Source: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
A MODELING APPROACH TO UNIFYING CONCEPTS TAUGHT IN A PROFESSIONAL MS AGRONOMY CURRICULUM
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0225877
Grant No.
2011-38411-30555
Project No.
IOWE-2011-01873
Proposal No.
2011-01873
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
ER
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2011
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2014
Grant Year
2011
Project Director
Moore, K. J.
Recipient Organization
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
2229 Lincoln Way
AMES,IA 50011
Performing Department
Agronomy
Non Technical Summary
Agronomic systems are inherently complex. Traditional agronomy curricula generally focus on understanding the components of the agroecosystem assuming that students will be able to understand the system by understanding its individual parts. While fundamental knowledge of the individual components is critical to understanding the functioning of agroecoystems, it does not account for the complex interactions and variation inherent in them. This project seeks to improve student understanding of these complexities by integrating the use of an agricultural systems modeling platform throughout a professional MS degree curriculum. The specific objectives are to 1) adapt the Agricultural Productions Systems Simulator (APSIM) modeling platform for teaching basic concepts in crops, soils, and agricultural meteorology; 2) develop simulations that demonstrate the interactions of these components in more advanced courses; 3) and through this process of introduction and refinement develop the ability of students to apply modeling approaches for understanding complexity in agroecosystems. This project will improve the quality of food and agricultural skills by using modeling tools to improve student understanding and ability to solve complex problems related to agroecosystem management. It will impact the pedagogy used in professional degree programs by creating experiential learning opportunities that cannot be provided within the scope of traditional training programs.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360993020100%
Goals / Objectives
Agronomic systems are inherently complex. Traditional agronomy curricula generally take a reductive approach to understanding the basic elements of the agroecosystem with the ostensible expectation that students will be able to understand the system by understanding its individual components. While fundamental knowledge of the individual components is critical to understanding the functioning of agroecoystems, it does not account for the complex interactions and variation inherent in them. This project seeks to improve student understanding of these complexities by integrating the use of an agricultural systems modeling platform throughout a professional MS degree curriculum. The primary audience is students enrolled in the Agronomy MS distance education program at Iowa State University. The specific objectives are to 1) adapt the Agricultural Productions Systems Simulator (APSIM) modeling platform for teaching basic concepts in crops, soils, and agricultural meteorology; 2) develop simulations that demonstrate the interactions of these components in more advanced courses; 3) and through this process of introduction and refinement develop the ability of students to apply modeling approaches for understanding complexity in agroecosystems. This project will improve the quality of food and agricultural skills by using modeling tools to improve student understanding and ability to solve complex problems related to agroecosystem management. It will impact the pedagogy used in professional degree programs by creating experiential learning opportunities that could not be provided within the scope of traditional training programs.
Project Methods
A postdoctoral teaching associate with background and training in use of crop simulation models will be hired to assist the Co-Project Directors and other faculty in implementing project objectives. A faculty member with extensive modeling experience will work closely with this individual in adapting the APSIM environment for instructional purposes (Objective 1) and developing tools for creating contextually appropriate databases (Objective 2). Together they will assist program faculty in developing appropriate simulations for each of the courses involved (Objective 3, Table 1). An APSIM workshop will be developed that will be included as part of Agron 594 Agronomy Practicum (Objective 4). The outcomes of these activities will be independently assessed by the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching in the College of Human Sciences. The center has extensive experience in program evaluation and has played a key role in the continuous assessment and improvement of the Agronomy MS program. The center will be responsible for developing and implementing the instruments used to evaluate the learning outcomes from implementing APSIM into the curriculum.

