Progress 07/01/24 to 06/30/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The project An Experiential and Data-driven Approach to Agricultural Education (ADVANCE) integrates Virginia's largest industry (agricultural production) with knowledge, STEM-based transformational technologies, and hands-on field-based experiences through professional development for educators. This approach is essential, as technology is among the most significant drivers of Virginia's New Economy. The ADVANCE project targets middle school teachers, high school teachers, and 2-year college faculty who are interested in providing additional educational programming on innovative farming concepts and precision agricultural practices supported by STEM and data-driven decisions. The program targets middle school, high school, community college, and other two-year college educators because this audience supports the ADVANCE program's goal of building teacher and educator capacity to teach the future precision agricultural workforce and increase the number of students trained in data-driven agricultural analysis. While the program directly interfaces with educators, this workforce development program is designed to inject new STEM learning opportunities into the classroom. The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are students and the future workforce. Changes/Problems:This is a complex program with numerous moving parts that involve both humans and technology. Marketing was challenging because there is no one single repository of contact information for agricultural educators. We also faced some challenges with the supply chains when purchasing educational resource supplies (sensors, etc.) for Cohort-1. This program attracts educators with a wide range of technical expertise. For example, some educators have an in-depth technical background, while others do not feel as comfortable with certain technical issues. For this project to be successful, we must reach everyone, regardless of their current technical experience and comfort levels. This approach requires a fairly high instructor-to-participant ratio. We will therefore have a 1:5 instructor-to-participant ratio throughout the mentoring program, as well as at the ADVANCE summer face-to-face institute. The ADVANCE Institute is organized as afield-based experiential learning program, and we are, of course, at the mercy of the weather. Program leaders are developinglearning options that can be conducted indoors in the event of inclement weather, and the leadership team is ensuring that the agenda isflexible. There are challenges associated with the mentoring component of the ADVANCE program. However, the ADVANCE team is well-equipped to address challenges as they arise. One challenge is that cohort participants have busy schedules during the academic year.ADVANCE mentors are taking fulladvantage of educators' increased availability over the summer (both during and following the ADVANCE Institute) to help cohort participantsstay focused and on task, ensuring they are ready to integrate new knowledge and resources into their classrooms the following academic year. During the academic year, the leadership team will continue to lead webinars to keep cohort participants engaged. Travel to participants' institutions will also be integrated as needed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the 2024-2025 grant year, the ADVANCE program provided three webinars. Webinar topics include the following: An Experiential and Data-driven Approach to Agricultural Education (ADVANCE) (December 20, 2024); Agricultural Drone Workflows (March 24, 2025); and The Cornerstone of Precision Agriculture: Exploring Equipment Options (April 23, 2025). During the 2024-2025 grant year, the ADVANCE program provided support for all participant cohort members to attend a Remote Pilot Test Prep workshop. Several options were provided, including four 2-day synchronous Remote Pilot Test Prep workshops, asynchronous online workshop options, and courses through community college workforce development programs. Participants were expected to attend one of these workshop options. The synchronous workshops virtual workshop options included: January 6-7, 2025; February 18 and 20, 2025; March 5 and 7, 2025; and June 12-13, 2025. During the grant year 2024-2025, the ADVANCE program team organized the four-day ADVANCE Institute, which will be held in July 2025 (Grant Year #2). Hosting the ADVANCE Institute involves planning including, but not limited to: recruitment of the educator cohort, recruitment and coordination of the instructors,coordinating DACUM and learning competencies with learning objectives, providing food and lodging to participants at Virginia Tech, developing Institute resources and Institute curricula, identifying field sites, arranging ground transportation, and acquiring educational supplies for cohort participants, among other tasks. The ADVANCE Institute is the cornerstone of the program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Marketing the ADVANCE program to high school and 2-year college educators was challenging. There is no central point of contact to facilitate marketing and outreach for the ADVANCE program. Therefore, the ADVANCE program team attempted to market the program through as many different avenues as possible. Based on the number of applications, the marketing approach was successful. All educational resources that are developed and/or modified will be disseminated on the ADVANCE Project Website. This portal will serve as a one-stop educational resource archive for existing ADVANCE cohort members, as well as for other educators who were unable to participate in the program. It is anticipated that the ADVANCE cohort will rely on this resource, not only during the ADVANCE Institute, but will also draw from the resource in the future. In addition, the portal will be discoverable, so that other educators, who are not members of the 2025 cohort, will also be able to utilize these resources. We will send out information about this online resource via various educator listservs and via conference presentations targeting this high school and 2-year college educational communities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period (Grant year 2025-2026), the ADVANCE Leadership Team will execute the ADVANCE Institute (July 13-16, 2025). The leadership team will continue the mentoring program for teacher cohort-1 during grant year-2. During grant year-2, the program will recruit a new set ofeducator participantsfor cohort-2. Program evaluations from cohort-1, as well as general feedback from members of cohort-1,will inform modifications to the instructional delivery for cohort-2. During the next reporting period, we will conduct Remote Pilot Test Prep Workshops and continue to host webinars. The Remote Pilot Test Prep Workshops and webinars provide cohort participants with the foundational knowledge necessary to attain a more advanced level of knowledge gain during the ADVANCE face-to-face Institute.Cohort-2 will attend the ADVANCE Institute in Blacksburg during the summer of 2026 (dates TBD). By the conclusion of the July 2025 face-to-face ADVANCE Institute, Cohort members will have their remote pilot certifications, will be provided with learning resources, and will gain valuable field experience that will enable them to teach smart farming fundamentals in the classroom. They will develop an implementation plan (supported by their mentor) to identify benchmarks and meet program expectations during year #2 of the grant. Educators will gain experience in organizing and leading precision agricultural-based supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs) for