Progress 09/01/16 to 02/28/20
Outputs
Target Audience: Early in the project establishment (November 2016), the PD and Project coordinator had a Meeting with the Department of Education (DE) Regional Director to explain the project objectives and to plan how the schools were going to be selected. Elementary Schools and Head Startdirectors were invited to a meeting in December 2016 and a presentation of the Objectives, Methodology, Outreach and Expected results was given to the audience. After the visit of around 25 schools and Head Start centers in the target area, fourteen elementary schools (11 from the Utuado municipality and 3 from the Adjuntas Municipality) and three (3) Head Start Centers from Utuado, were selected to participate in this project. Fourteen (14) students from the Agricultural Techology programs and the Education Program at the University of Puerto Rico-Utuado were selected after an evaluation of the online application and an interview. An experiential summer course in sustainable agriculture and school garden development was offered from July 10 to 31 for those 14 students. During the summer course, the selected students and 11 school teachers from the selected schools, participated in a conference offered by the Department of Education about Integration of School Garden projects to the Science Curricula for K to 5th grade in Puerto Rico. During the 2017-2018 year period, the project impacted 14 public schools and 3 Head Starts from Utuado and Adjuntas municipalities. This means around 2,000 students. Fourteen (14) UPRU undergraduate students were responsible for modules presentation and application in participant schools.Twenty (20 )undergraduate students from the course INTD 3805-Community Service also participated in the project, helping in the school gardens development.Inital project results were presented at the USDA-NIFA PI meeting in Tumon, Guam (summer 2018) and at the Women in Agroecology Forum in the ECOSUR University, Chiapas, Mexico (March 2018). Around 200 people participated in both meetings.The Tierra Adentro Fair was celebrated in May 2018 and around 5,000 people assisted. Around 200 of the visitors, including elementary school kids, participated in school garden workshops offered by our undergraduate students.Twenty (20) stakeholders met at the Vocational School SU Botijas I, Orocovis, PR and the PI, CoPI and Project Coordinator presented the conference "HUERTOS ESCOLARES Y EDUCACION AGROECOLOGICA-ENCUENTRO LIDERES" with the objective to develop a Puerto Rico School Garden Network. During the 2018-2019 year period, the project continued assisting seven (7) public schools from Utuado and Adjuntas municipalities. From the original number of schools that iniciated with this proyect, five (5) were closed permanently by the Education Department and the three (3) Head Start program schools, could not continue participating.Eleven (11) UPRU undergraduates students continued with the modules presentation and application in participant schools. Since the course INTD 3805 -Community Service is offered every Fall semester by the Agricultural Technology Department, students have the opportunity to volunteer with the school gardens. During Fall 2018, twenty (20) UPRU undergraduate students enrolled in that course, and ten (10) of them, had the opportunity to collaborate with the school garden development.In October 2018, the PI and a teacher from one of the participating schools, participated in "Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando orígenes y tejiendo redes". Both had the opportunity to present the progress of this project from the principal investigator perspective and the participant teacher point of view. During the 2019-2020year period, the project increased the number of schools participating because a new project called Puerto Rico School Garden Networkwas funded by USDA NIFA DEG and gave us the opportunity to add more schools.A new school in Jayuya municipality started in the proyect and an undergraduate studentinitiated the school garden and taught the educational modulesin an elementary school. Ending the period of this proposal, ten (10) public schools from Utuado, Jayuya and Adjuntas municipalities, received the support to establish their school gardens and the training in different educational modules. During Fall 2019, twenty-four(24)UPRU undergraduate students enrolled in INTD 3805 course (Community Service), and twelve (12) of them, had the opportunity to collaborate with the school garden development proyect and the Puerto Rico School Garden Network. Changes/Problems:A no-cost extension of the project was claimed in August2019 and it was approved until February 2020. The time extension was needed to use some funds that had not beenwithdrawn at that moment and to developa School Garden Handbook/Manual for students and teachers. