Making the CASE for Agriculture Education

Today begins a new adventure about taking Agriculture Education to the next level.  For the next 10 days, I will be participating in the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Institute to become certified the "Introduction to Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) curriculum.  There are 21 Agriculture Educators from 7 states participating in this CASE institute that is being hosted by Penn State University and Cumberland Valley High School.

CASE is a one-of-a-kind curriculum that shifts the classroom towards student-based learning and inquiry-based instruction where students apply critical thinking skills and problem-solving each and every day in the classroom.  Students are challenged to take control of their learning and become an active member of the learning community.  For many agriculture programs, this curriculum is implemented to increase the rigor and relevance of agricultural science while preparing students for diverse careers in the field of technical agriculture.

Throughout the course of the institute, attendees are given the opportunity to experience the 150+ days of curriculum as a 'student.'  With 8 hours of instruction during the day and homework assignments at night, the institute challenges attendees to become familiar with the numerous activities, problems, and projects around which the curriculum is based.

For more information about the CASE Curriculum and other institutes being offered, visit www.case4learning.org.

To "follow" the action at the PSU/Cumberland Valley CASE Institute, follow the hashtag #PSUCASE13 on Twitter.

More entries to follow! Stay tuned!

~D