Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Precision Agricultural Mechanics Mentors (PAMM) is a professional development and mentoring program with a vision to catalyze the adoption of smart farm technologies. PAMM equips and empowers female secondary agricultural mechanics teachers to teach precision agriculture mechanics curriculum in their local schools by providing equipment, curriculum, face-to-face training, and mentoring to PAMM participants.PAMM leaders will develop a repository of skills-based high school precision agriculture curriculum and activities. PAMM competencies include: describe fundamental precision agriculture concepts and technologies, demonstrate data management and analysis techniques, create crop management plans, and evaluate the economic and environmental implications of precision agriculture.PAMM will host five face-to-face institutes to provide hands-on curriculum and skill training for PAMM participants. Participants will return to their local communities and teach hundreds of high school students each year using the curriculum developed and equipment purchased by PAMM. PAMM participants' students will develop the skills needed to work in a variety of biotechnology and agricultural systems careers and the skills needed to take precision agriculture to local farms.PAMM seeks to increase self-confidence and technical skills of female agricultural mechanics teachers. PAMM incorporates both faculty and near-peer mentoring to develop a Community of Practice for supporting female agricultural mechanics teachers with technical and social support.PAMM seeks to build the research base by investigating the barriers to adoption of precision agriculture technology and the interplay of curriculum training, mentoring, and communities of practice in the self-efficacy and practices of female agricultural mechanics teachers in implementing workforce training.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Precision Agricultural Mechanics Mentors (PAMM) is a teacher professional development and mentoring program with the major goal of equippingand empoweringfemale secondary agricultural mechanics teachers to teach precision agriculture mechanics curriculum.PAMM also seeks to increase the self-confidence and technical skills of female agricultural mechanics teachers in precision agriculture specifically, and agricultural mechanics, broadly. PAMM incorporates both faculty and near-peer mentoring with a goal to develop a Community of Practice for providing technical and social support to female agricultural mechanics teachers.Objectives:Create an inquiry/problem-solving based secondary precision agriculture curriculum.Deliver face-to-face teacher professional development workshops where completers can 1) describe fundamental precision agriculture concepts and technologies, 2) demonstrate data management and analysis techniques, 3) create crop management plans, and 4) evaluate the economic and environmental implications of precision agriculture.Each PAMM participant will teach precision agriculture curriculum unit to agricultural mechanics annually to students in their local schools.Develop a faculty and near-peer mentoring network with thegoal to develop a Community of Practice for providing technical and social support to female agricultural mechanics teachers.Investigate barriers to adoption of precision agriculture technology and the interplay of curriculum training and mentoring in the self-efficacy and practices of female agricultural mechanics teachers in implementing workforce training for secondary students.Develop a repository of precision agriculture curriculum and activities to facilitate adoption of precision agriculture curriculum across all secondary agricultural mechanics programs.
Project Methods
ObjectiveEffortstoward achieving objectivesCreate a high school precision agriculture curriculum using inquiry and problem-solving experiential learning methods.Needs assessment- Gather feedback from 50% of female agricultural mechanics teachers before the curriculum and training developed in year one.Curriculum development- Create a secondary unit of curriculum for precision agriculture to be taught by PAMM participants. The curriculum will include a pretest, lesson plans, power points, assessments, laboratory activities, and a final project/assessment before May 1st of first year.Deliver face-to-face teacher professional development workshop.Practicum experiences- After curriculum developed, design face-to-face training to teach the curriculum by having PAMM participants complete all activities. Developed by June 1 of first year.Practicum experiences- Deliver pilot training at University of Missouri by June 30th of year 1 of grant.Practicum experiences-Adjust training based on participant feedback,Practicum experiences-Offer 4 additional face-to-face training at University of Missouri and Sam Houston State University by June 30th of years 2-3 of the grant.Experiential learning opportunities- Teachers will complete 100% of learning activities in PAMM curriculum during the face-to-face training.PAMM participants teach precision agriculture curriculum to students in their local schools.Outreach- Track annually each summer using shared calendar for Ag Leader equipment loan library and PAMM participant follow-up annual survey.Develop a faculty and near-peer mentoring with a goal to develop a Community of Practice for providing technical and social support to female agricultural mechanics teachers.Outreach- Develop positive, impactful relationships during the PAMM face-to-face training between participants and mentors. Measured by participants sharing contact information for Zoom mentoring sessions by end of each face-to-face institute.Outreach- Foster a Community of Practice for female agricultural mechanics teachers. Teachers participate in 7 or more Zoom sessions each year, discussions led by participant.Outreach/Innovative Learning Experiences- 4 PAMM participants will volunteer each year to serve as mentors for the following year by May 1st of years 2 and 3 of the grant.Investigate the barriers to adoption of precision agriculture technology, self-efficacy and practices of female agricultural mechanics teachersScholarship- PI's and/or Co-PI's will present research at one or more regional or national agricultural education or agricultural mechanics conferences each year.Scholarship- All members of grant team will collaborate to write at least 1 journal article per year.Develop a repository of precision agriculture curriculum and activities to facilitate adoption of precision agriculture curriculum across all secondary agricultural mechanics programs.Curriculum revision-Review curriculum during PAMM training, typos/errors corrected in real-time. All corrections made by the end of PAMM Institute 1.Curriculum revision- PAMM participants and mentors submit edits throughout the year.Curriculum revision- Final edits to curriculum completed before May 1stof the second year.Dissemination-Curriculum shared with all agriculture teachers in Missouri and Texas before May 1stof the second year. Teacheruse trackis ed by document access data.Curriculum development- Any teacher can contribute additional curriculum, labs, and enhancements to the public repository for use by other teachers. Use tracked by document access data and number of submitted resources.Evaluation: Teacher Outcome Evaluation: Throughout the program, the evaluator will track the number of teacher participants, number of female agriculture mechanics teacher participants, number of collaborators, and publications and presentations developed and presented.Pre and Post PAMM Training Assessment: PAMM participants will complete pre and post assessments with each training session. This assessment will measure participants' change in knowledge and skills pertaining to precision agriculture technologies, including yield monitoring systems, GPSS/GNSS, and Ag Leader SMS Advanced Software.Teacher Impact (Longitudinal) Evaluation: The evaluator will communicate via email with all teacher PAMM training completers annually throughout the grant. A Qualtrics survey will be sent asking program completers to report if they have taught precision agriculture after the training, the number of secondary students taught precision agriculture, mentorship received through the Community of Practice, and frequency of participant access to the curriculum. Our Missouri agriculture teacher organization will track teachers changing school districts.Mentor Evaluation: A Qualtrics survey will be sent to PAMM mentors to understand how mentorship training impacted how they work with participants in the training and Community of Practice. Understanding best practices in mentoring is critical to the success of this program. Mentors will also be invited to participate in a Zoom feedback meeting each fall to discuss the successes and challenges of the program and brainstorm ideas for program improvement.Process Evaluation: The evaluator will conduct a process evaluation annually to gather information for program improvement. Process evaluation will include a document review of communication and marketing materials, a timeline review, and a review of mentor and teacher participant Zoom feedback meetings. Specifically, the process evaluation will focus on identifying program strengths and addressing barriers to delivery and implementation.