Progress 11/01/20 to 10/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience was K-14 students who were participating in traditional, distance, or homeschool education settings in Tennessee and 10 other states in the USDA designated Southeast Region. Thisregional scale applicationis culturally and geographically appropriate for use in "southern" states with similar agricultural and social circumstances. Changes/Problems:The biggest challenge throughout the three-year project was in securing curriculum content from experts which resulted in a major change in the process for collection. One significant challenge with this project was that the subject matter experts originally recruited during the grant proposal development process to prepare content for the 12 modules and 52 units were no longer available post-award. The change in approach involved developing a recruitment plan to identify new subject matter experts and content contributors. Recruitment efforts began for 52 units early in the project period. One of the original content developers followed through in developing content for three units. An additional content developer declined to participate after initially committing and then re-committed and later completed three units early in the project period. Beyond that, all new contributors were recruited and engaged in creating content for the project over the first two years. This was a challenging task despite the available stipends and encouragement to utilize existing content edited for this project rather than creating new material, but ultimately resulted in successfully finding contributors for each of the planned units. All 52 units are complete and were released as of the end of Year Two of the project, 10/31/22. Another major challenge in this project was in making each of the 52 educational units ADA accessible for those using the virtual classroom as well as the print copies. The on-campus resources originally identified to make the content ADA accessible and ready for upload to the virtual classroom had time and effort diverted to the campus community and meeting the increasing needs of the university during the pandemic as the majority of classes campus-wide were transitioned to remote learning, leaving limited staff time for externally funded projects. A change in approach was made and outside technical support was hired on a temporary basis to provide additional assistance with making the materials ADA accessible. This approach went well, and the majority of the materials were developed and published online by February 2022, with all being ADA accessible, and 100% of the 52 units were developed and published online by 10/31/22. Print copies were made available for select units that were able to successfully transition from an online to print copy format and remain ADA accessible. Another challenge was that the Institutional Review Board (IRB) had additional requirements post-award that were not identified earlier by the compliance staff as they had not encountered any university research projects similar to this and upon further reflection, required additional steps on behalf of the project team. More time was devoted to the IRB process and approval was secured to move the project forward with minimal disruption towards meeting project objectives. An additional challenge was that the Welcome Survey, at times, deterred some participants from registering. Once we were able to allow registrants to bypass that step, more people were willing to register for access to the curriculum. Lastly, institutional processes and procedures can be cumbersome (i.e., procurement, contracts, personnel) and while expected and planned for, required significant time and effort. The administrative workload of the CHHS administrative staff was adjusted to accommodate the increased workload associated with this research project and all is going well with that change. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project was not designed to directly offer professional development activities.Emphasis on training was indirect and through targeted outreach of the project's state collaborators from the 8 participating states in the 11-state USDA southeastern region. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The early results of the project were shared with the Tennessee Public Health Association (TPHA) at the spring 2021 meeting through a presentation titled, "STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm -One agency's effort to address the COVID-19 impact on education, academic performance, and health of children and youth grades K-14 in Tennessee and the Southeastern US region." Additional updates were shared in TPHA e-communications throughout theproject. Results werealso highlighted in CHHS newsletter updates to the campus community of over 1,000 faculty, staff, and students. The project was promoted twice weekly through a social media campaign that in addition to providing educational content, provided project updates on new units, featured contributors, and other interesting and relevant content. The MTSU School of Agriculture featured the project in its departmental newsletter which included links to the website and curriculum. The project's 13 state collaborators from eight states outreached to individuals and organizations in their states throughout the life of the project to share information on STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm. 