Progress 08/01/11 to 07/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project were agronomy MS distance students and faculty. Our efforts to create innovative teaching methodologies and education materials are described in the outputs and outcomes reports. Researchers working in various aspects of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum were also benefit from this project as we developed methodologies and model-based exercises to assist in analyzing and interpreting complex interactions among soils, crops, management and climate Changes/Problems: The only negative feedback that we have received is that they students and instructors needed more time to adjust themselves to this new teaching strategy. This is reasonable given that APSIM contains more than 60 science models along with numerous management and graphical options, and training time is required. That was also the reason for requesting extension of the project for one more year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? We offered in total four APSIM workshops (July 2012, January 2013, July 2013, and July 2014) and three APSIM orientation sessions to MS students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The project results were disseminated through publications and announcements in scientific conferences. Also the results were disseminated during the workshops, but most importantly, by updating internet-based MS agronomy distance courses such as 502, 503, 512, and 532. In these courses we incorporated new model-based examples to demonstrate the complexities in agronomic systems and model-based exercises. Also we developed an internet based APSIM share Point (https://cals.cypoint.iastate.edu/unit/AGRON/MSAgron/APSIM/SitePages/Home.aspx) where our products (educational materials) are stored and are available to the instructors and students. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In line with the listed project objectives, during the course of the project, we developed all the necessary materials needed (climate, soil, crop databases, see details in the products section) to adapt the APSIM model to MS agronomy program needs. We developed several simulation templates (see products section) to demonstrate the interactions that exist among soils, climates, management practices and crops. All these materials along with the workshops that offered during the course of the project provided the students the opportunity to explore combinations of management practices that result in the identification of profitable cropping systems. To strengthen model ability to predict accurately biophysical aspects we tested the model extensively against comprehensive experimental dataset. We developed numerous learning materials for several MS courses, the majority of them have already been incorporated into the structure of MS program and some other ones are in the incorporation process. We offered 4 workshops to train students and faculty on APSIM (incuding workshop scheduled for July 24, 2014) and 3 APSIM orientation sessions. The training package included: a) description of the major processes involved in plant growth, water balance, N cycling and OM decomposition models of the APSIM modeling platform; b) an illustrative description of the program user interface and its graphic component; and c) exercises for practice. We mention an example from the July 2013 workshop to depict the impact on students of using agricultural system models. We asked the students to pretend to be farmers or crop advisors and to use the model as the tool and apply their agronomic knowledge in order to find the best management practices (cultivar choice, sowing time, N application rate, time of N application, row spacing, plant density, sowing depth, for a particular crop, soil, and climate) in order to maximize economical returns. Students appreciated that exercise so much that they didn’t even inquire about the scheduled break! This exercise ended with a very creative scientific discussion on the “how you did it?”; a question that reflects reality well. The feedback on this innovative teaching strategy was very positive; students greatly appreciated this exercise as they familiarized themselves both with the theoretical principles in agricultural systems, as well as the usage of a process based model, which definitely adds credits to their curriculums for future jobs applications in academia or industry. In general, both students and faculty have recognized the potential of using agricultural systems models into teaching activities and they are looking forward for the fully incorporation of the modeling platform into the MS program.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, Moore KJ, 2014. Evaluating APSIM maize, soil water, soil nitrogen, manure and soil temperature modules in the Midwestern United States. Agronomy J 106: 10251040
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, Moore KJ. A methodology and an optimization code to calibrate phenology of short-day species included in the APSIM PLANT model: application to soybean. Environmental Modeling and Software Journal (in press).
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2012 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, Moore KJ, 2012. APSIM manual for MS students. Iowa State University, 74 pages, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, 2013. Testing the performance of the APSIM model in Iowa. ASA, CSSA and SSSA 2013 international annual meeting November 36, Tampa, Florida.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, Moore KJ, Loynachan T, Knapp, 2012. Incorporating farming system modeling approaches into agronomy MS program. ASA, CSSA and SSSA 2012 international annual meeting October 2124, Cincinnati, OH.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Miguez FE, Moore KJ, Archontoulis SV, 2012. A modeling approach to unifying concepts taught in a professional MS agronomy Curriculum. NACTA Journal Volume 56, page 12, Abstract # 0247.


