Source: TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
ESTABLISHING AN AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS ACADEMY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1025591
Grant No.
2021-67037-34153
Cumulative Award Amt.
$300,000.00
Proposal No.
2020-08590
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 15, 2021
Project End Date
Sep 14, 2024
Grant Year
2021
Program Code
[A7501]- Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy
Recipient Organization
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
601 UNIVERSITY DRIVE
SAN MARCOS,TX 78666
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Agricultural Education teachers across the nation lack sufficient training in agricultural mechanics due to a lack of training available at the post-secondary level. The lack of training has led to low teacher self-efficacy and a contributing factor why teachers leave the profession. Furthermore, there is a significant shortage of skilled labor to fill industry demand. Industry leaders have identified agricultural education students as a source to fill the shortage but need rigorous and relevant instruction from their teachers. The Agricultural Mechanics Academy is a ten-day intensive professional development training designed to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach secondary students. Participants will receive three days of small gas engine instruction focusing on twelve modules. Each module is designed for teachers to replicate each discussion and activity in their own classrooms. The electricity portion of the Academy will lead participants through several modules including Safety, Electrical Tools, Electrical Connections, and Switches & Receptacle Identification. The welding portion of the Academy will guide participants through three welding processes. The participants will learn how to use on Oxyacetylene torch that includes cutting, heating, and welding options. The participants will learn how to weld using the Shielded Metal Arc Welding process where they will complete a butt, tee, and lap welds in the flat position using different techniques and different welding rods. On the third day of welding, the participants will learn how to weld using the Gas Metal Arc welding process using different techniques and different metal transfer processes.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360993020100%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The Agricultural Mechanics Academy is an intensive ten-day professional development program for secondary agricultural education teachers. The Agricultural Mechanics Academy will cover three major content areas within agricultural mechanics including small gas engines, electricity, and welding. Each content area will integrate content knowledge, skill development, and teaching tips, tricks, and methods. Safety and laboratory management methodologies will be highlighted throughout the entire program. The objectives for the project are as follows: a) Improve participants competency to teach agricultural mechanics. b) Improve participants laboratory awareness and management skills. c) Prepare secondary agricultural educationstudents to fill the skills gap in the agricultural mechanics workforce. This project addresses AFRI's Agricultural systems and technology priority area while lending potential outcomes that have broader impacts on all AFRI farm bill priority areas by providing secondary agricultural education teachers with professional development opportunities. The objectives of this project also align with the USDA Strategic Goal #3: Promote American Products and Exports and Goal #4: Facilitate Rural Prosperity and Economic Development.Participants will be recruited through several outlets. The PI will send emails to all Agricultural Education Teacher Educators across the United States requesting that they forward the recruitment materials to recent graduates of their programs that would benefit from participating in the program. The PI will send the same recruitment email to all current agricultural education teachers through the national listserv, requesting that they share the recruitment materials with newly hired teachers that would benefit from the program. Another email will be sent to the National & State Directors, and Area Coordinators in Agricultural Education to share with recent hires as well. The PI will also advertise the program through several social media outlets including the Texas State University Agricultural Education, Texas State Agricultural Mechanics, Agricultural Education Discussion Lab and the Shop Talk: Agricultural Mechanics Help Center Facebook groups that are dedicated to helping current and future Agricultural Education teachers.The participants will be asked to join two-three Zoom meeting per semester after completing the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. Each Zoom meeting will integrate a reflective session, a basic Q & A session, and include a technical update from one of the industry representatives at each meeting. The purpose of the Zoom meetings is to provide additional support for the participants to promote professional and emotional growth. All industry partners have indicated a willingness to provide one on one technical assistance with all participants as outlined in the letters of support. Lincoln Electric and Matheson Gas have also indicated a willingness to provide in-person support for participants as well. The PI has served as a mentor to all previous workshop participants and uses Dropbox and an external hard drive to share all of the resources he has collected during his professional career. The small gas engines portion of the program will be led by industry trainers from Briggs and Stratton using curriculum they designed for teachers to adopt. The Briggs and Stratton curriculum has been reviewed by industry professionals and integrated into secondary agricultural education programs across the nation. The Briggs and Stratton trainers have worked with teacher educators from across the nation to refine their teaching skills and delivery methods. The participants work through twelve small gas engines modules over three days. Each module starts with a discussion of theories, principles, and processes and then transitions into the hands-on laboratory activity. Each module is capped with an immersive activity where teachers are asked to walk the trainers through the laboratory activity. By the end of the twelve modules, the participants will have disassembled and reassembled the small gas engines five times, focusing on engine operation, compression system, fuel system, governor system, electrical system, cooling & lubrication system and troubleshooting. Participants will receive the Briggs & Stratton curriculum, PowerPoints, Small Gas Engines textbook, workbook, test bank, laboratory activity sheets, demonstration models, and a classroom set of engines for participating in the Academy.Industry trainers from Lincoln Electric will lead the welding portion of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. The trainers will use the Lincoln Electric welding educator's workshop curriculum and format. The welding educator's workshop is designed for teachers with little or no welding experience. This portion of the Academy will cover three welding processes with one day dedicated to each process including: Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), and