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/Objectives 1 and 2:12 modules consisting of a total of 52 units were released on a rolling basis in a virtual classroom format with all completed by the end of Year Two. All units were developed by content experts and eachmeets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design using Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) guidelines and is suitable for use in a variety of educational learning environments. The first unit was released on August 18, 2021. There were unanticipated delays with deploying within the first three months of funding, which is explained in earlier reports and in other sections of this report. There were also challenges with releasing full modules all at once which was also reported earlier, so units were released individually as they were completed. A comprehensive and engaging list of topics and content was developed for each of the 12 modules. Over the 3-year project, there were 491 welcome surveys completed, 1,019 individuals to access the curriculum, and teacher-provided figures of 25,050 students participating in the curriculum and related activitiesin classrooms, homeschool curriculum and STEM/agriculture educational programs or camps. While the plan for curriculum development was significantly modified due to challenges previously noted, there were a total of 25 contributors who wrote curriculum for STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm. The experts included State of Tennessee Agriculture and Extension Agents, beekeepers, 4-H Youth Specialists from several USDA Southeast Region states, Elementary Education Curriculum designers, STEAM Specialists, and university faculty froma variety of disciplines such as Agriculture, Biology, Apparel Design, Dietetics, Elementary and Special Education, and Fermentation Science. With this diverse and experienced group of contributors, the curriculum wasrobust and engaging,making it one of the "success stories" of this project. Outcome data and summary statistics are detailed in a separate evaluation report and Includes student and instructor impact and along with outreach metrics. It is anticipated that the curriculum will remain available online through October 31, 2025, and possibly beyond pending funding. Goal 2/Objective 1: An online learning classroom was created through the Desire2Learn (D2L) open course platform. Content was uploadedwith units added on a rolling basis until all were uploaded and available by 10/31/22, the end of Year 2. Downloadable modules with accompanying audio-visual aids, printable handouts, instructor aids, and grade-level based recommended assignments were included. In addition, the units included links and resources for further exploration of each topic beyond the unit and module content.Data were reported above under Goal 1 that are also relevant to this goal and objective including numbers of individuals completing the welcome survey and accessing the curriculum along with student reach and participation. Student and teacher impact outcomes are included in a separate evaluation report. Goal 2/Objective 2:Hardcopy versions of select units that can be printed on demand and mailed to educators upon request were produced and disseminated. Units that can successfully be adapted to print format while remaining ADA compliant were reproduced. This includes audio-visuals on both CDs and thumb drive formats to circumvent the necessity of internet access, as well as reproducible copies of student handouts and assignments in both digital and hard-copy formats. Digital copies will be accessible for 10 years. There were 5,677 hard copies printed from 8 different units to share with learners and their parents and educators at conferences. The units were: Bee Life, A Pickle a Day, Birds Love Bugs, Cooking with Whole Grains, From Seed to Sprout, Fantastic Fibers, Cooking on a Budget, Pigs Love Slop. There were no CDs or thumb drives disseminated. All 52 units were available to experience online or download to a computer to use. We offered to create CDs or thumb drives for anyone who could not access the content. No one requested either therefore, no CDs or thumb drives were disseminated throughout the three-year project period. The curriculum received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Examples of personal impact statements from individuals participating in discussion about the curriculum at one of the scheduled outreach events demonstrated receptivity and support of the program are included in a separate evaluation report. Goal 3/Objectives 1 and 2:Goal 3, Objectives 1and 2were the focus of Years Two and Three. Throughout the project, there were 13 state collaborators from eight states who participated in a total of seven collaboraotor meetings where discussions and strategizing recruitment efforts were the focus of the agenda. These collaborators facilitated outreach to individuals in communities of their respective states who are usually not aware of these research activities for the purpose of enhancing public understanding and increasing interest in learning and careers in science, technology, and the humanities. Collaborators in 3 other states (South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia) were sought to have 100% participation from the USDA 11-state southeastern region though these states ultimately did not participate.Outreach took place with traditional education providers (both public and private) who had transitioned to new teaching environments including hybrid and distance learning formats. Focused outreach efforts included state departments of education, county and city school systems, private schools, charter schools, and county extension outlets. Outreach also took place with non-traditional education providers including homeschool households and homeschool networks, co-ops and pods. Due to high utilization rates of libraries by homeschoolers, state, regional, and community library systems were also included in this outreach. Year Two outreach activities (25 activities in nine states) were documented in the final evaluation report. Activities included radio interviews, exhibit displays at professional conferences, targeted webinars, and other outreach efforts. Conferences reaching large numbers of educators, parents, and