Progress 09/01/15 to 05/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Middle school students and their classroom teachersacross the United Statesweretargetedaudiences. Changes/Problems:Covid-19 disrupted the last three months of the project. While this did not interrupt access of online resources (the Slider, the game, and the digital curriculum), it did disrupt delivery of classroom kits to teachers for the months of March, April, and May. There were approximately 2,000 students who were schedule to be served, but were not due to schools closing. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Twenty-one regional, state, national, and international conference presentations were made to introduce the game to a variety of audiences including classroom teachers, extension agents, and food safety specialists. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Many people believe the commonly-held misconception that agriculture is not a true science. As a result, most secondary students and teachers are unaware of the scientific nature of agricultural disciplines - and are therefore unable to appreciate future careers these majors may afford. This hampers efforts to prepare a strong and diverse pool of new students to enter the agricultural fields. The purpose of this proposal is to facilitate the use of an exemplary educational model, Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms, that enhances the instructional quality of formal agricultural education delivered by early secondary classroom teachers in core subject areas by providing expanded access to the food safetyexperiential curricular program. In Year 3, this project was successful at: · Increasing agricultural science and food safety knowledge retention among students in the middle grades. · Increasing teacher awareness and ability to reach students with agricultural science and food safety knowledge through improved and engaging Hands On curriculum and resources. · Improving students' conceptual understanding of STEM and food safety content, particularly related to agricultural sciences and disciplines. · Exposing students and educators to the problem-solving and hands-on experiences needed in agricultural science-related careers, increasing interest in these careers. · Students understand food safety material better, feel more confident in their ability to apply learned material to real-world contexts and are better able to envision themselves in agricultural science-related careers. Objective 1: Leverage the existing infrastructure and networks of PFSE to engage vested food safety educators in using HOC curricular materials and instructional resources. In year 3 of the project, all Hands On curriculum was migrated to the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) website (Link: http://www.fightbac.org/hands-on/download-hands-on/). There were a total of 610 curriculum downloads during Year 4, which brings the total of downloads since the site was launch in Year 2 to 1,298. Objective 2: Enhance the quality of academic instruction related to FANH sciences through the promotion and widespread dissemination of Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms. The Hands On program was officially licensed and transferred to the Grocery Manufacturers Association Science and Education Foundation (GMA SEF) in Year 2. With this transfer, James Swart, a Hands On staff member at UT, took on the full time role of program manager and now oversees the marketing, expansion, and daily operation of the program. Supply fulfillment is still operated at the University of Tennessee, with Dr. Richards overseeing fulfillment staff (1 post-doc and 1 undergraduate student). During year four, Hands On saw an increase in the number of teachers, students and schools served by the program, despite losing much of the Spring semester due to Covid-19. Hands On served a total of 14,840 students with a total of 142 schools and 193 teachers participating in the program. During the life of this grant, Hands On has served 33,326 students across 46 states. Objective 3: Develop multimedia educational tools to enrich the instructional quality of the HOC curriculum and promote retention of food safety concepts. The NMSU team finalized development of the interactive, online game Outbreak Squad. This engaging animated game places students in the decision maker role of managing a foodborne illness outbreak. By employing the unique "powers" of Squad (Researcher, Enforcer, Educator, and Health Care Professional), students work to defeat the Outbreak Villains (Hammy Burgens, Cheesy McPizza, Callie N. Tae, Mr. Frosty Freeze, "Dirty Sal" Addison, and King Krusty). Thus far, the game has been accessed by users 8,139 times. The game can be accessed here: https://outbreaksquad-d.nmsu.edu Learning goals for the game include that, after 30 minutes of play, the user will be able to describe how different parts of the government work together to improve life in a variety of ways. Food safety will be their working example of that multifaceted approach. The user might describe how several types of government-related efforts are required to solve problems. For example, solving a problem might require education, research, enforcement, legislation, and judicial review. The player will not necessarily understand which government policies are part of which branch, but they will be exposed to the idea of government hierarchy. The player will also understand that government policy and actions are created by people. The user would also understand that the US food supply is safe because of existing food safety solutions. The learning process may also include the user identifying that sources of contamination can happen in different times/locations: in the field, at home, with the supplier, at restaurants, and that outbreaks can vary in severity, impact, commodity and audience. However, this learning may occur elsewhere in the Hands On curriculum and only be reinforced or applied in the game. Outbreak Squad was used with 20 youth participating in online summer Think Tanks via Zoom during summer 2020. Youth were entering grades 6, 7, or 8. Evaluation of the game is ongoing, but was interrupted by Covid-19 in the second half Year 4.