Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05
Outputs
A variety of projects were attempted in this grant. The major goals and accomplishments were to: 1. Enhance the ag program at ACCC - Several courses in high demand area were added to the curriculum at Allen County. These were Ag Technology Management, Introduction to Global Positioning Systems, Agri-Selling, and Meat Science. Meats judging was also added as a means to train students for careers in the meats and foods industries while also engaging in intercollegiate competition. 2. Develop distance learning courses and experiential learning opportunities for students - Three previously developed online courses were enhanced and offered on the Blackboard platform that was new for ACCC. A fourth course was also created. Two of these courses have been offered online every semester, with an average enrollment of 16 students per class per semester. Roughly 2/3 of the students are high school students. Completers have reported a high level of satisfaction with the course
content and flexibility. Two of the online courses were placed on the Agriculture page of the ACCC college web site to provide access by secondary instructors and their students. These include PowerPoint presentations and an outcome based notebook for the course created by the grant director. 3. Host a career related event for secondary schools. On April 1, 2004, and April 7th, 2005, Allen County hosted a series of career development events for high school agriculture students. Students used skills in problem solving, analysis, evaluation, and comparison to compete against other secondary students in events related to careers in Agriculture. These events were selected by a committee of secondary Agriculture instructors and ACCC faculty and included: Agri-business Management, Food Science, Entomology, Public Speaking, Meats and Livestock Evaluation, and Dairy Foods. Approximately 650 students participated in the ag day activities each year. A mini-career fair was included as part of
the ag day. Representatives were invited to set up a booth and provide information to students on continued education and career opportunities in Agriculture. 4. Develop cooperative degree arrangements with other colleges Six community colleges not offering agriculture as a part of the curriculum were contacted about the opportunity to enter a cooperative partnership which would involve ACCC providing agriculture courses for their on-campus students. Three colleges responded favorably, but changes in the administration at all three of these institutions caused problems in trying to set up a partnership. This goal was not accomplished but the grant director intends to continue discussions with possible partners. These same institutions are working together to create an on-line degree. Several 2+2 agreements were developed with various departments in the college of Agriculture at Kansas State University. The grant director will continue to finalize a few remaining agreements.
PRODUCTS: Product 1 - With the additions of the courses listed in the progress report, the first product would be an enhanced agriculture curriculum at Allen County Community College that provides a more complete list of hands-on, career related courses. Product 2 - The Ag Career Event Day described briefly in the progress report, was a major accomplishment as it impacted hundreds of students. The day consisted of eight different events and included the day-long career fair for high school students. This activity was very well received by high school students and their instructors. Plans have been made for ACCC host this event annually. Product 3 - Distance learning is an area that is becoming more widely accepted (and expected) but few agriculture courses via this medium. Allen County is the only institution among community and technical colleges that is offering agriculture courses on-line. We now have a total of four in place and the resources for these have been greatly enhanced.
Two additional on-line courses are in the development stages. Product 4 - The effort to include more experiential learning opportunities led to the development of two courses. One is the Global Positioning Systems courses. Students in this course utilized GPS receivers for several different class activities. A Meats Judging Team was added to the college student activities. This allows students to develop skills in grading, marketing, safety, and quality control. These are related directly to skill needs in the foods industry.