students included those such as the National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Expo in Indianapolis, IN October of 2022 with 60,000 middle and high school students and classroom agriculture teachers, the Arkansas Public Schools Resource Centers Conference in Hot Springs, Arizona in October 2022 with an estimated 300 principals, administrators, and educators, and the Southeast Homeschool Expo July 2022 in Atlanta Georgia with 800+ homeschool families in attendance. Year Three outreach activities have been added to the report and will be submitted as a separate attachment. Examples of outreach from Year Three include travel to four conferences: VASCD Conference Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, ACTE Career Tech Conference, Future of Education Technology Conference & Expo, and State of Tennessee FFA Conference. These four conferences combined reached 20,850 people. Additional activities that took place to meet the goals and objectives for this project included development and maintenance of a project website, monitoring discussion boards in the course, developing PowerPoint presentations for state visits and alumni webinar, and review of content for posting each lesson before sending to D2L learning platform, and assembly of materials and supplements for the lessons. Estimates of individuals reached through outreach activities were documented. The total number of estimated outreachfor the entire project period was 88,875 individuals. Impact statements demonstrating overwhelming support of the curriculum and program were also collected from individuals who were planning to use or had used the curriculum. Examples were included in the Year Two evaluation report previously provided.
Publications
|
Progress 11/01/21 to 10/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is K-14 students who are participating in traditional, distance, or homeschool education settings in an 11-state area. As of the date of this report and cumulatively since the project began, there were 370 participants who completed the welcome survey and 716 participants who have accessed the course with all 52 units deployed and available in the virtual classroom. Based on the responses of the welcome survey, the STEMsational course materials would be used as education material for approximately 9,500-10,000 students in classrooms, homeschool curriculum and STEM/agriculture educational programs or camps. Additionally, it was used to train roughly 300 Tennessee teachers representing 7,500 students. A detailed evaluation report provides additional specifics. Changes/Problems: There was a major change in the process for securing curriculum content from experts. One significant challenge with this project was that the subject matter experts originally recruited during the grant proposal development process to prepare content for the 12 modules and 52 units were no longer available post-award. The change in approach involved developing a recruitment plan to identify new subject matter experts and content contributors. Recruitment efforts began for 52 units (one of the original content developers followed through in developing content for three units. An additional content developer declined to participate after initially committing and then re-committed and plans to complete three units by January 15, 2022. This was a challenging task despite the available stipends and encouragement to utilize existing content edited for this project rather than creating new material, but ultimately resulted in successfully finding contributors for each of the planned units. All 52 units are complete and have been released as of the time of this report Another major challenge in this project was in making each of the 52 educational units ADA accessible for those using the virtual classroom as well as the print copies. The on-campus resources originally identified to make the content ADA accessible and ready for upload to the virtual classroom had time and effort diverted to the campus community and meeting the increasing needs of the university during the pandemic as the majority of classes campus-wide were transitioned to remote learning, leaving limited staff time for externally funded projects. A change in approach was made and outside technical support was hired on a temporary basis to provide additional assistance with making the materials ADA accessible. This approach went well, and the majority of the materials were developed and published online by February 2022, with all being ADA accessible, and 100% of the 52 units were developed and published online by 10/31/22. Print copies were made available for select units that were able to successfully transitino from an online to print copy format and remain ADA accessible. Another challenge was that the Institutional Review Board (IRB) had additional requirements post-award that were not identified earlier by the compliance staff as they had not encountered any university research projects similar to this and upon further reflection, required additional steps on behalf of the project team. More time was devoted to the IRB process and approval was secured to move the project forward with minimal disruption towards meeting project objectives. Lastly, institutional processes and procedures can be cumbersome (i.e., procurement, contracts, personnel) and while expected and planned for, required significant time and effort. The administrative workload of the CHHS administrative staff was adjusted to accommodate the increased workload associated with this research project and all is going well with that change. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The research supported by this grant is to provide education to students in grades K-14 facilitated by educators and/or parents who are assisting in the child's education in a school-setting, remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or through homeschooling. The project is not designed to offer professional development activities. Educators and parents are invited to participate in training activities through targeted outreach of the project's state collaborators from an 11-state area whose roles focus on sharing information about the STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm learning opportunity with educators and professional organizations supportive of education for K-14. As of the time of this report, a total of 370 participants completed the welcome survey and 716 individuals have accessed the STEMsational AG course. Based on the responses of the welcome survey, the STEMsational course materials would be used as education material for approximately 9,500-10,000 students in classrooms, homeschool curriculum and STEM/agriculture educational programs or camps. Additionally, it was used to train roughly 300 Tennessee teachers representing 7,500 students. Year One was devoted to start-up tasks including hiring a program coordinator, getting Institutional Review Board approval, engaging prospective content developers to redesign existing curriculum for 52 units of learning, ensuring the educational units meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design and building an online virtual classroom. Year Two, the current reporting period, focused on outreach, promotion of the virtual classroom, and actively engaging state collaborators in an 11-state area to recruit as many parents, students, and educators as possible to register for and participate in the project. Additional outreach will continue beyond the current reporting period as part of the approved project extension through 10/31/2023, or until grant funds are expended, whichever comes first. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The early results of the project in Year One have been shared with the Tennessee Public Health Association at the spring 2021 meeting held April 27-29th, 2021 through a presentation titled, "STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm -One agency's effort to address the COVID-19 impact on education, academic performance, and health of children and youth grades K-14 in Tennessee and the Southeastern US region." We anticipate sharing additional updates at the spring 2023 meeting. The project was also highlighted in the spring 2021 MTSU Center for Health and Human Services newsletter as a featured project, which goes out to a campus community of over 1,000 faculty and staff and has also been promoted twice weekly through a social media campaign that in addition to providing educational content, provides project updates on new units, featured contributors, and other interesting and relevant content. It has also been included in each of four quarterly CHHS newsletters with project updates over the 12-month reporting period. We were invited to contribute an article in the Agriculture Education Magazine as well as being highlighted in the Tennessee Science Teacher Association newsletter There have been seven State collaborator meetings to date. Details of this project will be shared by 13 collaborators from eight states as they outreach to individuals in communities of their respective states who are usually not aware of these research activities for the purpose of enhancing public understanding and increasing interest in learning and careers in science, technology, and the humanities. We are actively seeking collaborators in 3 other states (Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia to have 100% participation from the USDA 11-state southeastern region. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During Years One and Two, there were changes to the timeline, but not the agency-approved goals and objectives included in the application. The development and deployment of modules and related units was delayed, along with the planned focus groups which were to begin quarterly after release of content. A detailed explanation regarding delays in content development and availability for participants and the resolution of the issue was shared in the Year One report ("Changes/Problems"). There were no significant issues during Year Two and a project extension was granted through 10/31/23 to allow continued promotion and marketing of the project to prospective users. The following outline priority activities for Year Three, which is an extension of Year Two activities: During the next reporting period, the focus will be on promoting the project and recruiting participants to register for the classroom. State Collaborator will continue outreach in their states and local communities to ensure maximum reach and continued interest to recruit new registrants. The project team will continue to promote the project through professional conferences, meetings, events, newsletters and other publications, etc., and the program coordinator will continue the successful social media campaign for the project as strategies to raise awareness of the project and to recruit participants. Since all units and modules have been released online, the only remaining production activities are to complete those units which will have a hard copy printed format. We do not anticipate challenges at this time with this activity. These hard copies will be mailed to educators or learners upon request as new modules and units are released. This will include audio-visuals on both CDs and thumb drive formats to circumvent the necessity of internet access, as well as reproducible copies of student handouts and assignments in both digital and hard-copy formats.