Progress 04/01/03 to 09/30/06
Outputs
The purpose of this project is to investigate the cognitive levels of teachers and learners in the agricultural disciplines at both high school and college levels of education. The project collected data from the perspective of both teachers and students. Eight faculty members in the college who had engaged in the project during the 2004 year opened their classrooms for data collection from the student perspective. Students in the eight courses across a variety of agricultural sciences disciplines engaged in focus group interviews, individual interviews, and online questionnaires regarding teaching and learning in an agricultural sciences course. The final series of individual interviews was completed in 2005. Data analysis is ongoing. Findings are preliminary because the investigator resigned to take a new position and will complete data analysis with other funding.
Impacts
The agricultural industries are suffering from a brain drain in regard to human capital, meaning that there are more position for qualified professionals in the agricultural sciences than there are individuals with agricultural degrees, a knowledge of agriculture, or a background in agricultural contexts to fill such positions. The expected impact of this project is to fill such a brain drain in the agricultural industries by improving teaching, and as a result increasing learning, in the agricultural sciences areas both at the secondary and postsecondary levels.
Publications
- Ball, A.L. and Knobloch, N.A. 2005. A document analysis of the pedagogical knowledge espoused in agriculture teaching methods courses. Journal of Agricultural Education, 46(2) 46-56.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
The purpose of this project is to investigate the cognitive levels of teachers and learners in the agricultural disciplines at both high school and college levels of education. The project began in years 1-3 with collecting case study data from teachers (teaching perspective). In 2005, the focus shifted from collecting data regarding the teaching perspective to collecting data from the student perspective. Eight faculty members in the college who had previously engaged in the project during 2004 opened their classrooms for data collection from the student perspective. As such, students in the eight courses across a variety of agricultural sciences disciplines engaged in focus group interviews, individual interviews, and online questionnaires regarding teaching and learning in an agricultural sciences course. The final series of individual interviews was completed in November, 2005. Data analysis will then begin in the spring of 2006, and comparisons between professor
views and student views of teaching and learning in agricultural sciences courses will be made. In addition, the case study of teaching faculty at the university served as an impetus to collect data at the level of a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant for learner-centered approaches to teaching. Professors involved in the grant at the national level also opened their classrooms for the student data to be collected. Twelve professors who teach utilizing service-learning, problem-based learning and active learning were investigated and their students engaged in a series of two questionnaires to assess the process of learning in learner-centered courses in the agricultural sciences. Data collection was complete in the summer of 2005, and during the fall of 2005 analysis of the student data began. In the spring of 2006, comparisons will be made between the student and the professor data to create an inclusive model for learner-centered teaching in the agricultural sciences.
Impacts
The agricultural industries are suffering from a brain drain in regard to human capital, meaning that there are more positions for qualified professionals in the agricultural sciences than there are individuals with agricultural degrees, a knowledge of agriculture, or a background in agricultural contexts to fill such positions. The expected imact of this project is to fill such a brain drain in the agricultural industries by improving teaching, and as a result increasing learning, in the agricultural sciences areas both at the secondary and postsecondary levels.
Publications
- Ball, A.L., Knobloch, N.A. and Hoop, S. 2005. Instructional planning experiences of beginning teachers. Journal of Agricultural Education.
- Fritzsche, J., Martin,M.J. and Ball, A.L. 2005. A delphi study of teachers and professionals perceptions regarding the impact of the no child left behind legislation on secondary agricultural education programs. Journal of Agricultural Education.
- Martin, M.J. ,Ball, A.L. and Connors, J. 2005. A historical analysis of H.M. Hamlin and the community school concept. Journal of Agricultural Education.
- Ball, A.L. and Garton, B.L. 2005. Modeling higher order thinking: Relationships between objectives, classroom discourse, and assessment. Journal of Agricultural Education vol.46 no.2 57-68.
- Ball, A.L. and Wiley, A. 2005. The aspirations of farm parents and pre-adolescent children for generational succession of the family farm. Journal of Agricultural Education.
- Knobloch, N.A. and Ball, A.L. 2004. Excellent college teachers' wisdom of practice regarding cognition and motivation of teaching and learning. The Review of Higher Education (Accepted).
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
The purpose of this project is to investigate the cognitive levels of teaching and learning in the context of agriculture. To accomplish this overall goal, Years 1-3 purported to conduct case study interviews among expert and novice teachers of agriculture at the secondary level, and ultimately develop an instrument for measuring the cognitive levels of teaching and learning. In all, focus group and individual interviews have been conducted with 28 preservice teachers, 34 novice teachers, and 15 expert teachers. During the current fiscal year of the project, 13 more preservice, 20 novice, and 10 expert teachers will be interviewed. At present all data are being transcribed and coding and analysis will begin in the Spring of 2005. In regard to the post-secondary tier of this project, a case study of exemplary teaching in colleges of agriculture is being conducted at both the college and the national levels with a USDA Challenge grant. In the 2002-2003 fiscal year, 23
faculty members participated in the initial case study, and a college-wide survey of teaching and learning was conducted. From the initial case study data, in the fall of 2004, 8 faculty members were identified to participate in a case-study of exemplary teaching from the student perspective. Faculty members have engaged in planning sessions and focus group sessions to identify data collection methods from this collective case study. In the spring, students in these 8 courses will be asked to complete an online questionnaire. This data will be ready for analysis and interpretation in the Summer of 2005. The third tier of the project purported to study teaching and learning from the student perspectives. Currently, case studies of two courses, one graduate level Animal Science course and one undergraduate level Natural Resources course serve as the context for this investigation. In the graduate level course, the reflective levels of thinking are measured to determine how course
structure might impact reflective thinking. In the undergraduate course, critical thinking skills and dispositions were monitored in both qualitative and quantitative measures to determine how course structure might impact thinking. All data has been collected and is in the analysis stage for Spring, 2005.
Impacts
The expected impact of this project occurs at many levels. First, teaching and learning in the context of agriculture is unique. Many beginning teachers and faculty members struggle in this role. An investigation of this nature serves to inform both high school and college teachers regarding effective practice. At the student level, many students leave our secondary and postsecondary institutions with limited ability to think at higher levels of cognition. An investigation of teaching practice and how it impacts student performance at higher cognitive levels serves to inform a nation in regard to being more productive citizens and workers.
Publications
- Ball, A.L. and Knobloch, N.A. 2004. An exploration of the outcomes of utilizing ill-structured problems in pre-service teacher preparation. Journal of Agricultural Education (Accepted).
- Ball, A.L. and Knobloch, N.A. 2004. An analysis of teaching methods courses in agricultural education. Journal of Agricultural Education (Accepted).
- Knobloch, N.A. and Ball, A.L. 2004. The benefits of teaching and learning about agriculture in elementary and junior high schools. Journal of Agricultural Education (Accepted).
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