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Martinez, P. N., Games for Change, "Outbreak Squad: Keeping your Community Safe," Games for Change, Virtual - New York City, NY. (July 16, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., NM State 4-H Conference 2020, New Mexico State 4-H, Online, "Become the Hero of Your Own Journey" (July 13, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Martinez, P. N., Dream Keepers Online presentation, "Educational Ag Media and Resource an Introduction to Careers in Technology," Indian Resources Development - NMSU, Virtual Zoom. (June 26, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Martinez, P. N. (Presenter), Chamberlin, B. A. (Presenter), NACTA - 2020 Virtual Conference, "Outbreaks Squad: Students as Superheroes Fighting the Spread of Foodborne Illness," North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, Virtual Conference - Covid 19. (June 16, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Martinez, P. N., Chamberlin, B. A., Gleason, J. B. NACTA - 2020 Virtual Conference, "Showcase by Learning Games Lab: Educational Ag Media to Enhance your Instruction," North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, Virtual Conference - Covid 19. (June 16, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., Global Food Safety Initiative Forum, the Consumer Goods Forum, Seattle, WA, "Food Safety and Media: Where do we go from here? (February 28, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Martinez, P. N., CES In-Service, Review Tools Developed by Innovative Media Research & Extension for County Agriculture Agents, 4-H Agents, State Specialists, County FCS Agents and State Specialists," College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, Las Cruces. (January 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Muise, A.S. Ed Games Expo 2020. Curse Reverse & Outbreak Squad. Washington D.C., United States. (2020, January 9).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., NMSU All Extension Conference, NMSU ACES Extension, Las Cruces, NM, "Making Educational Materials that Matter" (January 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Muise, A. S., Chamberlin, B. A. Ed Games Expo, US Department of Education, Washington, DC, "Supporting Accessibility for Educational Media Developers (January 9, 2020).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., NMSU Research and Creativity Week, NMSU Vice President of Research, Las Cruces, NM, "It's OK to Play: What Games and Game-Based Learning Means to Universities" (November 14, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., NMSU Research and Creativity Week, NMSU Vice President of Research, Las Cruces, NM, "Learning is Fun: Let's not Mess that Up (November 14, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., Dust or Magic Design Institute, Children's Technology Review, Lambertville, NJ, "Using an App to Change Behavior while Off the App" (November 5, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., RAPP - Relatives as Parents Program National Conference, Brookdale Foundation, Teaneck, NJ, "It's OK to Play: Redirecting our Fears about Technology (October 24, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Martinez, P. N., Chamberlin, B. A. USDA 1023 - National Multi-state Engineering for Food Safety and Quality, "The Power of Innovative Media - Work from NMSU's Media Productions and Learning Games Lab," USDA - NMSU Hosted 2019 Meeting, Las Cruces, New Mexico. (October 21, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Martinez, P. N., Chamberlin, B. A., Gleason, J. B. Innovative Media Research and Extension Webinar, "Webinar Outreach: Innovative Media Research and Extension Showcase and Listening Session," Innovative Media Research and Extension Department, Zoom Online, hosted from Las Cruces, New Mexico. (October 7, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., Invited Speaker Series, Universidade Federal de Paran� (Federal University of Brazil in Paran�), Curitiba, Brazil, "Transformational Game Design Model: Making Games that Matter" (September 27, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. (Presenter), AQIA Annual Symposium, Association Qu�b�coise Pour L'innocuite Alimentaire, Qu�bec, Canada, "The Power of Games: The Use of Media to Educate" (September 19, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., Aggie Leadership Training Academy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, "Building Alliances: NMSU Learning Games Lab" (August 9, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Chamberlin, B. A., International Association of Food Protection, IAFP, Louisville, KY, "It's OK to Play: Using Media to Communicate to our Stakeholders" (July 21, 2019).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Gleason, J. B., Chamberlin, B. A., Martinez, P. N., Site Visit with Director, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Las Cruces, "Innovative Media Research and Extension" (July 5, 2019).