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Major activities completed / experiments conducted - 12 modules consisting of a total of 52 units were planned for release on a rolling basis and which were completed by November 2022 as a key deliverable for this project. As of the date of this report, all 52 units have been completed by content experts assigned to each and who received formal, written contracts for the work. To date and as of the time of this report, 52 units have been completed and released in the virtual classroom format. Print copies were made available for select units that were able to successfully transition from an online to print copy format and remain ADA accessible. Each unit meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design using Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) guidelines and is suitable for use in a variety of educational learning environments. The first unit was released on August 18, 2021. There were unanticipated delays with deploying within the first three months of funding, which is explained in other sections of this report and as part of the evaluation report. Originally it was planned to release complete modules on a rolling basis, though with the unexpected challenge of original content contributors no longer being available, it made more sense to release units as they were ready rather than waiting for the entire module to be completed before releasing. Data have been collected for this project from the target audience of K-14 who are participatiing in traditional, distance, or homeschool education seetings in an 11-state area. As of the date of this report and cumulatively since the project began, there were 370 participants who completed the welcome survey and 716 who have accessed the course with all 52 units deployed and available in the virtual classroom.Based on the responses of the welcome survey, the STEMsational course materials would be used as education material for approximately 9,500-10,000 students in classrooms, homeschool curriculum and STEM/agriculture educational programs or camps. Additionally, it was used to train roughly 300 Tennessee teachers representing 7,500 students.A detailed evaluation report provides additional specifics. Outcome data is detailed in a separate evaluation report, but includes: Student impact including measures of participant content knowledge, practical skills, workforce aptitude/career assessment, and literacy/accessibility. Instructor impact in the areas of understanding of agriculture and STEM, mental health, and literacy. Process outcomes in the areas of course development, training material, instructional modality, and recruitment and reachh, Summary statistics and discussion of results - At this time, outputs are reported above. Outcomes which will include a statistical summary and discussion are included as a separate evaluation report. Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized - 52 of 52 units have been deployed and are available for use as of the date of this report. It is anticipated that by February 2022 and in accordance with the project timeline, all content will be deployed and available for use. Based on the responses of the welcome survey, the STEMsational course materials would be used as education material for approximately 9,500-10,000 students in classrooms, homeschool curriculum and STEM/agriculture educational programs or camps. Additionally, it was used to train roughly 300 Tennessee teachers representing 7,500 students. A detailed evaluation report provides additional specific Hardcopy versions of select units that can be printed on demand and mailed to educators upon request are in progress. Units that can successfully be adapted to print format while remaining ADA compliant are being reproduced. This includes audio-visuals on both CDs and thumb drive formats to circumvent the necessity of internet access, as well as reproducible copies of student handouts and assignments in both digital and hard-copy formats. Digital copies will be accessible for 10 years. At this time, there are 13 State Collaborators from eight states who have participated in a total of seven collaborator meetings where discussions and strategizing recruitment efforts were the focus of the agenda. These collaborators facilitated outreach to individuals in communities of their respective states who are usually not aware of these research activities for the purpose of enhancing public understanding and increasing interest in learning and careers in science, technology, and the humanities. Collaborators in 3 other states (South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia) were sought to have 100% participation from the USDA 11-state southeastern region. Outreach will continue throughout the grant period which ends 10/31/23 or until grant funds are fully expended, whichever comes first,Outreach during the recent 12-month period took place with traditional education providers (both public and private) who had transitioned to new teaching environments including hybrid and distance learning formats. Focused outreach efforts included state departments of education, county and city school systems, private schools, charter schools, and county extension outlets. Outreach also took place with non-traditional education providers including homeschool households and homeschool networks, coops and pods. Due to high utilization rates of libraries by homeschoolers, state, regional, and community library systems were also included in this objective. Additional activities that took place to meet the goals and objectives for this project include development and maintenance of a project website, monitoring discussion boards in the course, developing PowerPoint presentations for state visits and alumni webinar, and review of content for posting each lesson before sending to D2L learning platform, and assembly of materials and supplements for the lessons.2). Data collected - output data is reported at this time as 370 completing the welcome survey and 716 participants who have accessed the course with all 52 units deployed and available in the virtual classroom.