students and/or student service learning (SSL) field-based experiences.Mentors will continue tofacilitate a learning community among all participants and educators. Mentoring tasks include: consistent communication; encouraging mentees to plan for integration of precision agricultural sensors, technical tools, and other resources in their classrooms after the Institute; deal with any questions and concerns; build rapport and relationship with mentee during Institute; support mentee's development of Action Plan; connect to other resources as needed; and keep mentees on track to success to respond to the ADVANCE project's goals. At the conclusion of the Institute, participants will be expected to integrate the precision agriculture knowledge they have gained and other acquired resources into their classrooms. ADVANCE mentors will provide participant cohort mentoring and guidance for precision ag and student service-learning components. Mentors will also facilitate a learning community among all participants and educators. Mentoring tasks will include: consistent communication among both mentors and between mentors and ADVANCE cohort participants; supporting menteesplanstointegrate knowledge and tools, includingprecision agricultural sensors, technical tools, and other resources in their classrooms after the Institute; responding to ADVANCE cohortsuggestions,questions, and concerns; building rapport and relationshipswith mentees during Institute; supporting the development of each mentee's Action Plan; connecting to other resources as needed; and keeping mentees informed, keeping cohort members abreast of new and innovative tools and approaches. The overall goal of all these activities is to keep cohort participants on track to meet the ADVANCE project's goals, which supports classroom learning designed to engage and train the workforce of the future.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Grant year 2024-2025 was a ramp-up year for the project, An Experiential & Data-driven Approach (ADVANCE). During this reporting period, the project team recruited the first participant cohort that drew frommiddle school teachers, high school teachers, and 2-year community college faculty members (30 participants in total) to join the first ADVANCE educator cohort (https://virginiaview.cnre.vt.edu/advance-teacher-training/ ). The ADVANCE team recruited and reached out to educators across Virginia, as well as in other states, through various marketing efforts including:outreach presentations at meetings and conferences (including the Virginia GeoConference, the Office of GIS and Remote Sensing Conference, and through AmericaView, Inc. membership meetings); word of mouth; and by utilizing listservs.Examples of program marketing listservs include email listsmanaged by the Virginia Association of Agricultural Educators (VAAE), the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) service, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC), the AmericaView Consortium (AV), the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), Geospatial Technician Education (GeoTEd), Virginia Tech (VT), and other listservs thatreached educators in otherstates. The program also sent direct marketing emails to over 300 middle and high school agricultural teachers. These correspondences encouraged middle school, high school, and 2-year college educators with an interest in learning more about the foundations of smart farming to submit applications for the 2025 ADVANCE educator cohort. Approximately forty-five educators submitted applications. Cohort members were selected from the application pool based on their answers to short-answer questions on the application form (and whether they were available to commit to attend the face-to-face ADVANCE Institute during the summer of 2025). Cohort participants represent both urban and rural communities, representingeducational institutions in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and Louisiana. A map showing the distribution of cohort participants is available fromhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1khLL4fHDpzJnBzeTHwYhNSPjH0yEhl-j/view?usp=sharing Chris Carter, VSGC Director, is the Coordinator of the ADVANCE Project Cohort Mentoring program. Each cohort participantwasassigned to an experienced mentor who provided active support throughout year one of the project. Carter and four other members of the leadership team serve as mentors. As the Mentor Coordinator, Carter works with both the project leadership team and the cohort participants to ensure effective and timely communication and mentoring. The mentoring program was designed so that each mentor is assigned to a small group of cohort mentees. The ratio of mentors to cohort participants is 1 to 5. This allows the mentor to be highly responsive to the needs of each cohort participant. To date, mentors have supported the cohort through phone calls, emails, and face-to-face Zoom meetings. The mentor-mentee assignments were based on close geographic proximity, allowing mentors to be available for face-to-face interactions when needed, and as resources allow. The primary role of the mentor is to support participants both before and after the intensive ADVANCE institute. Mentors are actively reaching out to participants about every other week. Virtual meetings have taken place and will continue. Mentoring will continue throughout the project's lifespan. Mentors will provide monthly reports to Carter, who reviews,assesses, and identifiesmodifications to the mentoring model. Professional development programs were organized to support the participant cohort. Cohort participants attended three Webinars during year-1. Approximately nine cohort participants had their remote pilot license when they enrolled in the ADVANCE program. The other twenty-one cohort members enrolled in and took a remote pilot license test preparation course during year one. Remote pilot workshop optionsincluded both synchronous and asynchronous online programs, as well as face-to-face community college workforce development programs. Cohort members could register for either a two-day Remote Pilot Test synchronous workshop (with four workshop options available and conducted via Zoom) or asynchronous Remote Pilot Test Prep workshop options. At least one student also attended a Remote Pilot Test Prep face-to-face course at a community college. To date, all cohort members who have completed a Remote Pilot Test Prep course and taken the FAA Remote Pilot test (also known as the Unmanned Aircraft General - Small (UAG) Knowledge Test) have passed the test and become certified as remote pilots. Workshops registration fees, study guides,and FAA testing fees are covered through the project for the educator cohort.. It is expected that all members of the cohort will have their remote pilot certificates in hand before attending the ADVANCE Institute, the culminating workshop to be held on the campus of Virginia Tech in July 2025. The ADVANCE Institute is designed to be a precision agricultural boot camp for educators through hands-on activities and a fully immersive educational experience. During theADVANCE Institute, cohort members will reside in dorm housing and dine in the Virginia Tech dining hall. It is through additional interaction with their mentors, instructors, and other members of the ADVANCE Cohort that long-term support networks are established tofacilitate troubleshooting after the project's completion. Instruction and educational resources provided through the ADVANCE program are guided by relevant DACUMs (Defining a Curriculum) and align with relevant course competencies.

Publications