Inquiry-Application Instructional Model (I-AIM)

EPE Stage Function Description

Pose a question that will drive the overall inquiry and provide a
Experiences

Establish A

Question
sense of purpose. The question should be comprehensible,
Question
relevant, & motivating.

Elicit Invite students to share initial ideas about possible answers to

Students’ question. Probe students’ ideas to find out how they understand
Initial Ideas the question.

Provide opportunities for students to explore scientific

Explore & Investigate

phenomena related to the question to find & understand

Explore patterns. This includes:
Phenomena • Conducting investigations to try out & test ideas
For Patterns • Making & recording observations of first hand
observations
Patterns

• Looking for patterns in observations

Provide opportunities for students to share their ideas about

Explore patterns.
Ideas About This includes:
Patterns • Sharing ideas about patterns & evidence for them
• Comparing/coming to agreement about observed
patterns
Provide opportunities for students to express their ideas. They
Explain

Students can:
Explanations

Explain • Share their own explanations (reasons) for the patterns

Patterns • Share ideas of how their explanations answer the
question.
Introduce Provide accurate & comprehensible representations of the
Scientific scientific idea(s). This is a grade level appropriate scientific
Ideas explanation for the patterns students observed.

Compare Help students compare their own explanations with the

Application

Student & scientific explanation provided by the teacher. Students can

Scientific compare, test & revise their own explanations. Students use
Ideas the scientific explanation to answer the question.

Provide opportunities for students to apply the scientific

Apply To
Apply

explanation in new contexts. Initially, provide support though

Near &
modeling & coaching. Students can answer questions about
Distant
new experiences involving the same patterns & explanation.
Contexts
New questions can be more similar to or different from the
With Support
original question.

Apply With Provide opportunities for students to apply the scientific

Fading explanation in new contexts with diminishing support from the
Support teacher.

9-2008
Developed by Kristin L. Gunckel, Christina V. Schwarz, Edward L. Smith and Beth A. Covitt
Michigan State University