Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:During the third year of the project, two target audiences were reached though project efforts: 1) A total of 75 undergraduate students from the Department of Agricultural Technology of UPRU (DAT-UPRU) were impacted directly through online education courses during the first semester of 2019-2020. During the second semester, all UPRU courses had to be offered through distance education technologies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, approximately 300 DAT-UPRU students attended online courses. 2) DAT-UPRU Faculty and students used the new equipment to support wireless connection in the DAT-UPRU building (C-building). 3) In addition, the general public can access the new YouTube Channel of the Department of Agricultural Technology. The channel has 110 subscribers, and 5,500 views. Changes/Problems:This project has faced several challenges. In 2017, Hurricane Maria caused significant damage to UPRU infrastructure. In January 2020, Utuado was affected by a series of earthquakes, and declared a disaster zone (FEMA DR-4473-PR). In March 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, aface-to-face workshop with teachers had to be canceled. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Olgaly Ramos-Rodriguez participated in the Online Learning Consortium Accelerate Conference on Novemeber 19-22, 2019. Dr. Mariangie Ramos attended a workshop on online video creation on August 2020. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During the reporting period, UPRU Faculty and Administrators were informed of project results through monthly reports. DAT-UPRU students participated in online courses. The general public accesed DAT-UPRU YouTube Channel. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Rural Central Puerto Rico faces many challenges, including high poverty levels, unemployment and decreasing population levels. Agriculture education is of vital importance for the sustainable development of rural Central Puerto Rico. The University of Puerto Rico at Utuado offers 4 associate degrees and a new bachelor's degree in agricultural technologies. There is an opportunity to improve agricultural education in Central Puerto Rico through the use of online education at DAT-UPRU. The project's long-term goal is to establish an online distance education program at the Department of Agricultural Technology. The objectives of helping faculty develop the skills for online education gained relevance and urgency when the global Covid-19 pandemic forced academic institutions to teach courses remotely. Professors who had trained and had experience in online teaching were better equipped to handle the sudden shift from in-person to online teaching. In that regard this project was at the forefront and demonstrates the need to further prepare and invest in training and infrastructure that will allow faculty in the agricultural sciences to keep with the pace of other disciplines in online education and outreach.(DAT) of the University of Puerto Rico at Utuado (UPRU), in order to increase access and quality of agricultural education in Central Puerto Rico. The following project objectives have been achieved by the project: 1) Train five DAT-UPRU faculty members in online education methods and technologies. This objective was achieved in a previous reporting period. Five faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Technology obtained a Certificate in Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin in September 2019. 2) Develop six agricultural sciences online courses. This objective was achieved in a previous reporting period. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the following eight courses were available in online format at the Department of Agricultural Technology: Computers in Agricultural Production (TPAG 2025), Farm Safety (TPAG 3005), Agricultural Cooperatives (AGSU 3223), Introduction to Pest Management (TECP 1015), Agroforestry Systems (TPAG 3017), Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Agriculture (AGSU 3220), Special Topics in Sustainable Agriculture (AGSU 3225), and Soil Conservation (AGSU 4112). After the COVID-19 pandemic, all DAT-UPRU courses had to be converted to online format. 3) Evaluate the effectiveness of online courses in advancing agricultural education at UPRU. This objective was partially achieved in the previous reporting period. During this reporting period, pre-tests and post-tests were given in two online courses and one hybrid course (TPAG 2025, AGSU 4112 and AGSU 3220). Significant learning was achieved in all three courses. In the Soil Conservation course post-test, students mentioned that they liked the fact that the course was online and the laboratory was face-to-face, and that the professor was available to answer their questions. In the Computers in Agricultural Production course post-test, students mentioned that they liked they could re-play the professor explanations. However, students also mentioned that sometimes they forgot they were taking the course because it was online. 4) Educate teachers and other UPRU faculty members about online education methods and technologies. This objective was achieved in a previous reporting period. After the COVID-19 pandemic, UPRU's Institutional Committee for Online Education coordinated different workshops in online education technologies. 5) Improve wireless access to all laboratory and conference room areas assigned to the Department of Agricultural Technology. During the reporting period, equipment was purchased to guarantee wireless access in all areas of the DAT-UPRU building.