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional Development: PD and Project Coordinator assisted to the School Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute in Santa Cruz, California from January 21-26, 2018. Our institution was selected from 120 applicants and as a consequence of the meeting, the intiative to write a proposal was developed and the proposal titled: Puerto Rico School Garden Network: Using Distance Education Technologies to Advanced K-16 Agriculture Education in Central Puerto Rico was submitted to USDA-NIFA-DEG. The proposal was approved for 2018-2020 time period. The PD presented this project at the forum: Women in Agroecology in San Cristóbal, Mexico (March 2018) The PDparticipated in the USDA-NIFA-Project Director's meeting in GUAM, USA (July 2108) The PDand a participant teacher participated in the "I Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando Orígenes y Tejiendo Redes" in San Cristobal de Las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico from October 25-29, 2018. The PD presented in the 11th Agroecology Symposium at UPR-Utuado (December 2019) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to communities of interest through: Festival Tierra Adentro Fair- 2018, 2019, Utuado, Puerto Rico Project Director's Meeting, Guam, USA Encuentros de Red Internacional de Huertos Educativos, Chiapas, Mexico Women en Agroecology Forum, Chiapas, Mexico National Agriculture in the Classroom annual conference, Arkansas, USA Agroecology Symposium, UPR-Utuado Puerto Rico School Garden Network web page (www.redconucos.org) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1) to improve sustainable agriculture education in schools and universities of Central Puerto Rico: Seventeen (17) public schools and head start programs had the opportunity to participate in this proyect from 2017-2020. Thirty (30) educational modules on STEM topics were applied in every participating elementary school. Outreach activities- A booth presentation and several workshops were developed to participate in two consecutives years (2018, 2019) for Tierra Adentro Farm Fair. A Model School Garden was developed in University of Puerto Rico-Utuadocampus for workshops development and visitors education. Goal 2): to serve as an example of the integration of community service in agricultural education, which will be replicated in other US insular areas and the mainland At the end of this project, seventeen (17) collaborative agreements between UPRU and local elementary schools were signed. Results of the project were presented at: USDA-NIFA-Project Directors'meeting in GUAM, USA (July 2018) I Encuentro Internacional de Huertos Educativos in Chiapas (October 2018) "The National Agriculture in the Classroom (NAITCO) annual conference in Little Rock, Arkansas(June 2019)". The Puerto Rico School Garden Network (RedConucos) has been developed as a direct effect of this project. It is connecting different schoolgarden programs and community gardens in Iberoamerica. During this COVID 19 Pandemia, our achievments were shared with the International Network of Educative Gardens in theSGSO Network Webinar: Enfoques, Retos y Éxitos de los Huertos Educativos: Experiencias Iberoamericanas From 2018-2020, a total of 36students from DAT-UPRU enrolled in the course Community Service (INTD 3805) . These undergraduates studentswere leaders and helpers in the school gardens establishment to support the project participants. An alliance with NAITCO (National Agriculture in the Classroom) was developped since 2019, and a professor fromthe Department of Agriculture Technology of the University of Puerto Rico is the liason person. Supporting Objectives: Objective 1: Increase sustainable agriculture and school garden knowledge in DAT-UPRU undergraduate and elementary school students. Impact 1: Participant students will increase their knowledge of sustainable agriculture and other STEAM subjects, as measured by pre and post test scores. 27 elementary school classesparticipated in the school garden program during the intiation of this project. Two municipalities were served throughout this project, Utuado and Adjuntas, Jayuya municipality could not participated due to the budget approved. A pre-test was administered to the class. As part of the pre-test to assess knowledge of gardens and sustainable agriculture students in those 27 classes were asked a series of questions about their experience with home and school gardens previous to participating in the school garden program. During the summer session (July 2017), a 64 hours course in Sustainable Agriculture and School Gardens was offered at the University of Puerto Rico-Utuado. To measure adquired knowledge of sustainable agriculture, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineer, Arts, Mathematics) disciplines and school gardens in the summer course, a pre and post test was administered to the participants.The average for the pre-test scores was 67% (38% minimum and 100% maximum), and the average of the post-tests scores was 80% (69.8% minimum and 84% maximum). Of the 14 participants, 12 demonstrated an increase in post-test scores and only 2 demonstrated a decrease from their pre-test to their post-test scores. The increased scores by the majority of the participants (86% of them) are indicative of increasing sustainable agriculture and school garden knowledge of UPRU undergraduates, thus demonstrating the project is meeting objective 1 and impact 1 successfully for the UPRU undergraduates. Objective 2: Offer an experiential summer course in sustainable agriculture and school garden development. The 14 participants selected for the summer internship completed