OUTCOMES: 1. There will be an increase in students completing course work and/or graduating with a degree in Agriculture. This fall the enrollment in on-campus and on-line agriculture courses is up over 12 percent. Over 150 students completed agriculture courses on-line in the last two year. About half of those students took more than one Agriculture course online. 2. A large number of students will be exposed to career related skills and challenges required in the high demand areas of Agriculture. Approximately 650 students participated in the Agriculture career event day each year with about 100 competing in more than one activity. 3. A web resource was developed for access and use by secondary Agriculture instructors. Four online courses have been enhanced and are now available online using the Blackboard platform. Two additional on campus courses have a web component making them an on-line hybrid and providing opportunities for students outside the normal class time. A web
resource has also been developed which allows non-enrolled students access to learning materials. 4. Internships will be created with ag related businesses. Internships were developed with several local business and government agencies such as the National Resource Conservation Service. 5. Create experiential learning activities. Examples of activities include: using GPS receivers to locate and track, yield and quality grading beef carcasses, using electronic ID and heatwatch systems in beef cattle
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: This author disseminated information and products of this project at the following: 1. The NAAE convention in Orlando including the ACTE career tech expo. 2. The 2003 KAAE summer conference held in Topeka, KS and the 2004 KAAE conference held in Overland Park, KS 3. The Kansas southeast district Agriculture educators fall and spring in-service workshops for both 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 academic years. 4. The Career Fair hosted as part of the Ag Career Event Day on the Allen County CC campus on April 1, 2004, and April 7, 2005. 5. A mailing to all high schools in Kansas in the fall of 2004 and the fall of 2005 6. A presentation at the VOICE conference in El Dorado, KS in October, 2004. 7. The 2004 and 2005 Kansas State FFA Convention held in Manhattan KS in early June.
FUTURE INITIATIVES: Activities planned beyond the funding period include: 1. Offering additional courses on-line. 2. Enhancing more on campus courses with an on-line component 3. Continuing the Ag Career Event Day and Mini Career Fair 4. Continuing the Meats Judging activity for college students 5. Establish cooperative transfer programming to state's four-year agriculture institution.
Impacts
Impacts that have been identified and that are expected to occur include: 1. A 30-35 percent increase in the number of students completing at least one on-line Agriculture courses being leaving high school. 2. A 50-100 percent increase in the number of students that will complete a two-year degree in a non-traditional fashion (i.e. two years on campus. 3. A 5-10 percent increase in the number of students pursuing an agriculture degree at Allen County. 4. A 20 percent increase over the next two years in the number of students participating in the Ag Career Event Day.
Publications
- A brochure on Agriculture opportunities and a suggested curriculum - Reilly - 2004
- A notebook for three online courses that have been developed - Reilly - 2004
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Progress 10/01/03 to 09/30/04
Outputs
PROGRESS OF PROPOSED GRANT ACTIVITIES 1. Enhance ag program to better prepare students for career areas in high demand - The curriculum has been enhanced by new offerings in Ag Technology Management, Introduction to Global Positioning Systems, and Meat Science. An activity, meats judging, was added as an opportunity to students to train for careers in the meats and foods industries while also engaging in intercollegiate competition. 2. Develop distance learning courses and experiential learning opportunities for students - the course Fundamentals of Animal Nutrition (developed as part of a previous SPEC grant) was enhanced and offered on the Blackboard platform which was new for ACCC. It was offered online for the first time this past summer. Two additional courses are being developed as on-line offering, Ag Technology Management, and Environmental Science. Parts of two previously developed on-line courses (Principles of Animal Science and Agriculture Economics) were
placed on the Agriculture page of the ACCC college web site. The purpose of this was to provide high school instructors and their students access to the PowerPoint presentations that had been developed along with a notebook for the course. The notebook was created by this author and contains an outline and the outcomes and competencies for the course. 3. Host a career related event for secondary schools. On April 1, 2004, ACCC hosted a series of career development events for high school agriculture students. These were competitive events in which students used skills in problem solving, analysis, evaluation, and comparison in a wide range of activities related to careers in Agriculture. In addition, a career fair completed the event as six vendors provided information to students on continued education and career opportunities. Approximatly 650 students participated in the day's activities with about 100 of those competing in more than one activity. 4. Develop cooperative degree
arrangements with other colleges Six community colleges were contacted (those currently not offering agriculture as a part of the curriculum) about the opportunity to enter a cooperative partnership which would involve ACCC providing agriculture courses for their on-campus students. Three colleges responded favorably. Progress in this activity was difficult as two of the three had changes in administration. A heavier focus will be placed on this activity in the future. Work continues on cooperative transfer agreements with the School of Agriculture at Kansas State University. Specific agreements have been developed for Agribusiness, Agronomy, Food Science, and Grain Science.
