Progress 07/01/09 to 06/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: RESOURCES DEVELOPED An online needs assessment was developed and implemented to determine the need for aquaculture related training materials. One hundred eighty seven teachers responded. Based on the results of the assessment our team created a total of 13 Video elements (over 2 hrs and 20 minutes) with associated additional readings and handouts, a series of 4 Catfish lesson plans, a coloring book describing the catfish production process and participated in the production of a 4 hour virtual aquaculture workshop covering 14 topics. Video elements created included 1)Constructing a simple recirculating aquaculture system for classroom use (in interactive Flash based presentation), 2)An overview of aquaculture production systems (Voice over power point using Adobe Connect), 3)Spawning of the American oyster by thermal shock, 4)Pond-in-a-Bucket, demonstrating pond dynamics in a bucket, 5)Counting fish using mass enumeration, 6)Counting fish using volumetric enumeration, 7)How to safely drill holes in aquaria, 8)A virtual tour of a successful high school aquaculture program and demonstration of water quality adjustment. In addition, a series of career exploration videos were created to introduce students to various careers in aquaculture, fisheries and related disciplines. Included in the career exploration series were interview with a/an a)Extension Aquaculturist, b)Fisheries Technician and Student, c)Catfish Farmer d)Freshwater Fisheries Ecologist, e)Fisheries professor and world traveler. LESSON PLANS:The series of four catfish lesson plans with handouts and readings covered topics including: 1)Farming the waters, 2)Channel catfish life history and biology, 3)Brood fish management and 4)Feeding commercial catfish ponds. DISTRIBUTION OF PRODUCTS: Links to each of these products were placed on lesson plans page http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/lessonplans.php in the education section of the www.Alearn.info web site. In addition to the web distribution of the products developed many dvds and printed materials were distributed at workshops and professional meetings. TRAININGS CONDUCTED: During the course of the grant 4, 5-day teacher training workshops were conducted and included 72 teachers from 9 states. Based on the evaluations of the workshops teachers found them extremely valuable and enjoyable. In addition to the 5-day training held each year 4, 1-day workshops were conducted at 3 locations in Alabama. These workshops included in-service and weekend sessions and involved 120 teachers. Teachers were provided with printed materials and DVDs containing the resources developed and more than 300 publications, 75 power point presentations, hundreds of aquaculture photos and a variety of lesson plan ideas. PARTICIPANTS: In addition to the PIs several individuals and organizations provided input and assistance in creating the video and online elements. Leslie Grille of Natural Outreach Solutions provided coordination, filming and editing assistance with the career exploration series of videos. Stan Arington, Marine Biology/Aquaculture teacher at Auburn High School along with several students developed the virtual tour of their aquaculture education program. Mario Lightfoote, Producer/Director for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Communications and Marketing Program provided video production and editing for several of the video pieces. John Dijulio, Jason Adams and Tiffany Smith of the AU Production Media Group provided creative and technical services in the development of several of the pieces. The eXtension Freshwater Community of Practice and Vanessa Weldon developed the 4 hour webinar and recruited professionals from a number of other Universities to participate TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this project was K-12 teachers, K-12 students and the general public PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
This project was designed to help teachers increase their knowledge of aquaculture and to provide resources that would allow them to spend more time teaching and less time hunting for information. Teachers attending the 5-day workshops demonstrated an average 35% increase in aquaculture related knowledge based on pre/post testing. At one of the 1-day workshops teachers pre/post test scores increased by 66%. Teacher responses to the post-workshop survey question "How do you feel the information presented will benefit your students included, (a) "I have more knowledge and a better understanding of the needs of fish & plants to successfully teach my students", (b) "Makes me a more knowledgeable teacher & more effective teacher" and "Gives them [students] a chance to apply principles to real world situations". The effectiveness and impact of the electronic resources developed is measured using WebTrends web site analysis software. The products developed were placed on the website www.alearn.info which is a collaboration between the Alabama Cooperative Extensions System, the Auburn University College of Agriculture and the Auburn University Department of fisheries and allied aquacultures. This web site has been very successful at disseminating educational aquaculture related materials to the K-12 community and the general public. The entire Alearn website contains 1422 pages. The education section managed by David Cline includes 358 pages that contain valuable educational resources related to aquaculture education. During the course of this grant, pages within the education section of the web site have be viewed a total of 1,298,761 times. The lesson plans page that contains the links to the new resources viewed 5,672 times thus far in 2012 has been viewed 23,460 times during the course of the grant period. The average user stays on the lesson plans page 153 seconds before clicking a link to leave the page. In web terms this figure is impressive. The Alearn website and electronic nature of the assets produced allows for wide geographic distribution of the information. In 2012 Alearn resources were accessed from 202 different countries. The majority of users are from the United States (55%) including all 50 states and all Canadian Providences.