Oxy-Acetylene Welding & Cutting (OAW). Participants will learn about welding processes, theories, safety, equipment set-up, welding techniques, troubleshooting, weld testing and evaluation through classroom and laboratory instruction. Approximately 40% of the training will be classroom instruction and 60% will be laboratory-based. Participants will also learn about effective teaching methods, explore projects and activities that increase student engagement and motivation. Participants will receive free access to the Lincoln Electric welding curriculum, welding books, welding tutorials, DVD's, posters, and lesson plans for participating in the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. The PI will lead the electricity portion of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. The PI teaches an electricity course at Texas State University and is currently finishing an electricity textbook designed for secondary and post-secondary agricultural education teachers. The PI will use the curriculum and format that he has created for his classes and from a residential wiring workshop that he has presented to agricultural education and industrial technology teachers. He will cover safety, theories, principles, and applications of residential wiring. Participants will learn about tools, electrical connections, switches, receptacles, and circuits while completing up to 30 different wiring scenarios. The participants will test their circuits using testing equipment and then use live electricity. The participants will then test their knowledge of the circuits by bugging the circuits and then trading with a peer to troubleshoot their circuits. The PI will also cover teaching methods, explore projects and activities to increase student engagement and motivation. The participants will receive the curriculum and scenarios developed by the PI. The participants will also receive a set of electrical tools, wiring boards, switches, receptacles, and lamps.
Project Methods
The participants of the Academy will be immersed in an intensive 10-day training program that will include a balanced approach of classroom-based instruction and laboratory-based skills development. The participants will participate in an interactive discussion and laboratory activities aligned to twelve small gas engine modules. Each module is designed in a manner that teachers can replicate each discussion and activity in their own classrooms upon completion. The twelve modules include Internal Combustion Engines, Safety & Tools, Engine Operation, Compression System, Fuel System, Governor System, Electrical System, Cooling & Lubrication Systems, Multi-Cylinder Engines, Troubleshooting, Failure Analysis, and Engine Application & Selection. The discussions, lesson plans, and laboratory activities provide over the three days should be able to cover a nine-week period using the classroom set of Overhead Valve (OHV) engines provided to all participants. The skillsets developed by the participants in the Academy can be used to teach single cylinder L-Head, Multi-cylinder, and Two-stroke engines for an additional nine-week period each or an entire year-long small-gas engines course.The electricity portion of the Academy will lead participants through several modules including Safety, Electrical Tools, Electrical Connections, Switches & Receptacle Identification, Electrical Calculations, and Electrical Systems. The participants will work through up to five receptacle wiring activities, seven single-pole switch activities, nine three-way switch activities, and two four-way switch activities that are all classroom ready. The curriculum and laboratory activities covered in the three days of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy should be able to cover one full semester. The skillsets developed by the participants can be extended to include additional application activities presented in the Agricultural Mechanics Academy that could extend into an entire year-long electricity course.The welding portion of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy will guide participants through three welding processes. The participants will learn how to use on Oxyacetylene torch that includes cutting, heating, and welding options. The participants will learn how to cut metal using the torch. They will also learn how to fusion weld with and without filler rod on several welding joints. The participants will also learn how to weld using the Shielded Metal Arc Welding process on the second day of welding. The participants will complete a butt, tee, and lap welds in the flat position using four different techniques and three different welding rods. On the third day of welding, the participants will learn how to weld using the Gas Metal Arc welding process. They will also compete butt, tee, and lap welds using four different techniques and two different metal transfer processes. The curriculum and laboratory activities covered in the three days of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy should be able to cover one full year. The skillsets developed by the participants can be extended to include additional application activities presented in the Agricultural Mechanics Academy that could cover several welding courses.The participants will be asked to join two-three Zoom meeting per semester after completing the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. Each Zoom meeting will integrate a reflective session, a basic Q & A session, and include a technical update from one of the industry representatives at each meeting. The purpose of the Zoom meetings is to provide additional support for the participants to promote professional and emotional growth.A formative and summative assessment of content knowledge and skill acquisition have been integrated into the daily lessons. The participants will be immersed into the same lessons and laboratory activities that they would replicate with their respective students. The trainers have also been prepared to integrate several "check for understanding points" throughout the modules. The participants will work thorough each system in a small gas engine as part of the formative assessment and will be assessed on their ability to rebuild an engine and get the engine to start. The participants in the electrical portion of the training will wire electrical circuits as a part of their formative assessment and their ability to troubleshoot those circuits will be a part of the summative assessment. Finally, the welding portion of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy will include several content and laboratory activities that integrate both formative and summative assessments. The participants will complete several welds using different process and techniques and will evaluate each of their welds with instructor feedback.A survey instrument will be developed by the Co-PI and will collect data related to content knowledge and teacher efficacy at the beginning and end of each Agricultural Mechanics Academy. The data will be entered and analyzed during the fall semester annually. The findings will be disseminated at regional and national research conferences where the audience would have an interest in implementing a similar model of professional development. The findings will then be submitted for publication in journals such as the Journal of Agricultural Education and the Career & Technical Education Journal.