PRODUCTS: Product 1 - With the additions of the courses listed in the progress report, the first product would be an enhanced agriculture curriculum at Allen County Community College that provides a more complete list of hands-on, career related courses. Product 2 - The Ag Career Event Day described briefly in the progress report, was a major accomplishment as it impacted hundreds of students. The day consisted of eight different events and included the day-long career fair for high school students. This activity was very well received by high school students and their instructors. Our college has been asked to host the event again next year and we have plans to do so. Product 3 - Distance learning is an area which is becoming more widely accepted (and expected). Yet, few colleges are offering agriculture courses via this medium. Allen County is the only institution among community and technical colleges that is offering agriculture courses on-line. We now have a total of three in
place and the resources for these has been greatly enhanced. Two additional on-line courses are in the development stages. Product 4 - The effort to include more experiential learning opportunities led to the development of two courses. One is the Global Positioning Systems courses. Students in this course utilized GPS receivers for several different class activities. A Meats Judging Team was added to the college student activities. This allows students to develop skills in grading, marketing, safety, and quality control. These are related directly to skill needs in the foods industry.
OUTCOMES: 1. There will be an increase in students completing course work and/or graduating with a degree in Agriculture. This fall the enrollment in on campus and on-line agriculture courses is up over 12 percent. 70 students completed agriculture courses on-line in the last year. 2. A large number of students will be exposed to career related skills and challenges required in the high demand areas of Agriculture. Approximately 650 different students participated in the Agriculture career event day with about 100 competing in more than one activity. 3. Two new courses will be developed for on-campus and on-line students and a web based resource will be developed. Three new courses have been developed. Three existing on-line courses have been upgraded. Two additional on-campus courses have a web component making them an on-line hybrid and providing opportunities for students outside the normal class time. A web resource has also been developed which allows non-enrolled students
access to learning materials. 4. Internships will be created with ag related businesses. Six businesses were contacted about internship opportunities. Very few students took advantage of the internship opportunity for a variety of reasons. 5. Create experiential learning activities. Examples of activities include: using GPS receivers to locate and track, yield and quality grading beef carcasses, using electronic ID and heatwatch systems in beef cattle
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: This author disseminated information and products of this project at the following: 1. The NAAE convention in Orlando including the ACTE career tech expo. 2. The 2003 KAAE summer conference held in Topeka, KS and the 2004 KAAE conference held in Overland Park, KS 3. The Kansas southeast district Agriculture educators fall and spring in-service workshops 4. The Career Fair hosted as part of the Ag Career Event Day on the Allen County CC campus on April 1, 2004 5. A mailing to all high schools in Kansas in the fall of 2004 6. A presentation at the VOICE conference in El Dorado, KS in October, 2004
FUTURE INITIATIVES: Activities planned beyond the funding period include: 1. Offering additional courses on-line. 2. Enhancing more on campus courses with an on-line component 3. Continuting the Ag Career Event Day and Mini Career Fair 4. Continue and enhance the activities begun in the Meat Science and GPS courses 5. Establish cooperative transfer programming to state four-year agriculture institutions.
Impacts
Impacts that have been identified and that are expected to occur include: 1. A 30-35 percent increase in the number of students completing at least one on-line Agriculture courses before leaving high school. 2. A 15-25 percent increase in the number of students that will complete a two-year degree in a more non-traditional fashion (i.e. two years on campus) 3. A 5-10 percent increase in the number of students pursuing an agriculture degree at Allen County. 4. A 20 percent increase over the next two years in the number of students participating in the Ag Career Event Day.
Publications
- A brochure on Agriculture opportunities and a suggested curriculum - Reilly - 2004
- A notebook for each of three on-line courses that have been developed - Reilly 2004
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