keep in mind several important considerations…

19. Modification Consideration Number 1 Don’t assume… It is dangerous to assume previous knowledge of students. Before teaching a lesson out of sequence you must ensure that students know and understand: • Background information needed, such as terminology and theory • Technical skills, such as science lab skills including use of equipment and specific techniques for the subject matter • Related computer software • Presentation skills for communicating their findings • Safety related to activities

20. Modification Consideration Number 2 Know how material you are modifying fits into the big picture of what the students should be learning Stay true to teaching the concepts – this is what the assessments are based from Don’t add content for the sake of adding content… make sure you are not teaching trivia as this can confuse the learning outcomes

21. Modification Consideration Number 3 Read the lesson materials, PowerPoints®, APPs, and teacher notes carefully for the course to determine how concepts build on each other You will identify several situations where concepts are taught in a sequence to build on each other. If you modify the sequence the student could be confused. When you find a conflict of changing the order of concepts, remedial time will be needed to provide the essential background before teaching the modified lesson.

22. Modification Consideration Number 4 Use your resources and ask questions before changing lesson order Ask others on CoP Ask your Lead Teachers for suggestions and cautions Refer to your notes taken during CASE Institute training Ask CASE staff for ideas

23. Inquiry-Based Instruction

24. Inquiry-Based Teaching Posing leading questions Motivating students to want to discover answers rather than spoon-feed them information Modeling the critical thinking skills of a scientist

25. True Inquiry-based Activities 25 • True inquiry requires many steps in order to “set up” students for successful inquiry • Should not be stand alone (or ‘plugged in’) activities – inquiry is holistic in nature and should be consistently incorporated

26. Example Pathway of Inquiry

27. APP Modalities Activities Structured inquiry Projects Guided inquiry Problems Open inquiry 27

28. APP Target Every APP in CASE lessons are specifically designed to meet goals for student learning The ultimate goal is to teach open-ended problems

29. Agriculture Content Knowledge Four critical elements are needed before students can reach open inquiry problems… Content knowledge of the subject matter builds knowledge of terminology and facts

30. Agriculture Technical Skills Structured Activities are used to build student skills related to the context of the subject matter

31. Purposeful Teaching of Science 31 Inquiry-based methodology used Proper use of science equipment as professionals in agricultural research use Reinforcement of scientific method and appropriate communication of data

32. Science Content Knowledge Agriculture is science – purposeful teaching of science begins with building student knowledge of science content through activities and projects

33. Science Laboratory Skill To learn science principles students need to perform scientific operations to collect and analyze data from experiments

34. Hitting the Target All four critical elements must be taught through activities and projects before students can be expected to solve complex problems

35. Drawing Out the Inquiry (NRC, 2000, p. 25) Set up the CONTEXT for questions Ask scientifically oriented QUESTIONS and make realistic PREDICTIONS Provide skills for TESTING and/or collecting EVIDENCE Students will FORMULATE explanations COMPARE and EVALUATE explanations COMMUNICATE conclusions

36. Setting Up Inquiry Providing background knowledge Setting up the question

37. Transfer of Inquiry Provide a sequence of skill and knowledge building activities Facilitate a learning environment for students to practice methods of testing potential answers for open-ended questions

38. CASE Modalities – Activities, Projects, and Problems

39. Instruction - The CASE Difference Making Instruction Relevant and Exciting to Students

40. Activities, Projects, and Problems Activitiesdevelop skills and knowledge through prescribed exercises.

41. The Purpose of Activities The whole class will get the predetermined outcome as planned Reinforce general knowledge or skills necessary for use in larger projects

42. Activities, Projects, and Problems Projectsutilize prescribed problem statements, goals and constraints. Outcomes are predictable but highly variable.

43. The Potential of Projects Results develop similar conclusions The path to discover the conclusion can vary greatly Students synthesize knowledge and create something new with what they have learned

44. Activities, Projects, and Problems Problemsrequire students to identify needs, establish goals and constraints, seek knowledge via exhaustive research, synthesize new knowledge, and tackle project management issues.

45. The Power of Problems More about the process than the specific answer Removes the cap on what students can learn Develop student understanding and reinforce critical thinking skills needed in future careers

46. CASE Rigor/Relevance Model CASE Activities Lecture CASE Problems CASE Projects

47. How Students Learn in CASE Students learn by doing, correcting their mistakes, and reflecting on their work Lecture, when used by CASE is ONLY used to set up the APP ALL concepts are learned through APP exercises in CASE curriculum

48. Professional Development The heart of CASE

49. Changing the Culture of Agricultural Education Instruction • CASE provides the curriculum, resources andteacher support servicesto promote effective teaching practices.

50. On-Going Professional Development • Curriculum design features: • Teacher Notes • NAAE Communities of Practice • Professional Learning Communities • State and regional CASE teacher groups