Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The application of sophisticated horticultural and engineering technologies in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) requires a more highly skilled workforce.The overarching goal of this project is to train K-14 educators in CEA, enabling them to bring CEA into their classrooms through a Healthy Hydroponic Project (HHP). Specifically, this HHP aims to help K-14 educators: 1) acquire deeper knowledge of CEA and healthy eating through immersive learning experiences, and 2) develop improved curricula to train the next generation of agricultural workforce in CEA and healthy eating. The target participants are K-14 educators, especially those from food deserts and/or resource-constrained regions. The objectives will be achieved in two steps. First, participants will engage in a three-day workshop. They will learn the foundation of CEA at Sam Houston State University, visit a hydroponic farm in Houston, harvest crops, and cook them following the chef's healthy recipe on an urban farm in a Houston food desert. We will assess participants' knowledge of CEA and collect their feedback at the end of the workshop. Second, participants will develop CEA curricula with a healthy eating component and implement them in the classrooms. We will provide participants with hydroponic GrowKits and GrowPods equipped with computerized environmental control. The GrowPods will stay in K-14 classrooms, whereas the GrowKits can be taken home for students to experiment with hydroponic farming and consumption of leafy greens.Students in the classrooms are required to complete an assessment survey before and after the implementation of the HHP.Combining CEA with healthy eating in this HHP will facilitate the pathway from CEA to improved food security and healthy diets, especially in food deserts.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of this project is to train K-14 educators in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), enabling and empowering them to bring CEA into their classrooms through a Healthy Hydroponic Project (HHP).The specific objectives of this project are to help K-14 educators: 1) acquire deeper knowledge of CEA and healthy eating through immersive learning experiences, and 2) develop improved curricula to train the next generation of the agricultural workforce in CEA and healthy eating.
Project Methods
This project involves two stages with immersive learning activities. First, participants will engage in a three-day immersive learning workshop covering the basics and application of CEA. Participants will learn the foundation of CEA at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), visit one of the oldest and largest hydroponic farms in the Houston metro area, harvest crops, and cook them following the chef's healthy recipe on an urban farm in a Houston food desert. Second, participants will develop CEA curricula with a healthy eating component and implement them in the classrooms after the completion of the workshop. To facilitate classroom implementation, we will provide participants with hydroponic GrowKits and GrowPods equipped with computerized environmental control. The GrowPods will stay in K-14 classrooms. The GrowKits can be taken home for students to experiment with hydroponic farming and consumption of leafy greens.Both formative and summative assessments will be used to evaluate this project. The PD and co-PDs will interact with the participants during the workshop sessions to gain feedback instantaneously and informally. During the implementation semester, a virtual mentoring meeting will be held to check the progress of the HHP in K-14 classrooms and answer any questions that participants may have. (Teacher Assessment) To receive the workshop stipend, each participant is required to complete the workshop in person, finish the workshop survey, and submit a CEA curriculum to the advisory group. The workshop survey consists of three parts, including informed consent, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) questions, and feedback questions for the workshop. KAP questions will be used to assess what is known (Knowledge), believed (Attitude), and done (Practiced) in CEA among the participants. They will be asked to rate their satisfaction level with the instructors and content on a Likert scale and provide additional comments. Feedback from the workshop will be used to help the PD and co-PDs improve their sessions in the future. The workshop survey will be administered through Qualtrics at the end of the workshop. Participants will use their phones to scan a QR code and complete the survey.(Student Assessment) Students in the classrooms are required to complete an assessment survey before and after the implementation of the HHP. The assessment survey is composed of informed consent, parental consent (if minors are involved), KAP questions, and questions regarding their vegetable intake before and after the implementation of the HHP. A Qualtrics survey link will be provided to the K-14 educators and can be opened on the iPad supplied by the HHP. As students may not have mobile phones, they will complete the assessment surveys on the classroom iPad. We will use paired t-tests to evaluate students' changes in knowledge, and vegetable consumption.