Progress 08/01/12 to 07/31/13

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences for this project are mainly MS distance students and faculty. Our efforts to create innovative teaching methodologies and education materials were described in the outputs and outcomes reports. Researchers working at various aspects of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum are also benefit from this project as we indicate pathways towards analyzing complexities in agricultural systems. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? we covered this in the previous section How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? we are continuously updating our internet based APSIM share Point (https://cals.cypoint.iastate.edu/unit/AGRON/MSAgron/APSIM/SitePages/Home.aspx) in whihc all our products (educational materials) are stored and are available to the instructors. Part of the education materials developed as well as our approach have been presented in international conference (ASA meetings). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? we plan to incorporate the APSIM modeling platform to additional MS distance courses

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In line with the listed project objectives, during the second year we developed/completed all the necessary materials needed (soil, crop databases, see details in the products section) in order to incorporate APSIM into the Agronomy distance program. Moreover, we tested the model against comprehensive experimental dataset in order to improve model predictions in the US Midwest and to minimize concerns associated with model predictions. This work resulted also in two publications as well. We developed numerous simulation exercises and learning materials for four MS courses (Agron 501, 502, 203 and 532; for more details see the products section), some of them have already been incorporated into the structure of MS program and some other ones are in the process. Lastly we offered two additional workshops to train students and faculty on APSIM. The training package included: a) description of the major processes involved in plant growth, water balance, N cycling and OM decomposition models of the APSIM modeling platform; b) an illustrative description of the program user interface and its graphic component; and c) exercises for practice. We mention just an example from the last workshop (July 2013) to depict the impact on students of using agricultural system models into teaching. We asked the students to pretend to be farmers or crop advisors and to use the model as the tool and apply their agronomic knowledge in order to find the best management practices (cultivar choice, sowing time, N application rate, time of N application, row spacing, plant density, sowing depth, for a particular crop, soil, and climate) in order to maximizing economical profits. Students appreciated that exercise so much that they didn’t even inquire about the scheduled break! This exercise ended with a very creative scientific discussion on the “how you did it?”; a question that reflects reality well. The feedback on this innovative teaching strategy was very positive; students were happy, since they familiarized themselves both with the theoretical principles in agricultural systems, as well as the usage of a process based model, which definitely adds credits to their curriculums for future jobs applications in academia or industry. In general, both students and faculty have recognized the potential of using agricultural systems models into teaching activities and they are looking forward for the fully integration of the modeling platform into the MS program. The only negative feedback that we have received is that they need more time to adjust themselves to this new teaching strategy. This is true and fully understandable given that APSIM contains more than 60 science models along with numerous management and graphical options. That was the reason for requesting extension of the project for one more year.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, Moore KJ. A methodology and an optimization algorythm to calibrate APSIM soybean phenology by modeling temperature and photoperiod interactions throughtout the crop cycle. Submitted to Environmental modeling and software Journal; special issue on agricultural systems modeling).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2013 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, Moore KJ. Evaluating APSIM maize, soil water, soil nitrogen, manure and soil temperature modules in the US Midwest. Agronomy J (accepted with revisions/revised version submitted).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Archontoulis SV, Miguez FE, 2013. Testing the performance of the APSIM model in Iowa. ASA, CSSA and SSSA 2013 international annual meeting November 36, Tampa, Florida (abstract accepted).


