Pennsylvania Agricultural Educators Participate in Professional Development

The NAAE Agriscience Inquiry Institute (Ag I²) is a state focused professional development opportunity for Agricultural Educators to learn about inquiry-based teaching and techniques to better incorporate science into their Agricultural Education courses. This opportunity also allows for sharing of materials between educators and a chance to train future educators who will be influencing future generations of leaders in agriculture. This year, a group of Pennsylvania Agricultural Educators and the 2020 Penn State Agricultural and Extension Education cohort participated in Ag I² to learn about how to improve their teaching methods in the classroom through inquiry based instruction.

THE FACILITATORS

PA Ag I² facilitators in action.

"I have really enjoyed facilitating workshops and sharing ideas with the best educators from across the country" says Ms. Krista Pontius. Two dedicated Pennsylvania Agricultural Educators and members of the National Agriscience Ambassador Academy, Ms. Krista Pontius and Ms. SaraBeth Fulton, served as facilitators for this experience. While they both expected to share inquiry based education methods with hands-on applications that could be used in the classroom with a group of fellow Agricultural Educators, one of their favorite aspects of the experience was watching each participant realize how frustrating it can be to incorporate the five elements of inquiry into their lessons, but pushing forward to make their methods more student-centered and challenging. Each hoped that the participants were able to gain a valuable understanding of inquiry based instruction from the experience. Ms. Krista Pontius emphasized, "Inquiry is about changing the classroom from teacher centered to student centered... challenging student curiosity while improving their communication skills and increasing their confidence to share their own ideas".

THE PARTICIPANTS

PA Agricultural Educators at Ag I².

Ms. Darla Romberger shared, "Whenever a group of Ag Teachers get the chance to brainstorm and share ideas regarding content and pedagogy, it is time well spent". Ag I² allowed for growth in the minds of both experienced and first-year teachers, a trait that Ms. Victoria Brown truly appreciated about the workshops. "During my time at Penn State, I had the chance to engage in multiple professional development events centered around inquiry based learning. I knew that at Ag I² we would be working through some of the same content, but I was hoping to gain a new perspective since all of my other experiences with inquiry were pre-service." Both Ms. Darla Romberger and Ms. Victoria Brown were excited to learn new activities and gain new materials that they could add to use in their existing coursework. Apart from learning about the five essential components of inquiry (Questioning, Evidence, Explanation, Connection, and Communication), Ms. Darla Romberger stated that, "the collaboration between teachers was the most valuable and memorable portion of this workshop!"

THE SENIOR COHORT

Luke Kerstetter trying out new inquiry-based techniques at Ag I².

While this years seniors in Agricultural and Extension Education at Penn State had just taken part in professional development at the National FFA Convention and Expo, Ag I² was made a special experience none-the-less. With their student teaching internships just around the corner, #psuaged20 dived deep into the inquiry-based techniques that would enable them to have a greater impact on their students at their cooperating centers. Luke Kerstetter says, "Getting the experience of teaching an inquiry-based lesson helped me understand the method and grasp how to reign in a class to conclude the 'why' to the lesson. As educators we can never forget to explain the 'why' behind the content being taught." This professional development experience, paired with the others they have attended, have prepared this years seniors for life in their own classrooms in the future. "The ideas that became more concrete in my mind will help me in my future to be able to create a more structured system of expectations in my classroom, but one that still gives the students freedom", says Kaitlin Liszka. Each senior appreciated how Ag I² taught them how to center their classrooms around their students, giving them tools to maximize their students' potential for learning.

Taylor Halbleib

Agricultural and Extension Education

Class of 2022