Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences were undergraduate students, faculty in agriculture and natural resources areas, Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided students opportunity for professional development by positioning them for internships with Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, DuPont Stine Haskell Laboratory as well as with faculty research activities in research laboratories and fields. The project has also enabled the growth of resource material, such as DVDs and provided for field trips to supplement library resource topics and enhance student experiental learning. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to communities of interest by way of currulum strengthening for the classroom for the next group of students taking the course. The experience is also shared at conferences and workshops attended by the PI. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
50 students were provided support during the grant period. Students were placed on university farm to gain hands-on learning with livestock feeding and care, farm equipment operations and maintenance and general labor, working with aquaculture facilities, Cooperative Extension research and demonstration plots and greenhouses, wildlife conservation projects and in the herbarium.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Undergraduate students wtihin the field of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Students have been hired in this period to gain experiential learning opportunities throughout the department. To date, over 30 Students have been placed on the University farm where they are gaining some hands on learning with livestock feeding and care, farm equipment operations and maintenance and general labor, working at the aquaculture facility where they have had opportunities to learn about the daily care and operations of an aquaculture facility, working with Cooperative Extension research and demonstration plots, work on Wildlife conservation projects and in the Herbarium, in the campus greenhouses and with research and demonstration plots where various crops are being grown and in research laboratories. These opportunities have provided students hands on learning and have better prepared them for entry level employment into the Agriculture and Natural Resource sector. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Participated in a Teaching Conference at Virginia Tech in 2013 where the approach of this grant, to provide student experiential learning opportunities, was shared with conference participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Provide final opportunities for students to gain experiential learning opportunities as they prepare to graduate and enter the workforce.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The experiential learning course “Agriculture and Natural Resources 102” was taught again in the spring of 2014 with a total of 35 students were enrolled. The course offered students with opportunities to gain some hands on learning, including visits to the University Greenhouse, woodland trail, herbarium and aquaculture pond facility. Several DVD’s purchased with grant funds and specific to various commodity crops and livestock species were also shown as a way to stimulate discussion on modern agricultural practices. Several faculty members came to share research that is currently ongoing in the department. When questioned about the course and the opportunities it provided, students expressed a desire to do more hands on learning exercises in the future.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience are students. The experiential learning course “Agriculture and Natural Resources 102” was taught in the spring of 2013 with a total of 24 students were enrolled. The course offered students with opportunities to gain some hands on learning, including working with livestock on the campus farm, and with plants, within the University Greenhouse. Students also had the opportunity to visit a Herbarium and an aquaculture pond facility and had visits from faculty members who came to share research that is currently ongoing in the department. When questioned about the course and the opportunities it provided, students expressed a desire to do more hands on learning exercises in the future. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Several field trips were conducted this past year, providing opportunities for students to visit an independent research laboratory, the national arboretum, Longwood Gardens and the Philadelphia Zoo to gain insight into various opportunities that awaits them after graduation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? PI shared some of his experiences in this grant at a meeting held at Virginia Tech this past summer. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? A one year no cost extension was obtained this year to complete out the grant objectives. Additional, students will be hired and given opportunities to gain further knowledge through hands on learning experiences and additional field trips and library acquisitions are also planned in this final year.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The experiential learning course Agriculture and Natural Resources 102 was taught in the spring of 2013 where a total of 24 students were enrolled.