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The project's target audience werefaculty and students in the Department of Agricultural Technology (DAT) at the University of Puerto Rico-Utuado. The following efforts were used to reach the project's target audience. 1) FiveDAT-UPRU faculty members compelted theCertificate on Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin. 2)A total of 20 UPRU faculty members were also impacted by the project. Twelve faculty members were trained in online video development. Three faculty members participated in the 35th Annual Distance Teaching & Learning Conference, held in Madison, WI. The three faculty members later shared what they learned in the conference by giving a workshop to UPRU faculty (14 attendees). 3)A total of 175undergraduate students from the Department of Agricultural Technology of UPRU (DAT-UPRU) were impacted directly through online education courses. During the second semester of academic year 2019-2020, all UPRU courses had to be offered through distance education technologies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, approximately 300 DAT-UPRU students attended online courses. 4) Seven undergraduate students were trained in online video development. 5)DAT-UPRU Faculty and students used the new equipment to support wireless connection in the DAT-UPRU building (C-building). 6)A total of 14 teachers participated in a workshop about online video development, offered at the Jose Vizcarrondo School. 7)In addition, the general public can access the new YouTube Channel of the Department of Agricultural Technology. The channel has 110 subscribers, and 5,500 views. Changes/Problems:The achievement of project objectives was delayed due to the negative impact of Hurricane Maria in UPRU facilities and the region. In January 2020, Utuado was affected by a series of earthquakes, and declared a disaster zone (FEMA DR-4473-PR). This delayed the start of the spring semester in local schools. In March 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a face-to-face workshop with local teachers had to be canceled. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training and professional development opportunities: 1)The project provided the opportunity for five faculty members to pursue a Certificate in Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin. The certificate provided a minimum of 70 training hours. 2)UPRU faculty increased their knowledge of online technologies by participating in two workshops offered at UPRU, a conference in Madison, WI., a conference in Orlando, Fl, and an online training. 3) Teachers benefited from a workshop in online video development. 4) Undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Agricultural Technology programs had the opportunity to take online agriculture courses. This was the first time taking an online course for 61% of the participant students in Associate Degree Programs, and for 43% of the participant Bachelor's Degree students. 5)Seven undergraduate students participated in intensive workshops about online video development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?UPRU Faculty, UPRU's Institutional Committee for Online Education and Administrators were informed of project results through monthly reports. DAT-UPRU students participated in online courses. The general public accesed DAT-UPRU YouTube Channel. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Rural Central Puerto Rico faces many challenges, including high poverty levels, unemployment and decreasing population levels. Agriculture education is of vital importance for the sustainable development of rural Central Puerto Rico. The University of Puerto Rico at Utuado offers 4 associate degrees and a new bachelor's degree in agricultural technologies. There is an opportunity to improve agricultural education in Central Puerto Rico through the use of online education at DAT-UPRU. The project's long-term goal is to establish an online distance education program at the Department of Agricultural Technology. The objectives of helping faculty develop the skills for online education gained relevance and urgency when the global Covid19 pandemic forced academic institutions to teach courses remotely. Professors who had trained and had experience in online teaching were better equipped to handle the sudden shift from in-person to online teaching. In that regard, this project was at the forefront and demonstrates the need to further prepare and invest in training and infrastructure that will allow faculty in the agricultural sciences to keep with the pace of other disciplines in online education and outreach.(DAT) of the University of Puerto Rico at Utuado (UPRU), in order to increase access and quality of agricultural education in Central Puerto Rico. The following project objectives have been achieved by the project: 1) Train five DAT-UPRU faculty members in online education methods and technologies. Five faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Technology obtained a Certificate in Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin in September 2019. 2) Develop six agricultural sciences online courses. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the following eight courses were available in online format at the Department of Agricultural Technology: Computers in Agricultural Production (TPAG 2025), Farm Safety (TPAG 3005), Agricultural Cooperatives (AGSU 3223), Introduction to Pest Management (TECP 1015), Agroforestry Systems (TPAG 3017), Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Agriculture (AGSU 3220), Special Topics in Sustainable Agriculture (AGSU 3225), and Soil Conservation (AGSU 4112). After the COVID-19 pandemic, all DAT-UPRU courses had to be converted to online format. 