the exit survey. This survey was used to assess the experiential learning aspect of the internship. Participants were asked if they would recommend the summer internship about school gardens to other students. The totality of the participants, all 14 of them, answered yes, that they would recommend the internship to fellow UPRU undergraduate students. Overall, the students' responses indicate that they were highly satisfied with the internship experience, this is demonstrated by the unanimity in recommending the internship to their peers, and the high scores for the satisfaction scale. The experiential learning component of the internship was highlighted by the students as one of their favorite aspects of the experience, and that trips to the field and to specific project sites helped them learn about sustainable agriculture and school gardens. Objective 3: Engage DAT-UPRU undergraduate students in the development of 15 school gardens in elementary schools of Utuado, Jayuya and Adjuntas municipalities. At the end of this project, twenty one (21) teachers from 19 schools, were administeredan exit survey to measure their satisfaction with the project. This survey also measures engagement because it demonstrates that the UPRU undergraduate students participated in the schools administering the survey. A 100 % of the teachers willrecommend to other teachers and schools to participate in a school garden project in collaboration with UPRU. 71% percentageanswered that they will like to collaborate with UPRU on future projects related to school gardens. . The teachers were also asked about which aspects of the project they most enjoyed. Almost 100 % of the teachers responded that they liked working with UPRU undergraduates who were professional and very knowledgeable on the topics they covered. They also mentioned they liked the educational modules used to teach about the school garden. The teachers were also asked for suggestions for improving the school garden projectand the most salient topics were to include more grades or extended to the school as a whole; to modify the modules to adapt them to the grade level and student level; and to make sure the school gardens have continuity, that they live beyond the timeline of the project. Of the 19 schools only 4 had previously collaborated with the UPRU institution, therefore this survey points towards an increase in engagement between UPRU and the schools in the area. Objective 4: Develop 30 school garden STEAM educational modules that elementary teachers will use. Teachers answered an exit survey at the end of each of the 30 STEAM educational modules. This exit survey serves as evidence of the development of he 30 school garden STEAM educational modules that elementary school teachers used.The majority of the school teachers who participated in the project used the educational STEAM modules designed for the project. The majority agreed that the reading level, content, and way that it was written was adequate for the grade levels they taught. All the teachers answered that they would use the educational modules in the future. Objective 5: Involve undergraduate students in the teaching of STEAM educational modules to elementary students using school gardens. UPRU undergraduateshelped to develop the educational modules, and also used the modules to teach and help with the gardens in the schools. They were asked if they used the educational modules for their presentations, the school garden activities, their perception of the ease of use of the modules andsuggestions for improving the modules. 98% of the undergrads answered affirmative to the questions. The school teachers who were involved with the school garden project were asked to fill out a survey about the performance of the UPRU undergraduate student for each time the UPRU student participated in the class.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Retos, Enfoques y �xitos de los Huertos Educativos: Webminar presentation sponsored by School Garden Support Organization (SGSO), California.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Servicio Comunitario a trav�s de Huertos Escolares, 11th Agroecology Symposium, University Of Puerto Rico, Utuado
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Davila-Negr�n, M., F. P�rez, F. Veluk-Gutierrez. (2019). Labrando Conocimientos. In Huertos Educativos: Relatos desde el movimiento Latinoamericano. (1a ed., p.40-41. Mexico. Ed by Morales, H., Martha E. Garc�a and Guillermo Berm�dez. ECOSUR.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Marrero, L. (2019). Un proyecto inclusivo y colaborativo. In Huertos Educativos: Relatos desde el movimiento Latinoamericano. (1a ed., p.42-43). Mexico. Ed. by Morales H., Martha E. Garc�a and Guillermo Berm�dez. ECOSUR.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Davila-Negron, M. 2018. Servicio Comunitario como una estrategia de aprendizaje activo para estudiantes subgraduados. I Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando or�genes y Tejiendo Redes en ECOSUR San Crist�bal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Davila-Negron, M. 2018. Community Service as an Active Learning Strategy for Agriculture Undergraduate Students. USDA NIFA Project Directors' Meeting. Tumon, Guam.