Progress 08/01/11 to 07/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: We analyzed soil-plant-climatic data from various sources in order to feed the model and create learning modules and exercises for the students. ACTIVITIES: We retrieved and re-analyzed soil information from: (a) Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Web Soil Survey; (b) Batjes, N.H. (2009) Harmonized soil profile data for applications at global and continental scales: updates to the WISE databases. Soil Use and Management 25, 124-127; and (c) textbooks and individual journal papers, and finally we inserted into the APSIM model approx. 200 USA soils (version 1 - July 2012). Each soil file contains hydrological parameters, organic matter contents and pH values for each soil layer. Climatic data such as daily max and min temperature, precipitation and radiation, were downloaded from Iowa MESONET and NOAA. We developed 77 long term meteorological files (or 2000 annual sets) that cover a wide range of sites across USA. Regarding the crops, we developed and inserted into the model 30 new maize hybrids to better reflect conditions in Midwest (note that APSIM is developed in Australia). For that, we analyzed specific datasets from published papers and also worked with data made available to us from Pioneer Hi-Bred. Presently we are developing new varieties for soybean and other crops to cover as much as possible of the variability in agronomic systems. The last step in model adaptation was to test the performance of the model. We tested the model against diverse datasets including published (Heggenstaller et al., 2008; 2009; Loecke et al., 2004a; 2004b; 2012) and recent experimental data (Puntel 2012, MS thesis ISU) from Iowa. APSIM performed well in all situations. PRODUCTS: (a) A manual for ISU MS students (86 pages) that provides information about the model (structure, inputs and outputs) and guidance on how to go through exercises; (b) Thirty exercises and learning modules with descriptive keys; (c) Scripts to convert units when necessary (e.g. corn yield from kg/ha to bu/A); (d) templates to construct, visualize and analyze water, nitrogen and carbon balances; (e) More than 40 video clips illustrating above and/or below ground processes (e.g. below ground soil water and NO3 movement in each soil layer, above ground dry matter accumulation and allocation to grains and leaf area development); (f) US soils, climates and maize hybrids databases; (g) excel tools to convert soil and climatic information into APSIM format; (h) An internet based APSIM share Point (https://cals.cypoint.iastate.edu/unit/AGRON/MSAgron/APSIM/SitePages/ Home.aspx) where all the products (educational materials) are stored and can become available to the instructors. EVENTS: We offered a workshop to MS distance students in July 2012 where we introduced the APSIM simulation platform; explained how the model works and finally students did their own simulations. In additional we presented our project in the NACTA and ASA meetings (see publications). PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for this project are the MS distance students. Our efforts to create innovative teaching methodologies and education materials were described in the outputs and outcomes reports. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
During the first year our efforts were focused to adapt the model and to create learning modules. The impact of this project on the MS distance students is scheduled to be measured in the second year. However, herein we report some first outcomes from a workshop that we offered in July and feedback from current Iowa State University APSIM users. Twenty two MS students attended our first workshop providing encouraging feedback. In the questions how would you rate the overall workshop, the format of the workshop, the tutors, the manual and the exercises, on average the students gave a mark of 3.45, 3.63, 4.31, 3.77 and 3.59, respectively (1 being poor and 5 being excellent). In the question would you considering using APSIM as a tool in your work, the 64% of them answered yes, 25% answered perhaps and a 9% said no. Clearly this indicates that students appreciated the ability of the model to answer questions like how much water does maize transpire over a growing season in Iowa and how much in Texas, or what's the percentage of water loss as drainage in a sandy and in a silt clay soil. Students explained the (simulated) differences in water use between locations and water loss between soils based on the principles taught in the MS courses and this provides an excellent example of how a process-based model can support teaching. During the workshop students were trained to add/remove soils and climates and to performed their own simulations. We didn't enter into complicated exercises such as rotations or inter-cropping systems because this is scheduled for later, but the students had the time to work with management practices and see which practices or combinations of those (e.g. hybrid, sowing date, planting density) had the greatest impact on crop yields, therefore exploring another aspect of using models in agriculture that is decision making. It is believed that both students and teachers recognized the effectiveness of using a process-based model into the curriculum of the MS program as a supplemental tool to the web-based presentations and generate quantitative examples and illustrations of the complexities in the agronomic systems. The users liked APSIM's interface and the ability to visualize fast and efficiently climatic or soil data. It is promising as a tool for the instructors to teach various aspects of soils and climates. The users also liked the dynamic graphs (video clips) that we developed using APSIM. They had and have the opportunity to visualize what actually happens in an agronomic system and how a number of processes change and in which direction on a daily time step. An example comprises the water balance "video clip" where everyone can watch how the different components (soil evaporation, plant transpiration, surface runoff, drainage and precipitation) vary dynamically, and when the balance is positive or negative.

Publications

  • ABSTRACTS Miguez, F.E., Moore, K.J., and Archontoulis, S.V., 2012. A modeling approach to unifying concepts taught in a professional MS Agronomy Curriculum. NACTA Journal volume 56, supplement 1, NACTA/DOCE abstracts book, River Falls, University of Wisconsin, June 26-29, 2012, abstract # 0247. Archontoulis, S.V., Miguez, F.E., Moore, K.J., Loynachan, T., and Knapp, A., 2012. Incorporating farming systems modelling approaches into agronomy MS program. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, 2012, Cincinnati, Ohio. Session code 212-1. (Abstract accepted in June 2012 and presented as oral presentation in October 2012). MANUALS Archontoulis, S.V., Miguez, F.E., and Moore, K.J., 2012. APSIM manual for MS students (version 1). Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy, Ames, Iowa, July 2012, 82 pp.