Publications
- Cline, D.J. (2012)Perception of Alabama science and career technology teachers concerning the Alabama aquaculture course of study. Aquaculture America Abstracts, Feb. 28-March 2. Las Vegas, NV
- Cline, D.J. & Adams, J., (2011) America's Amazing Catfish Farmers, The Catfish institute. http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/documents/CatfishColorin gBook_Final_small_110103_1.pdf
- Cline, D.J. (2011)Perception of Alabama science and career technology teachers concerning the Alabama aquaculture course of study. ProQuest, Ann Arbor. (Dissertation)
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Progress 07/01/09 to 06/30/10
Outputs
The project is moving forward and we are receiving favorable feedback from teachers. Eighty Eight teachers have responded to the needs assessment survey and 61 people have filled out the Government/University/Extension survey. The team conducted a 5-day teacher workshop in Gadsden, AL on June 7-11, 2010 and a 1-day workshop in Florala, AL on July 29th, 2010. The workshops trained more than 20 teachers and teachers showed great enthusiasm and interest in the topics. We are planning to have several more one day workshops around the state and perhaps one online. Several video resources have been developed with supplemental handouts, worksheets and quizzes. The video presentations include, 1) an interactive flash presentation on how to build a small and inexpensive recirculating aquaculture system for the classroom, 2) Spawning of American oysters by thermal shock and 3) an overview of aquaculture production systems. There are 4 additional online video resources nearing completion: Pond in a bucket, Fish enumeration and volumetric displacement, How to drill and plumb a glass aquarium, and Aquaculture: What is it, Is it important, and why should I care. The products and results of the project are being distributed via several web sites and we are planning to work with an international aquaculture supply company to distribute the information with their educational products. A grant work page has bee set up to foster communication between authors, reviewers and potential participants at: http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/DevelopingOnlineAquacult ureCurricula.php PRODUCTS: Eighty-eight teachers have responded to the needs assessment and informational survey though the National Aquaculture Educators Network developed by David Cline. Here is a link to the survey results. The products of this effort to date include several online video resources with supplemental handouts, worksheets and quizzes. The video presentations include, 1) an interactive flash presentation on how to build a small and inexpensive recirculating aquaculture system for the classroom, 2) Spawning of American oysters by thermal shock and 3) an overview of aquaculture production systems. The project has also resulted in the development of a laboratory exercise about how farmers can count thousands of fish using volumetric displacement, weight averaging and sampling. The team conducted a 5-day teacher workshop in Gadsden, AL on June 7-11, 2010 and a 1-day workshop in Florala, AL on July 29th, 2010. The workshops trained more than 20 teachers and teachers showed great enthusiasm and interest in the topics. Teachers that attended the training workshops were supplied with resource notebooks and a two resource dvds that contain over 300 aquaculture publications, 75 power point presentations, hundreds of aquaculture photos and a variety of lesson plan ideas. OUTCOMES: Teachers of the 5-day workshop demonstrated a 33% change in aquaculture related knowledge as determined by pre- and post-testing. At the one day workshop the teachers pre/post-testing scores increased by 66%. Teacher responses to the post-workshop survey question "How do you feel the information presented will benefit your students included, (a) "I have more knowledge and a better understanding of the needs of fish & plants to successfully teach my students", (b) "Makes me a more knowledgeable teacher & more effective teacher" and "Gives them [students] a chance to apply principles to real world situations". DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: The various video and lesson plan products are posted on www.alearn.info , which is a cooperative effort between the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures Department, and the AU College of Agriculture and the Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant Consortium web site. The videos and activities were demonstrated at the two teacher workshops. The interactive flash video presentation was presented to the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center publications committee, at the International Tilapia and Aquaponics Workshop, and plans are under way to make the videos available to educators through one of the largest international aquaculture suppliers. Information related to the grant was also reported at the 2010 Aquaculture America meeting in San Diego, CA and will be distributed to the National Aquaculture Educator Network and Aquacontacts email lists. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Future plans include the completion of 5 more online video/animation projects, 1, 5- teacher training workshop and 4, 1-day teacher training workshops. The five presentations will include aspects of water quality, genetics, and the nitrogen cycle. Once all portions of the online teaching materials are available we plan to create a specific section on the www.alearn.info web site (linked to other major aquaculture information hubs) and build an interactive dvd that contains all of the materials and make it available to teachers across the country.
Impacts
The teacher survey indicates a high interest in electronic, interactive and hands on teaching resources and providing high quality resources will enable them to spend more time teaching and less time searching for materials. Comments from the teacher training workshops indicate that our efforts are increasing instructor knowledge and teaching capacity in aquaculture. Studies show that using aquaculture as a tool to teach biology, math, and science increases student engagement and helps them see the practicality of their studies by providing real world opportunities the apply the academic principals. Increased engagement, understanding and aquaculture knowledge may inspire students to pursue careers in these fields or at a minimum create a more informed seafood consumer.
Publications
- Cline, D.J. (2010) Aquaculture as a tool to teach math & science to K-12 students: Barriers and Opportunities. Aquaculture America abstracts, March 1-5, 2010. San Diego, CA
- Waters, P.J. (2009) Hatchery spawning by thermal shock of the American oyster Crassostrea virginica, Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Program. Publication Number MASGP 09-026
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