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The experiential learning course "Agriculture and Natural Resources 102" was taught in the spring of 2012 with a total of 25 students enrolled. The course offered students with opportunities to gain some hands on learning, including working with livestock on the campus farm, and with plants, including planting and growing annual plants within the University Greenhouse. Students also had the opportunity to visit a Herbarium and an aquaculture pond facility and had visits from faculty members who came to share some of the exciting research that is currently ongoing in the department. When questioned about the course and the opportunities it provided, students expressed a desire to do more hands on learning exercises in the future. Over the past year, 14 students have been hired to gain experiential learning opportunities throughout the department. Four have been placed on the University farm where they are gaining some hands on learning with livestock feeding and care, farm equipment operations and maintenance and general labor. Three students have been placed working at the aquaculture facility where they have had opportunities to learn about the daily care and operations of an aquaculture facility. One student is working with Cooperative Extension research and demonstration plots, two students were placed to work on Wildlife conservation projects and the remaining four students have been working with the Herbarium, in the campus greenhouses and with research and demonstration plots where various herbs are being grown. Current plans are to develop several field trips during the upcoming spring semester to provide students the opportunity to see the ways in which they can put their Agriculture and Natural Resource degrees to work in the community. In addition, plans are underway to purchase additional library resources to enhance the classes offered by the department. Additional, students will be hired and given opportunities to gain further knowledge through hands on learning experiences. PARTICIPANTS: 25 students have participated in the Experiential Learning course "Agriculture and Natural Resources 102" in the spring of 2012. 14 students have participated in Experiential learning work experiences. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Students have been provided with more hands on learning opportunities within the Agriculture adn Natural Resources 102 class that has provides them with opportunities to see the types of things that they may be doing in their chosen fields within agriculture and Natural Resources. A total of 25 students were enrolled within the class in the spring of 2012. The course will be taught again in spring of 2013. Fourteen students were given extra opportunites to put their education to work by being placed in positions in Aquaculutre, Wildlife, Agricultural Production, Plant Science, and Animal Science where they work for a period of 15 hours per week for 15 weeks. At least four of these students have been continued on with grant monies from other sources after the completion of their 15 week program.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Funding for the grant arrived late and as a result the initial start of the grant was delayed. However in the spring and summer of 2011, three student workers were hired to give them some opportunities for experiential learning. One student worked in the laboratory with Dr. Dewayne Fox (fisheries science) , another worked at the University Farm at Hickory Hill (beef, goat and forage farm) and the third worked in Dr. Tuckers lab (herbs and essential oils). In addition, in the spring semester, in the Agriculture and Natural Resources 102 class, students were provided with several hands on learning opportunities including a chance to clip and to vaccinate cattle, visit and observe the aquaculture facilities (both inside closed system production and outside pond facilities), and they had the chance to experience what is typically done in the herbarium located on campus. At the end of the semester, students were surveyed as to the hands on experiences. The results of the survey were that the students unanimously appreciated these activities and wanted to do more. Students were also provided with informational presentations over the semester by five faculty members across various areas of the department including plant science, fisheries, poultry science, genomics and career services to help them learn of the opportunities that are available to them with an agriculture or natural resource degree. This year, more extensive hands on activities will be planned in the spring semester when the Agriculture and Natural Resource class is taught. That particular class is a one credit class that all Agriculture majors take. In addition, during the upcoming spring and summer, ten to 16 students will be hired to work in labs, in university programs or on university farms to gain further hands on experiences in fulfillment of the objectives of the grant. PARTICIPANTS: Delayed funding has resulted in a delay in the start of this project however three students were hired and provided with experiential learning opportunities. Twenty-six students in Agriculture and Natural Resource class were provided with four separeate out of class activities and five invited speakers to gain insight into career opportunities and given ideas as to things they could do with their degrees. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audience for this gratn are freshman students within the department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The grant was delayed due to funding delays, however several initial activities were implemented. It is expected that a current course in the curriculum "Agriculture and Natural Resource Science 102" will be adapted into the Experiential learning course.
Impacts
Due to the lateness of available funding the start of the grant was delayed, however in this first year, three students were hired and given opportunites for experiential learning one in a fisheries lab, one in a herb and essential oil lab and the third on the University Beef cattle/goat and forage farm. Twenty six students were also provided with opportunities to gain some hands on learning by visiting the Beef Farm, Herbarium, Greenhouse and Aquaculture Pond facilities of the Unviersity. Additionally five facutly members came to the class and shared some of their research and career opporutnites with these students.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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