Publications
|
Progress 11/01/20 to 10/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is K-14 students who are participating in traditional, distance, or homeschool education settings in an 11-state area. While it is anticipated that Year Two will actively engage large numbers of learners, early recruitment efforts during the second half of Year One have resulted in 81 registering for the virtual classroom with an additional 10 identifying as teaching assistants or instructors as of the time of this report. Additional details will be shared in future reporting periods as part of the ongoing and planned evaluation activities. Changes/Problems:There was a major change in the process for securing curriculum content from experts. One significant challenge with this project was that the subject matter experts originally recruited during the grant proposal development process to prepare content for the 12 modules and 51 units were no longer available post-award. The change in approach involved developing a recruitment plan to identify new subject matter experts and content contributors. Recruitment efforts began for 51 units (one of the original content developers followed through in developing content for three units. An additional content developer declined to participate after initially committing and then re-committed and plans to complete three units by January 15, 2022. This was a challenging task despite the available stipends and encouragement to utilize existing content edited for this project rather than creating new material, but ultimately resulted in successfully finding contributors for each of the planned units. Content continues to be developed with 10 units complete and released as of the time of this report. The project is on track to have all content developed and published by targeted timeline of February 2022. Another major challenge in this project was in making each of the 51 educational units ADA accessible for those using the virtual classroom as well as the print copies. The on-campus resources originally identified to make the content ADA accessible and ready for upload to the virtual classroom had time and effort diverted to the campus community and meeting the increasing needs of the university during the pandemic as the majority of classes campus-wide were transitioned to remote learning, leaving limited staff time for externally funded projects. A change in approach was made and outside technical support was hired on a temporary basis to provide additional assistance with making the materials ADA accessible. This approach is going very well and we anticipate meeting the grant timelines for having all materials developed and published by February 2022, with all being ADA accessible. Another challenge was that the Institutional Review Board (IRB) had additional requirements post-award that were not identified earlier by the compliance staff as they had not encountered any university research projects similar to this and upon further reflection, required additional steps on behalf of the project team. More time was devoted to the IRB process and approval was secured to move the project forward with minimal disruption towards meeting project objectives. Lastly, institutional processes and procedures can be cumbersome (i.e., procurement, contracts, personnel) and while expected and planned for, required significant time and effort. The administrative workload of the CHHS administrative staff was adjusted to accommodate the increased workload associated with this research project and all is going well with that change. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The research supported by this grant is to provide education to students in grades K-14 facilitated by educators and/or parents who are assisting in the child's education in a school-setting, remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or through homeschooling. The project is not designed to offer professional development activities. Educators and parents are invited to participate in training activities through targeted outreach of the project's state collaborators from an 11-state area whose roles focus on sharing information about the STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm learning opportunity with educators and professional organizations supportive of education for K-14. As of the time of this report, there have been 71 participants ((81 students and 10 instructors or teaching assistants) registering for STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm virtual classroom. Year One was devoted to start-up tasks including hiring a program coordinator, getting Institutional Review Board approval, engaging prospective content developers to redesign existing curriculum for 51 units of learning, ensuring the educational units meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design and building an online virtual classroom. The participants registered to date does not reflect targeted outreach efforts which will take place during Year Two, with expected participants expected to be much larger in number. Year Two will focus on outreach, promotion of the virtual classroom, and actively engaging state collaborators in an 11-state area to recruit as many parents, students, and educators as possible to register for and participate in the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The early results of the project in Year One have been shared with the Tennessee Public Health Association at the spring 2021 meeting held April 27-29th, 2021 through a presentation titled, "STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm -One agency's effort to address the COVID-19 impact on education, academic performance, and health of children and youth