|
Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience: During the 2018-2019 year period, the project continued assisting 7public schools from Utuado and Adjuntas municipalities.From the original number of schools that iniciated with this proyect, five(5)were closed permanently by the Education Department and the three (3) Head Start program schools, could not continue participating. Eleven (11) UPRU undergraduates students continued with the modules presentation and application in participant schools. Since the courseINTD 3805 -Community Service is offered everyFall semester by the Agricultural Technology Department, students have the opportunity to volunteer with the school gardens. During Fall 2018, twenty (20) UPRU undergraduate students enrolled in that course, and ten (10)of them,had the opportunity to collaborate with the school garden development. In October2018, the PI and ateacher from one of the participating schools, participated in "Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando orígenes y tejiendo redes". Both had the opportunity to present the progress of thisproject from theprincipal investigatorperspective andthe participant teacher point of view. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Professional Development: 1)The PI and a participant teacherparticipated in the "I Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando Orígenes y Tejiendo Redes" in San Cristobal de Las Casas in Chiapas, Mexicofrom October 25-29, 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results were presented atthe "I Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando Orígenes y Tejiendo Redes" in San Cristobal de Las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico from October 25-29, 2018. Thirty (30) STEAM educational modules wereincluded inthe Puerto Rico School Garden Network web page (www.redconucos.org) During the Tierra Adentro Farm Fair organized by the Agricultural Technology Department at UPRU and celebrated from April4-7, 2019, the project presented some of the activities that UPRU students carry out in the elementary schools using the School Garden Model developed in the University Campus. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The following plans will help the acomplishments of the Goals in the next reporting period: Goals 1) to improve sustainable agriculture education in schools and universities of Central Puerto Rico To publish the STEM educational modules in the Manual of School Gardens Development and to distribute it, with the aid of the Department of Education and the University of Puerto Rico, to the elementary schools participating in this project and to other interested. All the participants schools are part of the recentky created "Puerto Rico School Garden Network"and will continue supporting their school gardens and receiving UPRU undergraduate students as mentors. 2) to serve as an example of the integration of community service in agricultural education, which will be replicated in other US insular areas and the mainland. This project will continue to participate in the Tierra Adentro Farm Fair, giving workshops, conferences anddemonstrations to the community and schools participants. UPRU students are constantly registering in the INTD 3805- Community Service Course and select this project to participate in the school gardens.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: to improve sustainable agriculture education in schools and universities of Central Puerto Rico At the end of this report period (8/31/2019), 30educational modules on STEM topics were applied in every participating elementary school. Outreach activities-A booth presentation and several workshops were developed to participate in the 2019Tierra Adentro Farm Fair. In April4-7, 2019, the Department of Agricultural Technology at UPRU celebrated the Farm Fair. A Model School Garden was developed in UPRU campus for workshops development and visitors education. Goal 2: to serve as an example of the integration of community service in agricultural education, which will be replicated in other US insular areas and the mainland Results of the project were presented at the I Encuentro Internacional de Huertos Educativos in Chiapas, MX(October2108). One of the teachers that are participating in the project, presented her experiences with her students in the School Garden. Her students belong to a Special Needs group. Twenty-one (20) students from DAT-UPRU enrolled in the course Community Service (INTD 3805) during the first semester of the academic year 2018-2019and 10of them participated inthe school gardens establishment. Objective 1:Increase sustainable agriculture and school garden knowledge in DAT-UPRU undergraduate and elementary school students. UPRU undergraduates who participated of the summer internship were given pre-tests and post-tests with questions pertaining to knowledge of different subject areas within sustainable agriculture and other STEAM subjects. The average for the pre-test scores was 67% (38% minimum and 100% maximum), and the average of the post-tests scores was 80% (69.8% minimum and 84% maximum). Of the 14 participants, 12 demonstrated an increase in post-test scores and only 2 demonstrated a decrease from their pre-test to their post-test scores. The increased scores by the majority of the participants (86% of them) are indicative of increasing sustainable agriculture and school garden knowledge of UPRU undergraduates, thus demonstrating the project is meeting objective 1 and impact 1 successfully for the UPRU undergraduates. Objective 2: Offer an experiential summer course in sustainable agriculture and school garden development. The 14 participants selected for the summer internship completed the exit survey. This survey was used to assess the experiential learning aspect of the internship. Participants were asked if they would recommend the summer internship about school gardens to other students. The totality of the participants, all 14 of them, answered yes, that they would recommend the internship to fellow UPRU undergraduate students. Students were asked to describe what they liked the most