3) Evaluate the effectiveness of online courses in advancing agricultural education at UPRU. The TPAG 2025 Computers in Agricultural Production course was taught in person in 2016, and completely online in 2018. The same instructor taught both the in-person and the online class. The grades for the in-person class and the online class were compared statistically. The in-person class had 18 students who completed the course; the online class had 20 students enrolled, 2 who withdrew from the course. The average for the in-person course was 68.44, and of the average for the online course was 71.27 (78.5 without the 2 withdrawals). An independent t-test was performed using the average of both courses (excluding the students who withdrew from the course) to analyze the difference between the means of the in-person and the online class. The difference in averages for the in-person course and the online course were not statistically significant (p = 0.1622). The means for the two courses were not significantly different, but the distribution of course grades was different. The letter grades reflect the use of the standard grade scale (100-90 A, 89-80 B, 79-70 C, 69-60 D, 59 and less F). The table below includes the letter grade distribution for both courses. There were 3 more As in the online class than in the in-person class, 3 more Bs in the online class than in the in-person class, and fewer Cs and Fs in the online class than in the in-person class. These are small samples so it is not advised to attempt statistical analyses of these numbers, yet treated as categorical data these numbers offer insight into the difference of online teaching and in-person teaching. There was no exit survey designed for the online course, which might have allowed for additional qualitative data to contextualize the results of the grade distribution. Online courses offer more opportunity to watch course videos and tutorials multiple times, and this distribution may also reflect a difference in assessments used in the online course compared to the in-person course. Even if the quantitative data indicate no difference between the in-person and the online class, the categorical data suggests that this is an avenue worth analyzing further in future projects at UPR-Utuado. This objective aligns with impact 2 of this project (Impact 2: DAT-UPRU student satisfaction and performance will improve with online education). The results of the TPAG 2025 comparison suggest this may be the case, but further analyses using grades from other courses and exit surveys is needed to complete this explore if that impact was met. Letter grade TPAG 2025 In-person class (frequency) TPAG 2025 Online class (frequency) A 3 6 B 2 5 C 9 5 D 1 1 F 3 1 During the first semester of academic year 2019-2020, pre-tests and post-tests were given in two online courses and one hybrid course (TPAG 2025, AGSU 4112 and AGSU 3220). Significant learning was achieved in all three courses. In the Soil Conservation course post-test, students mentioned that they liked the fact that the course was online and the laboratory was face-to-face, and that the professor was available to answer their questions. In the Computers in Agricultural Production course post-test, students mentioned that they liked they could re-play the professor explanations. However, students also mentioned that sometimes they forgot they were taking the course because it was online. 4) Educate teachers and other UPRU faculty members about online education methods and technologies. UPRU faculty participated in two workshops about online video development offered by the project. Also, three faculty members (not the PIs) attended the 35th Annual Distance Teaching & Learning Conference, held in Madison, WI. These threefaculty members are part of the UPRU's Institutional Committee for Online Education. They haveappliedwhat they learned at the conference in thecommittee's activities. After the COVID-19 pandemic, UPRU's Institutional Committee for Online Education coordinated different workshops in online education technologies. Teachers participated in a workshop about online video development that was offered by the project in a local public school. 5) Improve wireless access to all laboratory and conference room areas assigned to the Department of Agricultural Technology. Equipment was purchased to guarantee wireless access in all areas of the DAT-UPRU building.
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:During the second year of the project, three target audiences were reached though project efforts: A total of 100 undergraduate students from the Department of Agricultural Technology of UPRU (DAT-UPRU) were impacted directly through online education courses. In addition, seven undergraduate students were trained in online video development. A total of 20 UPRU faculty members were also impacted by the project. Twelve faculty members were trained in online video development. Three faculty members participated in the 35th Annual Distance Teaching & Learning Conference, held in Madison, WI. The three faculty members later shared what they learned in the conference by giving a workshop to UPRU faculty (14 attendees). A total of 14 teachers participated in a workshop about online video development, offered at the Jose Vizcarrondo School. In addition, the general public can access the new YouTube Channel of the Department of Agricultural Technology. The channel has 83 subscribers, and video views range from 152 to 1333 views. Changes/Problems:The main problem faced by the project was the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in September 2017. TThe project had recently started,and the impact of the hurricanecaused a delay in the achievement of project objectives. Nevertheless, most objectives have been accomplished completely and we expect to achieve all the objectives by the end of the next reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Agricultural Technology programs had the opportunity to take online agriculture courses. This was the first time taking an online course for 61% of the participant students in Associate Degree Programs, and for 43% of the participant Bachelor's Degree students. Seven undergraduate students also participated in intensive workshops about online video development. UPRU faculty increased their knowledge of online technologies by participating in two workshops offered at UPRU, and a conference in Madison, WI. Teachers benefited from a workshop in online video development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Faculty members have been informed at departmental meetings and preliminary results have been shared with UPRU's Institutional Committee for Online Education members to help develop additional training opportunities. Also, the YouTube page has motivated students to learn more about online training techniques, like video development and editing. The final project results will be disseminated during the next reporting period. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the following activities will be conducted: 1) Evaluation of performance and satisfaction of students in DAT-UPRU online courses. 2) Training of teachers in online education technologies. 3) Development of additional YouTube videos. 4) Improvement of wireless access in DAT-UPRU areas.