grades K-14 in Tennessee and the Southeastern US region." The program coordinator is planning on promoting the virtual classroom at the upcoming Rural Health Association of Tennessee's annual meeting which takes place November 17-19. The project will also be submitted for consideration to the Tennessee Academy of Science for a poster presentation at the 2022 annual meeting. The project was also highlighted in the spring 2021 MTSU Center for Health and Human Services newsletter which goes out to a campus community of over 1,000 faculty and staff and has also been promoted weekly through a social media campaign that in addition to providing educational content, provides project updates on new units, featured contributors, and other interesting content. The MTSU School of Agriculture will be featuring the project in the departmental newsletter which will include links to the website and curriculum. There have been six state collaborator meetings to date. Details of this project will be shared by 13 collaborators from eight states as they outreach to individuals in communities of their respective states who are usually not aware of these research activities for the purpose of enhancing public understanding and increasing interest in learning and careers in science, technology, and the humanities. We are actively seeking collaborators in 3 other states (Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia to have 100% participation from the USDA 11-state southeastern region. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?There have been changes to the timeline, but not the agency-approved goals and objectives included in the application. The development and deployment of modules and related units was delayed, along with the planned focus groups which were to begin quarterly after release of content. A detailed explanation regarding delays in content development and availability for participants and the resolution of the issue is shared in a later section of this report ("Changes/Problems"). To accomplish the goals and objectives, the following outline priority activities for Year Two: During the next reporting period, the focus will be on promoting the project and recruiting participants to register for the classroom. State Collaborator meetings will continue with collaborators being given a targeted number of outreach attempts per month in their states and local communities to ensure maximum reach. They will report back on their progress as well as share challenges, successes, and best practices as part of the planned meetings. The project team will continue to promote the project through professional conferences, meetings, events, newsletters and other publications, etc., and the program coordinator will continue the successful social media campaign for the project as strategies to raise awareness of the project and to recruit participants. With units and modules being made available on a rolling basis, there will be an additional 41 units released during the next reporting period. We do not anticipate additional challenges at this time with earlier issues being resolved as noted in other sections of this report. In addition to the virtual classroom, hard copy versions of the modules and related units will be printed and mailed to educators upon request as new modules and units are released. This will include audio-visuals on both CDs and thumb drive formats to circumvent the necessity of internet access, as well as reproducible copies of student handouts and assignments in both digital and hard-copy formats.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact Statement: In November 2020, Middle Tennessee State University's Center for Health and Human Services, in partnership with the College of Agriculture's Fermentation Department, began development of "STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm" in response to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) SARS-COV-2 Rapid Response funding opportunity. This project provides both formal and non-formal educational content for K-14 students that is appropriate for traditional school settings (both distance and in-person instruction) as well as children being homeschooled in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Food insecurity is increasing dramatically as a result of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic due to declines in income and job security, and the ability (or desire by parents) to attend school in-person is subject to change as infection rates ebb and flow. These factors highlight the need and opportunity to teach and revitalize home cultivation, preservation, and preparation of food on limited incomes and/or with limited access to grocery stores. This project will encourage the maximization of limited resources and teach and empower students, parents and teachers to take control of their food management during circumstances that are otherwise out of their control. This Regional Scale application targets students in Tennessee and 10 other states in the USDA designated Southeast Region and is culturally and geographically appropriate for use in "southern" states with similar agricultural and social circumstances. The curriculum presented in "STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm" addresses a multitude of topics ranging from food preservation, backyard cultivation of produce, and small-scale livestock husbandry to the application of farming techniques in both urban and rural environments and the home kitchen as educational opportunities. The curriculum is available in an online virtual classroom as well as in hard copy format and meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards. It presents STEM topics in an experiential format