|
Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The program primarily served middle school students and their classroom teachers across the United States. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Hands On staff (Director Richards and a graduate student) were able to attend both AMLE's national conference and Middle Grades Summit. These professional development opportunities allowed us to remain up to date on pedagogy and research related to middle school learners and adolescent development, as well as current trends and issues in middle school education. Director Richards and two graduate students also attended the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference in 2017. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In Year 4, we intended to formalize a partnership with Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) to bring Hands On to new audiences in formal and informal educational settings.We are partnering with Black Girls Cook and Bee More to present a food focused workshop at STEMX in Baltimore on March 16thand are exploring other partnerships with the Produce for Better Health Foundation, and USDA FSIS. The social studies game in development by our partners at NMSU will be completed and launched. Additional goals for year 4 include: Look at creating updated video training and marketing pieces Continuing to expand the program and add at least 2 new states Engage schools in Washington, DC (DCPS) Add careers component to all programs under the Hands On Classrooms program Secure industry funding support for continued program growth.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In Year 3, this project was successful at: · Increasing agricultural science and food safety knowledge retention among students in the middle grades. · Increasing teacher awareness and ability to reach students with agricultural science and food safety knowledge through improved and engaging Hands On curriculum and resources. · Improving students' conceptual understanding of STEM and food safety content, particularly related to agricultural sciences and disciplines. · Exposing students and educators to the problem-solving and hands-on experiences needed in agricultural science-related careers, increasing interest in these careers. · Students understand food safety material better, feel more confident in their ability to apply learned material to real-world contexts and are better able to envision themselves in agricultural science-related careers. Objective 1: Leverage the existing infrastructure and networks of PFSE to engage vested food safety educators in using HOC curricular materials and instructional resources. In year 3 of the project, all Hands On curriculum was migrated to the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) website (Link: http://www.fightbac.org/hands-on/download-hands-on/). A digital postcard was emailed to everyone on the PFSE's and HON's mailing lists. Additionally, a Google Ads campaign was conducted to increase visibility of the curricular resources when searching for middle school teaching resources. A total of 40,870 page views were recorded for the Hands On main page on the PFSE site and 14,772 of these views were unique visitors. There were a total of 544 curriculum downloads during Year 3. In the final, no-cost extension year of the project, PFSE and PI Richards will collaborate to develop and deliver a webinar (scheduled for Fall 2019) to further promote Hands On and the PFSE partnership. Objective 2: Enhance the quality of academic instruction related to FANH sciences through the promotion and widespread dissemination of Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms. The Hands On program was officially licensed and transferred to the Grocery Manufacturers Association Science and Education Foundation (GMA SEF) in June, 2018. With this transfer, James Swart, a Hands On staff member at UT, took on the full time role of program manager and now oversees the marketing, expansion, and daily operation of the program. Supply fulfillment is still operated at the University of Tennessee, with Dr. Richards overseeing fulfillment staff (2 undergraduate students). During year three, Hands On saw an increase in the number of teachers, students and schools served by the program. Between September 2017 and September 2018, a total of 5,635 students took part in the program. 