Progress 01/15/24 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Beginning School-Based Agricultural Education teachers with little to no formal agricultural mechanics training. Changes/Problems:The only problem that we are running into is the availibility of Lincoln Electric to provide a trainer for the foreseeable future as they are currently short staffed in the education department. We will be moving to a tuition-based model to ensure continuation of the project beyond the life of this project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We were able to offer the Agricultural Mechanics Academy for 20 School-Based Agricultural Education teachers from across the country. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Each of the participants were provided with a press release that they were able to distribute to thier local media outlets. We also promoted the daily activities through our soical media outlets as well as the industry partners that were in attendance as well as the daily updates from the participants themeselves. The pre-test and post-test data from all four years has been colllected and is being analyzed to be dissiminated through two thesis projects, multiple conference posters & papers, with several manuscripts being prepared to be submitted to journals in the late spring. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We were able to offer the Agricultural Mechanics Academy for twenty participants who all reported increased content knowledge, skills aqusition, and improved ability to teach agricultural mechanics in electricity, small engines, and welding.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Kornegay, K. & Anderson, R. (2025). Determining the Impact of an Electricity Workshop on the Importance to Teach Electricity. Southern American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Irving, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Kornegay, K. & Anderson, R. (2025). Evaluating the Impact of an Electricity Workshop on SBAE Teachers Knowledge to Teach. Southern American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Irving, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Kornegay, K. & Anderson, R. (2025). Exploring the Impact of an Electricity Workshop on SBAE Teachers Ability to Perform Electrical Skills. Southern American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Irving, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Massey, M., Anderson, R. & Kornegay, K. (2025). Teacher-perceived Adequacy of Tools and Equipment Available to Teach Agricultural Mechanics to Teach Electricity. Southern American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Irving, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Shultz, J. Kornegay, K., & Anderson, R. (2025). Exploring the Impact of an Electricity Workshop on SBAE Teachers Ability to Perform Electrical Skills. Southern American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Irving, TX.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Other Year Published: 2025 Citation: Kornegay, K. (2025). IDENTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS ACADEMY ELECTRICAL TRAINING WORKSHOP. Thesis.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Other Year Published: 2025 Citation: Parks, S. (2025). IDENTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS ACADEMY SMALL GAS ENGINE TRAINING WORKSHOP. Thesis.


