As college courses transition to online instruction in response to
COVID-19 incorporating inquiry-based learning is all the more essential
for student engagement. However, implementation can prove challenging
for instructors. I describe a strategy for inquiry-based learning that
is straightforward to apply in a variety of course modalities, including
asynchronous and synchronous online courses. I describe an assignment
where students explore the developmental basis of morphological
evolution. Flowers offer an excellent example to address this concept
and are easy for students to access and describe. Students were asked to
conduct research on local flowering plants by collecting and dissecting
flower specimens to determine their whorl patterns and then generate
hypotheses to explain the developmental genetic basis of the patterns
identified. This task allowed students to apply their scientific
thinking skills, explore nature, and connect their understanding of the
developmental basis of evolutionary change to everyday life. I designed
this assignment to be completed asynchronously, and it can be easily
modified for synchronous online and traditional face-to-face meetings.
Incorporating inquiry using readily available, tangible, tractable
real-world examples is a pragmatic and effective approach during and
beyond COVID-19.