24 new schools were added during this time, with a total of 47 schools and 39 teachers participating in the program. Hands On has been used in a total of 34 states since the program's beginning in 2006. Hands On staff attended, sponsored, exhibited or presented at two state teacher conferences (Minnesota Science Teachers Association and Virginia Association of Science Teachers Annual PD Conference) and two national teacher conferences (AMLE National Conference and AMLE Middle Grades Summit). Each of the conferences provided networking opportunities for the Hands On staff with teachers from across the country, and for the program to build a network of teachers in Virginia, the new "home" of the program. Objective 3: Develop multimedia educational tools to enrich the instructional quality of the HOC curriculum and promote retention of food safety concepts. The Scale Slider produced in Year 2 has been added to the Hands On website and it now available for widespread use. In February 2018, NMSU hosted a design summit to kick off production of the second educational module, a game focused on food safety from a social studies perspective. The design summit was attended by the Project Director and two graduate students from University of Tennessee Knoxville, as well as by NMSU co-PIs and NMSU designers, artists, and programmer. The team continued design work via follow-up calls and meetings throughout the spring to work through concept and content for the game. Their vision coalesced around a food safety game that focused on government impact, including the hierarchies and branches of government that work to contain, educate and manage food safety outbreaks and the spread of foodborne disease. The group agreed to use the format of an online card-based game. The game will be used by educators in conjunction with a week-long classroom activity on social studies curricula. It will be distributed as part of the Hands-On curricula served and distributed through the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA). It will be designed in HTML5 for web delivery and hosted on a server managed by a company for the GMA, in same site as the Scale Slider and other Hands On resources. As with the first module, the target audience is middle school students Once game parameters were established, the NMSU team worked for several months internally with paper prototypes: fleshing out the game, playing test rounds, testing, and creating a wireframe version of the game. After having developed and tested a prototype of the game, the NMSU team is currently working on production quality art and animation for the game. Learning goals for the game include that, after 30 minutes of play, the user will be able to describe how different parts of the government work together to improve life in a variety of ways. Food safety will be their working example of that multifaceted approach. The user might describe how several types of government-related efforts are required to solve problems. For example, solving a problem might require education, research, enforcement, legislation, and judicial review. The player will not necessarily understand which government policies are part of which branch, but they will be exposed to the idea of government hierarchy. The player will also understand that government policy and actions are created by people. The user would also understand that the US food supply is safe because of existing food safety solutions. The learning process may also include the user identifying that sources of contamination can happen in different times/locations: in the field, at home, with the supplier, at restaurants, and that outbreaks can vary in severity, impact, commodity and audience. However, this learning may occur elsewhere in the Hands On curriculum and only be reinforced or applied in the game.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Wenke, M., Swart, J., and J. Richards. (2017). Examining the relationship of adolescents meal preparation frequency and food safety knowledge, food handling behaviors, and self-efficacy for food safety. Poster session presented at Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo, June 25-28, 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Richards, J., Wenke, M. and J. W. Swart. (2017). Modifying an effective food safety education curriculum for 4-H students to maximize sustainability. Poster session presented at the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference, January 26-27, 2017, Washington, D.C.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Richards, J., Reedy, C., & Rose, S. (2017). Talent Development for the Food Industry: Considering An Innovative School Food Safety Science Curriculum, Community College Curricula and Apprenticeships for Better Informed Consumers and a Skilled Workforce for the Food Industry. Invited panel session at the GMA Science Forum, April 18-21, 2017, Washington, DC.