about the internship. This was an open-ended question, which allowed for students to respond at length. Some of the most salient answers to this question were: the hands-on experience (i.e. experiential learning), the fieldtrip and lecture by Dalma Cartagena, and the opportunity of working in a group setting and learning by doing together. Overall, the students' responses indicate that they were highly satisfied with the internship experience, this is demonstrated by the unanimity in recommending the internship to their peers, and the high scores for the satisfaction scale. The experiential learning component of the internship was highlighted by the students as one of their favorite aspects of the experience, and that trips to the field and to specific project sites helped them learn about sustainable agriculture and school gardens. Objective 3:Engage DAT-UPRU undergraduate students in the development of 15 school gardens in elementary schools of Utuado, Jayuya and Adjuntas municipalities. The teachers participating in the school garden project were given an initial survey to gather information about previous collaborations with the UPRU and to get a sense of what topics the teachers were interested in learning about regarding school gardens. Of the 19 teachers, 12 answered that they did have a school garden previously, 5 answered that did not have a school garden prior to the project, 1 answered that they did not know, and 1 left the question blank. Teachers were also asked if their school had collaborated with the UPRU previous to this school garden project. Of the 19 teachers who answered the survey, 4 answered yes, 11 answered no, 2 answered they did not know, and 2 were left blank. This survey is itself an example of engagement of UPRU undergraduates with schools. The UPRU undergraduates administered the survey. Of the 19 schools only 4 had previously collaborated with the UPRU institution, therefore this survey points towards an increase in engagement between UPRU and the schools in the area. Teachers who participated in the school garden project were administered an exit survey to measure their satisfaction with the project. This survey also measures engagement because it demonstrates that the UPRU undergraduate students participated in the schools. Of the 21 teachers who answered the exit survey they would all recommend to other teachers and schools to participate in a school garden project in collaboration with UPRU. On a satisfaction scale, 5 being the most satisfied and 1 being the least satisfied, 19 teachers scored the experience with the project as a 5 (most satisfied), and only 2 scored the experience as a 4 out of 5. The teachers were also asked if they would consider collaborating with UPRU on future projects related to school gardens. The majority answered affirmative. The teachers were also asked about which aspects of the project they most enjoyed. The vast majority of the teachers responded that they liked working with UPRU undergraduates who were professional and very knowledgeable on the topics they covered. They also mentioned they liked the educational modules used to teach about the school garden. Finally, the other most salient topic was the motivation school students had from participating in the project, and they took pride in their school gardens. The teachers were also asked for suggestions for improving the school garden project. Only 10 teachers responded, and the most salient topics were to include more grades or extended to the school as a whole; to modify the modules to adapt them to the grade level and student level; and to make sure the school gardens have continuity, that they live beyond the timeline of the project. Objective 4:Develop 30 school garden STEAM educational modules that elementary teachers will use.? Teachers answered an exit survey at the end of each of the 30 STEAM educational modules. This exit survey serves as evidence of the development of he 30 school garden STEAM educational modules that elementary school teachers used. Teachers were asked if they used the modules, level of the content and their suggestions for improving the modules. The majority of the school teachers who participated in the project used the educational STEAM modules designed for the project. The majority agreed that the reading level, content, and way that it was written was adequate for the grade levels they taught. All the teachers answered that they would use the educational modules in the future. Objective 5:Involve undergraduate students in the teaching of STEAM educational modules to elementary students using school gardens. UPRU undergraduates who were involved in the project helped to develop the educational modules, and also used the modules to teach and help with the gardens in the schools. UPRU students were asked if they used the educational modules for their presentations, the school garden activities, and their perception of the ease of use of the modules. This exit survey demonstrates that the UPRU undergraduate students that objective 5 of the project was achieved.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Davila-Negron, M. 2018. Servicio Comunitario como una estrategia de aprendizaje activo para estudiantes subgraduados. I Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando or�genes y Tejiendo Redes en ECOSUR San Crist�bal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Marrero-Soto, Lisa. 2018. El Huerto Escolar Inclusivo: un proyecto colaborativo.
I Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando or�genes y Tejiendo Redes en ECOSUR San Crist�bal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Marrero, L. (2019). Un proyecto inclusivo y colaborativo. In Huertos Educativos: Relatos desde el movimiento Latinoamericano. (1a ed., p.42-43). Mexico. Ed. by Morales H., Martha E. Garc�a and Guillermo Berm�dez. ECOSUR.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Davila-Negr�n, M., F. P�rez, F. Veluk-Gutierrez. (2019). Labrando Conocimientos. In Huertos Educativos: Relatos desde el movimiento Latinoamericano. (1a ed., p.40-41. Mexico. Ed by Morales, H., Martha E. Garc�a and Guillermo Berm�dez. ECOSUR.