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Rural Central Puerto Rico faces many challenges, including high poverty levels, unemployment and decreasing population levels.Agriculture education is of vital importance for the sustainable development of rural Central Puerto Rico.The University of Puerto Rico at Utuado offers 5 associate degrees and a new bachelor's degree in agricultural technologies.There is an opportunity to improve agricultural education of Central Puerto Rico through the use of online education at DAT-UPRU.The project's long-term goal is to establish an online distance education program at the Department of Agricultural Technology (DAT) of the University of Puerto Rico at Utuado (UPRU), in order to increase access and quality of agricultural education in Central Puerto Rico. The following projectobjectives have been achieved (completely or partially) by the project: 1) Train five DAT-UPRU faculty members in online education methods and technologies. This objective was achieved in the previous reporting period. Five faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Technology obtained a Certificate in Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin in September 2019. 2) Develop six agricultural sciences online courses. The following seven courses are available in online format at the Department of Agricultural Technology: Computers in Agricultural Production (TPAG 2025), Farm Safety (TPAG 3005), Agricultural Cooperatives (AGSU 3223), Introduction to Pest Management (TECP 1015), Agroforestry Systems (TPAG 3017), Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Agriculture (AGSU 3220), and Special Topics in Sustainable Agriculture (AGSU 3225). 3) Evaluate the effectiveness of online courses in advancing agricultural education at UPRU. The overall performance of students in face to face and online versions of the course Computers in Agricultural Production (TPAG 2025) was not significantly different (p=0.2538). The grade distribution was not significantly different, even though more students had A's and B's in the online version. The performance and satisfaction of students in online courses will continue to be evaluated for other courses during the next reporting period. 4) Educate teachers and other UPRU faculty members about online education methods and technologies. UPRU faculty participated in two workshops about online video development offered by the project. Also, three faculty members (not the PIs) attended the 35th Annual Distance Teaching & Learning Conference, held in Madison, WI. These faculty members are part of the UPRU's Institutional Committee for Online Education. They will apply what they learned at the conference as they develop the committee work plan. Teachers participated in a workshop about online video development that was offered by the project in a local public school. More workshops will be offered to teachers and faculty in the next reporting period. 5) Improve wireless access to all laboratory and conference room areas assigned to the Department of Agricultural Technology. This objective will be achieved during the next reporting period.
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:This reporting period covers the first year of the project. During the first year, efforts were dedicated to increase the capacity of UPRU for online instruction, including the training of faculty and the development of online courses. The target audience reached during this reporting period were the five faculty members of UPRU that enrolled in the Certificate on Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin. Also, five students of the Department of Agricultural Technology assisted faculty in the development of activities for online courses. Changes/Problems:The achievement of project objectives has been delayed due to the negative impact of Hurricane Maria in UPRU facilities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided the opportunity for five faculty members to pursue a Certificate in Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin. The certificate provided a minimum of 70 training hours. 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?During the next reporting period, project activities will continue following the project's timetable. The effectiveness of online courses in advancing agricultural education at UPRU will be evaluated through the offering of online courses during 2018 Fall Semester and 2019 Spring Semester. During the 2019 Spring Semester, four teacher and faculty workshops will be facilitated. Wireless access in DAT-UPRU areas will be improved during the 2018 Fall Semester.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Rural Central Puerto Rico faces many challenges, including high poverty levels, unemployment and decreasing population levels.Agriculture education is of vital importance for the sustainable development of rural Central Puerto Rico.The University of Puerto Rico at Utuado offers 5 associate degrees and a new bachelor's degree in agricultural technologies.There is an opportunity to improve agricultural education of Central Puerto Rico through the use of online education at DAT-UPRU.The project's long-term goal is to establish an online distance education program at the Department of Agricultural Technology (DAT) of the University of Puerto Rico at Utuado (UPRU), in order to increase access and quality of agricultural education in Central Puerto Rico. The following projectobjectives were achieved (completely or partially)duringthis reporting period: 1) Train five DAT-UPRU faculty members in online education methods and technologies. Five faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Technology registered and attended the eight online courses that comprise the Certificate in Online Education offered by the University of Wisconsin. Faculty took the courses from May to August 2018. The original timeline stated that they were going to take courses during the 2018 Spring Semester. However, this was delayed due to the effects of Hurricane Maria on UPRU. Faculty learned how to design online courses, including: writing objectives, online instruction methods and online assessments. 2) Develop six agricultural sciences online courses. During the reporting period, three online courses were developed. The courses are: Computers in Agricultural Production (TPAG2025); Introduction to Pest Management (TECP1015); and Agroforestry Systems (TPAG3017). The courses are required courses for Associate's Degree students (TECP1015 and TPAG2025) and for Bachelor's Degree students (TPAG3017). These courses had been offered before at DAT-UPRU, but only in a face to face format. The other three online courses will be developed in the next reporting period.
Publications
|
|