Recipient Organization
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 2275A
BROOKINGS,SD 57007
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
A new Honors in Agriculture program will infuse the SDSU agriculture curriculum with proven Honors pedagogy emphasizing communications, service, multidisciplinary/systems perspectives, diversity, leadership, and undergraduate research. Concurrently, STEM and other general education courses will be revised for inclusion of agriculture subject matter. Project activities include faculty development, curriculum revision of Honors general education and introductory agriculture courses, an Agriculture, Food and Society Colloquium, and a campus wide common reading program on contemporary food systems issues. A series of diversity, experiential learning and undergraduate research opportunities will be implemented. Partners including Sisseton Wahpeton (tribal) College, SD Department of Agriculture and SD Agriculture Heritage Museum are collaborating to ensure project success. Program audience and beneficiaries are faculty participants and Honors College eligible students (1500). Products will include revised syllabi and course materials. The project will also produce faculty and graduates who are prepared to address challenges facing the food and agriculture system. Results will include capacity built among faculty for integration of agriculture content and Honors pedagogy across the curriculum, and enhanced communication, diversity, problem solving, and research skills among graduates. Comparative course evaluation data will track student progress on higher order learning objectives. Outcomes will include increased numbers of Honors-in-Agriculture program graduates, increased student scores on sophomore proficiency examinations and, National (and Faculty) surveys of Student Engagement. Honors-in-Agriculture will provide a model for attracting and retaining talented, motivated students, and for preparing them for graduate education and/or industry/community leadership in the food and agricultural sciences. Materials and results will be shared via a robust project website and will be presented and published at the local, state and national levels.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Specific project objectives are: 1. To enhance the capacity of agriculture faculty to integrate Honors pedagogy in their courses; and to enhance the awareness of general education Honors faculty of the issues and concerns of contemporary issues facing agriculture and the environment. 2. To infuse the Honors curriculum with agriculture and the agriculture curriculum with Honors. During the duration of this grant, this will include the following: a. Development and delivery of Honors general education sections for foundational agriculture courses. b. Development and delivery of a team-taught Honors colloquium on Agriculture, Food and Society. c. Development of a series of agriculture modules that may be incorporated in Honors general education courses, including STEM fields, as well as the Social Sciences, Communications, Arts and Humanities. 3. To increase offerings and student participation in academic and co-curricular Honors-oriented experiential learning opportunities in agriculture. These will include: diversity experiences, undergraduate research, leadership development and a common intellectual experience. 4. To increase the number of agriculture majors completing the Honors curriculum. This will be facilitated through a series of coordinated communications and activities directed at all Honors-eligible entering students, and through careful academic advising and retention efforts. Through these objectives, this project will increase the number of graduates with a baccalaureate or higher degree in the food and agricultural sciences and help students achieve their career goals and meet workplace needs by increasing the quality of postsecondary instruction at SDSU.
Project Methods
Products from the project will include a program brochure, syllabi and materials for four introductory agriculture courses; four Honors general education courses ; Agriculture, Food and Society colloquium; one agriculture and one general education course from SWC, undergraduate research posters and abstracts from the Honors agriculture symposium; and campus-wide agriculture/food system common reading program (shared with SWC). Results of the project will include an increase in number of Honors students exposed to agriculture, and an increase in the number of agriculture students exposed to Honors pedagogy and enrolled in Honors courses. Similarly, an increased percentage of Honors faculty will be aware of food and agriculture connections to their work, while more agriculture faculty will be trained in Honors pedagogical approaches. SWC's participation will bring an important tribal perspective to the work, and will increase the number of Native American students prepared for graduate education and community/industry leadership. Student outcomes will include progress in their capacities for higher order thinking skills and appreciation for systems approaches to complex issues concerning contemporary food, agriculture and environmental issues. Pre and post tests will track progress on these desired outcomes, as will data collected from IDEA student opinion surveys and faculty information forms. The network forged through the work of the project will be a catalyst for future endeavors aimed at increasing the quality of higher education in the food and agricultural sciences around themes such as policy making, diversity, globalization and agricultural literacy.The project will be evaluated based on qualitative and quantitative progress toward identified benchmarks in the proposal.