|
Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience: During the 2017-2018 year period, theproject impacted 14public schools and 3 Head Starts from Utuado and Adjuntas municipalities. This means around 2,000 students. Fourteen(14) UPRU undergraduate students were responsible for modules presentation and application in participant schools. Twenty (20 )undergraduate students from the course INTD 3805-Community Service also participatedin the project, helping in the school gardens development. Inital project results were presented atthe USDA-NIFA PImeeting in Tumon, Guam (summer 2018)and at the Women in Agroecology Forum in the ECOSUR University, Chiapas, Mexico (March 2018). Around 200 peopleparticipated in both meetings. The Tierra Adentro Fair was celebrated in May 2018 and around 5,000 people assisted. Around 200of the visitors,including elementary schoolkids, participated in school garden workshops offered by our undergraduate students. Twenty (20) stakeholders met at the Vocational School SU Botijas I, Orocovis, PR and the PI, CoPI and Project Coordinator presented the conference "HUERTOS ESCOLARES Y EDUCACION AGROECOLOGICA-ENCUENTRO LIDERES" with the objective to develop a Puerto Rico School Garden Network. Changes/Problems:1) The principal limitant that our team experienced during this reporting period was the Hurricane Maria in September 20, 2017. This natural disaster provocated: Most of the schools lost all the gardens developed en August 2017 Most of the seedlings in the school nurserydied due to the strong rain Acces to school was impossible for almost two month after the hurricane No water or electricity was available for schools at least 6 month after the disaster The Puerto Rico Department of Education, closed 5schools that were participating in this project this academic year 2018-2019;Twoin Adjuntas municipality and threein Utuado municipality. One Head Start Center closed after the hurricane and never open again. A no-cost extension of the project was claimed and it was approved until August 2019. 2) The Co-PI of the project, Freddie Pérez, is a professor with aservice contract and since August 2018, the UPRU administrators reduced his academic program and he is not able to continue as the Co-PI of this project. The project continue with a PI only. 3) The Project Coordinator, ING. Felipe Veluk, resigned his contract because he went out ofPuerto Rico to continue graduated studies. Another project coordinator, Professor Mariel Rivera, sign her contract as the new project coordinator by september 2018. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional Development: 1)PD and Project Coordinator assisted to the School Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute in Santa Cruz, California from January 21-26, 2018. Our institution was selected from 120 applicants and as a consequence of the meeting, the intiative to write a proposal was developed and the proposal titled:Puerto Rico School Garden Network: Using Distance Education Technologies to Advanced K-16 Agriculture Education in Central Puerto Ricowas submitted to USDA-NIFA-DEG. 2)The PI and a participant teacher will be presenting the Project Results in the "Encuentro Mexicano de Huertos Educativos: Celebrando Orígenes y Tejiendo Redes"in San Cristobal de Las Casas in Chiapas, Mexicofrom October 25-29, 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Partialresults of the project were presented at the USDA-NIFA-Project Directors'meeting in GUAM, USA (July 2108) and in the Forum: Women in Agroecology in San Cristóbal, Mexico (March 2018). In May 5, 2018, the PI, Co-PI and the project Coordinator, organizedthe meeting "Huertos Ecolares y la Educación Agroecológica enPuerto Rico. This meeting was celebrated in the SU Botijas I School in Orocovis, Puerto Rico and around 40 people participated. The main pourpose was to share information among educators, farmers, community leaders, interested in school and community gardens projects around the island and how to connect all of them. Our team presented some of the activities realized in the school gardens during the last year and promoted the organization of a Puerto Rico School Garden Network. During theTierra Adentro Farm Fair organized by the Agricultural Technology Department at UPRU and celebrated from May 17-20, 2018,the project presented some of the activities that UPRU students carry out in the elementary schools and Head Start Centers. Also, we gave orientation to other schools that showed interest in the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The following plans will help the acomplishments of the Goalsin the next reporting period: Goals 1) to improve sustainable agriculture education in schools and universities of Central Puerto Rico To continue the development of the school gardens in the participating schools. To complete the development of 30 STEM educationalmodules, So far, 22 modules have been used by the UPRU students and teachers in elementary schools. To publish the STEM educational modules in the Manual of School Gardens Development and to distribute it, with the aid of the Department of Education and the University of Puerto Rico, tothe elementary schools participating in this project and to other interested. 2) to serve as an example of the integration of community service in agricultural education, which will be replicated in other US insular areas and the mainland. The next reporting period will include the experience of20UPRU students that are enrolled in the Community Service Course (INTD 3805) in the first semester of theacademic year 2018-2019. These studentsare offering community service in the elementary schools that are participating in this project or in other schools of Puerto Rico, developing school gardens. Also, some students are offering community service inresidents area, developing local gardens.