with hands-on activities that build practical skills for students without requiring parents or educators to have first-hand knowledge for successful implementation and instruction. Examples of modules include "Life Cycles in a Pasture: bugs, plants and animals throughout the year" to introduce the micro-organisms, flora and fauna that create healthy pastures; "Baker's Math" for practicing fractions and ratios; "(Cheese) Pizza Party: where does mozzarella come from?" to provide content from "grass to cheese," including milk production, processing, fermentation and cheese making; and "Chicken Coop, Chicken Soup" as a semester-long project for upper division students to design and build their own chicken coops, learn about raising and keeping a healthy flock, and processing the eggs and poultry for consumption. In addition to these module examples, nutrition, food preparation and food preservation will also be addressed through hands-on activities. An emphasis on fermentation, canning, and dehydrating food to extend the shelf life and increase nutritional content will be interwoven throughout the modules. These lessons will also prime the pre-workforce population (K-14 students) for career opportunities in the food and fiber industries. It is anticipated that thousands of students will access the curriculum and will show improved understanding of agriculture and STEM topics, gain practical skills, and show an interest in agricultural career opportunities. Educators will demonstrate impact in the areas of understanding of agriculture and STEM, mental health, and literacy. In addition, the project also supports positive mental health. Both parents and children are being affected by the pandemic and the mental health and well-being of both are of concern. The national news is full of images of parents seeking resources to use to teach their children, address their children's stress levels, and more subtly, to alleviate their own stress. The health of young people is directly tied to academic achievement and their potential for school success and overall quality of life. Schools alone cannot solve or prevent health-related problems. Through resources such as the proposed "STEMsational Ag: The Virtual Farm," the schools' ability to have a positive impact on students' health behavior and academic gains is enhanced. Goal 1: Major activities and key outcomes: There are 12 modules consisting of a total of 51 units are planned for release on a rolling basis and which will be completed by February 2022 as a key deliverable. There are 41 units currently under development. To date, 10 units have been completed and released in the virtual classroom format, and with print copies in development for each. Each unit meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design using Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) guidelines and is suitable for use in a variety of educational learning environments. Originally it was planned to release complete modules on a rolling basis, though with the unexpected challenge of original content contributors no longer being available, it made more sense to release units as they were ready rather than waiting for the entire module to be completed before releasing. It is anticipated that by February 2022 and in accordance with the project timeline, all content will be deployed and available for use. Data collected:Output data is reported at this time as 91 participants (81 students and 10 instructors or teaching assistants), with 10 units completed and deployed. Outcome data will be included in the next report and will include student impact, instructor impact, and process outcomes. Goal 2: Major activities and key outcomes: An online learning classroom has been created through the Desire2Learn (D2L) open platform. Content has been uploaded for 10 of 51 units with units being added on a rolling basis. Downloadable modules with accompanying audio-visual aids, printable handouts, instructor aids, and grade-level based recommended assignments are included. In addition, the units include links/lists for further exploration of each topic beyond the unit and module content. All of the 41 remaining units are currently under development. It is anticipated that by February 2022 and in accordance with the project timeline, all content will be deployed and available for use. Hardcopy versions of the modules that can be printed on demand and mailed to educators upon request are being developed in conjunction with the deployment of each unit online. This includes audio-visuals on both CDs and thumb drive formats to circumvent the necessity of internet access, as well as reproducible copies of student handouts and assignments in both digital and hard-copy formats. Digital copies will be accessible for 10 years. Data collected: Output data is reported at this time as 91 participants (81 students and 10 instructors or teaching assistants), with 10 of 51 units completed and deployed. Outcome data will be included in the next report and will include student impact, instructor impact, and process outcomes. Goal 3: Major activities and key outcomes: Recruitment of thirteen state collaborators from eight states has been accomplished, with efforts focused on recruiting from three remaining USDA southeastern region states. Successful facilitation of six state collaborator meetings where recruitment and outreach efforts and strategies are discussed has been accomplished. Data collected:Output data is reported at this time as 13 state collaborators from eight states have been recruited with six successful state collaborator meetings. Outcome data will be included in the next report and will include student impact, instructor impact, and process outcomes.
Publications
|
|