|
Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:During Year 2, the program primarily served middle school students and their classroom teachers across the United States. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In Year 3 of the project, Hands On Staff members are slated to present sessions or exhibit at several state level Science teachers conferences, as well as at two nation-wide AMLE conferences to increase the number of teachers, schools, and states implementing the Hands On Program. HON and PFSE will continue to promote the program using online platforms. A planning meeting between the Hands On staff and NMSU staff took place in November 2017 for development of a second learning object, on the topic of global outbreaks of foodborne disease. A larger planning and development meeting will take place in early 2018 to kick off development.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Many people believe the commonly-held misconception that agriculture is not a true science. As a result, most secondary students and teachers are unaware of the scientific nature of agricultural disciplines - and are therefore unable to appreciate future careers these majors may afford. This hampers efforts to prepare a strong and diverse pool of new students to enter the agricultural fields. The purpose of this proposal is to facilitate the use of an exemplary educational model, Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms, that enhances the instructional quality of formal agricultural education delivered by early secondary classroom teachers in core subject areas by providing expanded access to the food safety experiential curricular program. In Year 2, this project was successful at: · Increasing agricultural science and food safety knowledge retention among students in the middle grades. · Increasing teacher awareness and ability to reach students with agricultural science and food safety knowledge through improved and engaging Hands On curriculum and resources. · Improving students' conceptual understanding of STEM and food safety content, particularly related to agricultural sciences and disciplines. · Exposing students and educators to the problem-solving and hands-on experiences needed in agricultural science-related careers, increasing interest in these careers. · Students understand food safety material better, feel more confident in their ability to apply learned material to real-world contexts and are better able to envision themselves in agricultural science-related careers. Objective 1: Leverage the existing infrastructure and networks of PFSE to engage vested food safety educators in using HOC curricular materials and instructional resources. In year 2 of the project, HON project director (Richards) and her two staff members (Swart and Wenke) held several meetings involving the director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education (Feist) to discuss the migration of the Hands On curriculum to the PFSE Website. These meetings focused on the design of the webpages housing the curriculum, marketing strategies, and expanding the presence of the curriculum in schools across the country. The website (fightbac.org/hands-on) was successfully launched and has significantly increased number of downloads (144 separate downloads since launch of website in August to date) of the curriculum and implementations in new schools across the country. Objective 2: Enhance the quality of academic instruction related to FANH sciences through the promotion and widespread dissemination of Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms. Year 2 saw an increase in the number of teachers, states, and schools served by the Hands On program. During year 2, 6,453 students were reached. Year 2 saw the addition of nine new schools and a total of 22 states being reached by the program. Objective 3: Develop multimedia educational tools to enrich the instructional quality of the HOC curriculum and promote retention of food safety concepts. Targeting a middle school audience (6th-8th grade), in 2016-2017 NMSU created the Scale Slider, one of two interactive modules to be developed for online and iOS use. Designed as a precursor to curriculum activities on scale, it demonstrates differences in scaling using numbers and size, offering a context for scaled growth. The learning object's interactive functionality includes magnification functions (similar to a microscope) and cell replication functions (scaling the quantity of cell colonies). An interactive slider at the end of the animation gives students the opportunity to play with scaling various items, both in quantity (showing exponential growth) and size, also conveying the importance of understanding when and why these different scaling methods are used. Students using this tool can scale various objects (foot, apple, bridge, fossil, E. coli) in different ways by using adjustable sliders to demonstrate differences in types of scaling. Graphics and animation illustrate the effects of the different scaling methods. An information button onscreen provides access to further key information, related to the type of scaling selected by the user. Desired outcomes - After interacting with the tool, students will have a "sense of scale," will understand how and why different types of scale are used, and will understand the differences among types of scale, including • Change in quantity • Change in size • Change in magnification.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:During Year 1, the program primarily served researchers in areas related to food safety education who can use our instrument and results to assess, evaluate and develop more targeted interventions. Middle school students and their classroom teachers across the United States were also targeted audiences. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A total of 18 Tennessee Cooperative Extension agents were trained to use the Hands On curriculum during Year 1 of the project. Approximately 20 classroom teachers from multiple states were trained using a combination of an online platform (Zoom or Skype) and online training videos posted on our YouTube channel. Learning Games Lab staff and students including graphic designers, programmers, and artist/animators, participated in design planning for these products and, through meeting with project scientists, gained exposure in relevant science concepts and their applicability in agricultural fields. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In Year 2 of the project, we will begin a stepped transition to bring HOn under the PFSE umbrella. A summit meeting is scheduled in January to create a transition plan, budget, and timeline for this purpose. Additional schools are being recruited to implement Hands On through state and national teachers' conference, our partnership with Ag in the Classroom and AMLE, and through an active social media presence. The Learning Games lab will complete prototypes and beta versions of the digital media tools and begin testing these in classroom settings.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Many people believe the commonly-held misconception that agriculture is not a true science. As a result, most secondary students and teachers are unaware of the scientific nature of agricultural disciplines - and are therefore unable to appreciate future careers these majors may afford. This hampers efforts to prepare a strong and diverse pool of new students to enter the agricultural fields. The purpose of this proposal is to facilitate the use of an exemplary educational model, Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms, that enhances the instructional quality of formal agricultural education delivered by early secondary classroom teachers in core subject areas by providing expanded access to the food safety experiential curricular program. In Year 1, this project was successful at: · Increasing agricultural science and food safety knowledge retention among students in the middle grades. · Increasing teacher awareness and ability to reach students with agricultural science and food safety knowledge through improved and engaging Hands On curriculum and resources. · Improving students' conceptual understanding of STEM and food safety content, particularly related to agricultural sciences and disciplines. · Exposing students and educators to the problem-solving and hands-on experiences needed in agricultural science-related careers, increasing interest in these careers. · Students understand food safety material better, feel more confident in their ability to apply learned material to real-world contexts and are better able to envision themselves in agricultural science-related careers. Objective 1: Leverage the existing infrastructure and networks of PFSE to engage vested foodsafety educators in using HOC curricular materials and instructional resources. In Year 1 of the project, HOn project director and program manager (Richards and LoRe), met with the director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education (Feist) to develop a proposal to submit to the FDA to acquire the Science and Our Food Supply educational outreach program to createa "go-to" web-based fulfillment center, combined with curricula development and teacher training - bringing together Hands On, Science and Our Food Supply, and Fight BAC!® curricula activities in one place. This proposal included a three-year work work plan to transition the three currently independent programs into one consolidated food safety education outreach effort by the year 2019. The proposed timeline allowed for graduate transition with the three organizations operating independently, but with strong cooperation, in year 1; co-operating as three organizations in year 2, and operating as one organization under the PFSE umbrella in year 3. This proposal has been submitted to the FDA and is currently under review. Additionally, PFSE and HOn submitted a foundation grant to Tyson Foods to secure funds to jump start the planned consolidation. This proposal was not funded, however, we plan to resubmit in 2017. Objective 2: Enhance the quality of academic instruction related to FANH sciences through the promotion and wide-spread dissemination of Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms. Year 1 of the project was spent formalizing relationships with schools to increase the number of students reached with the Hands On program. In 2015-2016, the program reached 6,398 students of the 10,000 student goal. 29 new schools were reached in the 2015-2016 school year. 20 states implemented the curriculum, doubling from the previous year. Objective 3: Develop multimedia educational tools to enrich the instructional quality of the HOC curriculum and promote retention of food safety concepts. After meeting with project staff in January 2016, Learning Games Lab developers worked with Sondra LoRe and Jennifer Richards to articulate goals for development and products to be created. The team will develop two interactive modules, and has drafted a design plan for a Scale Animation and Interactive Slider, for online and iOS use. Designed as a precursor to curriculum activities on scale, it will demonstrate differences in scaling using numbers and size, offering a context for scaled growth. An interactive slider at the end of the animation will give students the opportunity to play with scaling various items, both in quantity (showing exponential growth) and size, also conveying the importance of understanding when and why these different scaling methods are used. Students will be able to scale 5 different objects (foot, apple, bridge, fossil, E. coli) in different ways by using adjustable sliders to demonstrate differences in the 3 types of scaling.
Publications
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