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: to improve sustainable agriculture education in schools and universities of Central Puerto Rico From 17 elementary schools and head startparticipating in this project, 27 classroomsparticipated in the school garden program during the academic year of fall 2017 and spring 2018. A pre-test was administered to eachclass, as a whole not individually for ease of gathering data.As part of the pre-test to assess knowledge of gardens and sustainable agriculture students in those 27 classes were asked a series of questions about their experience with home and school gardens previous to participating in the school garden program. The two question were:if they knew what a garden was andif they had helped in a garden before. 246 students answered affirmative in the pre-test and after one year of participation, a post-test was administeredwith the same questions and 327 answered affirmative,this demonstrates an increase in knowledge and experience with gardens. To assess their knowledge about gardens and sustainable agriculture, other three questions were asked in the pre-test; toname the plants that can be found in a garden,to name which animals can be found in a garden, andto name tools that would be found in a garden. Pre-test results were campared with the post-test.The post-test results demonstrate an overall increase in knowledge about gardens and sustainable agriculture. The students atthe end of the course were well versed in which plants can be planted and harvested in our particular climate, in the post-test students no longer mentioned fruits that are not produced in Puerto Rico. They were also able to name a broader variety of plants than in the pre-test. A better understanding of how gardens function was also illustrated in the results of the other two questions about animals and tools. In these cases it was not the increase in items, but rather the shift in the importance of these items. These findings demonstrate that the project is meeting objective 1 and impact 1 successfully for the elementary school students who participated in the program. • At the end of this report period (8/31/2018), 18 educational modules on STEM topicswere applied in every participating elementary schools and Head Start. Fourteen(14) elementary schools and three (3)Head Starts Centers developed at least 3 school gardens in their facilities, were kids applied their knowledge in sustainable agriculture. • Outreach activities-A booth presentation and several workshops weredeveloped to participate in the 2018 Tierra Adentro Farm Fair. InMay 17-20, 2018, the Department of Agricultural Technology at UPRU celebrated the Farm Fair. Our project had a booth with the information related with our goals and objectives, several workshopswereoffered to the visitors specially to elementary schools students. Around 200 persons participated in the workshops. Some of the workshops offered were about: Compost preparation, Seedlings development, Planting our garden, Seeds and their shape among others andwere led by UPRU undegraduate students. Goal 2: to serve as an example of the integration of community service in agricultural education, which will be replicated in other US insular areas and the mainland • During the year period 2017-2018, 17schools of the Utuado and Adjuntas municipalities (14 elementary and 3 Head Startcenters)participated in the project and each school developed at least 3 school gardens. • At the endof 2018, seventeen (17) collaborative agreements between UPRU and local elementary schoolswere signed. • Partialresults of the project were presented at the USDA-NIFA-Project Directors'meeting in GUAM, USA (July 2108) and in the Forum: Women in Agroecology in San Cristóbal, Mexico (March 2018). • Twenty-one (21)students from DAT-UPRU enrolled in the course Community Service (INTD 3805) during the first semester of the academic year 2017-2018 and14 of them were leaders in theschool gardens establishment.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Davila-Negron, M. 2018. Community Service as an Active Learning Strategy for Agriculture Undergraduate Students. USDA NIFA Project Directors' Meeting. Tumon, Guam.
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Early in the project establishment(November 2016), the PD and Project coordinator had aMeeting with the Department of Education (DE) Regional Directorto explain the project objectives and to planhow the schools were going tobeselected. Elementary Schoolsand Head Start directors were invited to a meeting in December 2016 and a presentation of the Objectives, Methodology, Outreach and Expected results was given to the audience. After the visit of around 25schools and Head Start centers in the target area, fourteenelementary schools (11from the Utuado municipality and 3 from the Adjuntas Municipality) and three (3) Head Start Centers from Utuado,were selected to participate in thisproject. Fourteen (14) students from the Agricultural Techology programs and the Education Program at the University of Puerto Rico-Utuadowere selected after an evaluation of theonline applicationand an interview. An experiential summer course in sustainable agriculture and school garden developmentwas offered from July 10 to 31for those 14 students. During the summer course, the selected students and 11 school teachers from the selected schools,participated in a conference offered by the Department of Education about Integration of School Garden projects to theScience Curriculafor K to 5th grade in Puerto Rico. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1)Training Activities: Summer Course for DAT-UPRU Undergraduate students How to manage an organicgarden? at Organic Farm in Camuy, PR Developing a sustainable school garden at Botijas I School in Orocovis, PR 2) Professional Development:PD and Project Coordinator were selected toparticipate intheSchool Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute in Santa Cruz, California from January 21-26, 2018. We are one of the 20 organizations team selected from over 120 strong applicants. This action is a consecuence of the participation in the Webminar offered by Life-Lab from California, USA (www.lifelab.org/sgso.) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At this moment our project is been established in the selected schools and we don't have results to disseminate yet.However, the information about the project is publishedin the web page of the University of Puerto Rico at Utuado (www.uprutuado.edu). Also, all the activities realized during the summer course were post in social media as Facebook. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1:to improve sustainable agriculture education in schools and universities of Central Puerto Rico To complete the development of additional 15 educational modules on STEAM topics. Outreach activities-To participate in the 2018 Tierra Adentro Farm Fair Goal 2:to serve as an example of the integration of community service in agricultural education, which will be replicated in other US insular areas and the mainland To continue with the development of school gardens in Utuado and Adjuntas elementary schools and Head Starts To complete the process of collaboration agreements between UPRU and local elementary schools To disseminate the results in the 2018 Annual Symposium of Agroecology and Annual Meeting of Puertorrican Society of Agricultural Sciences To attend National School Garden Network Meeting To encourage other students from DAT-UPRU to enrolled in the course Community Service (INTD 3805) and allow them to collaborate with more elementary schools inCentral Puerto Rico Area.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The major goals of this project are supported by specific objectives that were accomplishedduringthe first year as stated in the Project Timetable(09/01/2016-08/31/2017). Fourteen(14) elementary schools and Three (3) Head Start Centers were selected to participate in this project. Around Twenty (20) school teachers andfifteen (15) school directors were informed about the project and are committed to collaborate with agricultural and education undergraduate students at the University of Puerto Rico at Utuado. Fourteen (14) undergraduate students participated in asummer course offered in July 2017. The following objectives were accomplished as described: 1) increase sustainable agriculture and school gardens knowledge in DAT-UPRU undergraduate and elementary school students DAT-UPRU undergraduate students group is an interdisciplinaryteam, since some students belongs to the Agricultural Technology Department (Horticulture,Crop Production, General Agriculture) and some to the Elementary Education Program. The previous knowledge in sustainable agriculture and school gardensdependson theirpersonal experiences in agriculture because sustainable agriculture, is not currently taught at local schools or at undergraduate agriculture programs. During the summer session (July), a 64 hours course in Sustainable Agriculture and School Gardenswas offered at the University of Puerto Rico-Utuado. To measure adquired knowledge of sustainable agriculture, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineer, Arts, Mathematics)disciplines and school gardens in thesummer course, a pre and post test was administered to the participants. As a previous result, 100% of the students improvedtheir test score after participation in project activities. Statistical analysis will be done to determine significative differences on the results. 2) offer a summer course in sustainable agriculture: The students received an intensive course that included around thirty (30) topicsthat helped them to increased knowledge of sustainable agriculture, STEAM disciplines and school gardens. Seven (7)professorsof our institution and ten (10) external resources gave lectures, webminars, workshops and experiential learning to accomplish the course curricula. The following sketch shows the differentsubjects covered in the Summer Course: Vistazo general de ejemplos de proyectos de huertos escolares/enseñanza agroecológica: Herencia sociocultural taína, la agricultura de subsistencia y su relación con el territorio Bosque Modelo Nacional de Puerto Rico - gobernanza y gestión territorial Experiencia Agroecológica de la Escuela Segunda Unidad - Botijas I en Orocovis Huertos escolares: Viveros y propagación: Plantas, frut@s y cosecha: Conociendo los cultivosmás en detalle Actividad teórico-práctica: herramientas de trabajo - siembras y cultivos/manutención Actividad teórico-práctica: siembras y cultivos/manutención Manejo orgánico integrado de plagas. Conferencias por Internet/Webinars: Experiencias de ECOSUR-San Cristóbal, México y Life-Lab-California, EUA Integración del Proyecto Huertos Escolares al Currículo de Ciencias del Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico Módulos de Educación STEM Visita a la Finca Orgánica de Don Luis Soto Nutrición 01: Composta/lombricomposta y otros abonos orgánicos Actividad teórico-práctica:Sistemas agroforestales, los servicios ambientales y la conservación de la Biodiversidad. La Agricultura Biodinámica y los huertos educativos Conociendo los cultivos (6) más en detalle Cosecha y manejo apropiado de la cosecha Actividad práctica: Observando e interpretando laBiodiversidad Nutrición 02: Composta/lombricomposta y otros abonos orgánicos harinas de cáscara de huevo/rocas, etc Actividad práctica: bueyes rotocultivador Actividad práctica: recortadora huerto escolar modelo Estrategias de aprendizaje y enseñanza para nin@s del nivel elemental El mundo de los Insectos/Artrópodos y su importancia en la Agroecología Manejo orgánico integrado de enfermedades ¿Malezas o buenazas? Cambiando nuestra percepción Actividad práctica: construcción del huerto escolar modelo vivero Programa de La Finca a la Escuela Nutrición Escolar Infantil Visita a Escuela Segunda Unidad - Botijas I Manejo y conservación de suelos Documental FOOD, INC.
Publications
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