Progress 01/15/21 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:We targeted beginning School-Based Agricultural Education teachers who had received the least amount of agricultural mechanics instruction at the post-secondary level who were expected to teach the most agricultural mechanics courses. Changes/Problems:We ran into a couple of problems, the largest problem was a shift in the start date for several schools across the country mid-way through this project. This shift limited the number of applicants, but did not alter the number of participants. The next largest issue that we ran into was the space limitation, we were capped at twenty participants, but had enough interest to offer an AMA weekly throughout the entire summer. Finally, we are running into an issue with availbility of industry partners for project continuation beyond the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Yes, we were able to host four Agricultural Mechanics Academies over the life of this grant. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have presented several conference posters, conference papers, and will be submitted several research manuscripts to journals by the end of the academic year. We expect a minimum of 24 journal articles to emerge from this project. We have also utilized social media to promote AMA and share daily learnings through our profiles, industry partners, and participants themselves. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We were able to accomplish all of the goals outlined in this project. We saw significant changes in the participants knowledge, skills, and ability to teach electricity, small engines, and welding. Several participants have commented publically in several social media outlets frequented by school-based agricultural education teachers that this was the single best professional development training that they had ever participated in.

Publications


    Progress 01/15/23 to 01/14/24

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Beginning School-Based Agricultural Education teachers with little to no formal agricultural mechanics training. Changes/Problems:We have seen a reduction in applications due to the changes in school start dates across the country. Many schools have transitioned into four-day school weeks and into districts of innovation that have moved the start dates at those schools up almost an entire month creating an overlap with the Ag Mech Academy. We are still receiving enough applications to offer the academy at it's scheduled date, it just reduces the potential pool of applicants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Agricultural Mechanics Academy provided training in welding, electricity, and small gas engines. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, results have been disseminated to a wide range of stakeholders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Explore external funding mechanisims to ensure contunuation of the project after the grant project has been terminated.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Twenty School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers from across the country were selected to participate in the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. The teachers indicated statistically significant improvements in ability to teach welding, electicity, and small gas engines meeting the goals of this project.

    Publications

    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kornegay, K., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Borges, B. (2023). Determining the Impact of Professional Development on the Importance to Teach Welding. Proceedings from the 42nd Annual National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Papers Research Conference Poster Session. Indianapolis, IN.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hutson, K., Anderson, R., Morrish, D. & Sykora, R. (2022). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy of Teachers Knowledge of Welding. Association of Career and Technical Education Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Garza. L. (2023). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy on School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers Ability to Weld. Proceedings from the 42nd Annual National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Papers Research Conference Poster Session. Indianapolis, IN. Outstanding Research Poster.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Keith, M. (2023). Determining the Impact of a Welding Workshop on a Teachers Ability to Teach Welding. Proceedings from the 42nd Annual National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Papers Research Conference Poster Session. Indianapolis, IN. Outstanding Research Poster.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Garza, L., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy on School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers Ability to Weld. Association of Career and Technical Education Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Keith, M., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of a Welding Workshop on a Teachers Ability to Teach Welding. Association of Career and Technical Education Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Garza, L., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy on School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers Ability to Weld. Proceedings from the 41st Annual National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Papers Research Conference Poster Session. Indianapolis, IN.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kornegay, K., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of Professional Development on the Importance to Teach Welding. Proceedings from the 41st Annual National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Papers Research Conference Poster Session. Indianapolis, IN. Distinguished Research Poster
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Boedeker, S., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Identifying the Tools and Equipment Available to Teach Welding. Agricultural Consortium of Texas Conference, Abilene, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Garza, L., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy on School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers Ability to Weld. Agricultural Consortium of Texas Conference, Abilene, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Keith, M., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of a Welding Workshop on a Teachers Ability to Teach Welding. Agricultural Consortium of Texas Conference, Abilene, TX. Third Place Undergraduate Poster.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kornegay, K., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of Professional Development on the Importance to Teach Welding. Agricultural Consortium of Texas Conference, Abilene, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Boedeker, S., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Identifying the Tools and Equipment Available to Teach Welding. Texas State University Undergraduate Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Garza, L., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy on School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers Ability to Weld. Texas State University Undergraduate Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hutson, K., Anderson, R., Morrish, D. & Sykora, R. (2022). Determining the Impact of the Agricultural Mechanics Academy of Teachers Knowledge of Welding. Texas State University Undergraduate Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Keith, M., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of a Welding Workshop on a Teachers Ability to Teach Welding. Texas State University Undergraduate Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kornegay, K., Anderson, R., Morrish, D., & Heibel, B. (2022). Determining the Impact of Professional Development on the Importance to Teach Welding. Texas State University Undergraduate Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.


    Progress 01/15/22 to 01/14/23

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We targeted beginning School-Based Agricultural Education teachers who had recieved the least amount of agricultural mechanics instruction at the post-secondary level who were expected to teach the most agricultural mechanics courses. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?AMA particpiants have received follow-up training from our industry partners and on-going support from the PI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Initial data from the welding pre & post-training has been dissiminated at regional and national research conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are going to host the third AMA in Year 3. We also plan to collect and dissiminate the findings from Years 1-3 at regional and national research conferences.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Twenty teachers participated in the Agricultural Mechanics Academy in Year 2 of the project. Each of the participants reported a significant gain in self-efficacy thier ability to weld, complete electrical wiring skills, and work on small engines. The participants also reported significant increases in content knowledge and percieved ability to teach all three content areas.

    Publications


      Progress 01/15/21 to 01/14/22

      Outputs
      Target Audience:THe Agricultural Mechanics Academy had 20 school0based agricultural education teachers participate in the 2021 academy. Changes/Problems:We purchased all of the welding equipment, tools, and supplies for all four years at the beginning of the grant period in order to secure those items due to concerns from availbility and shortages caused by Covid-19. We had some minor issues with some of the tools not arriving for the first AMA due to shortages and back order issues. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The first Agricultural Mechanics Academy hosted twenty particpants who engaged in welding, small engines, and eletrical training. We have also hosted an interactive webinar with the small engine trainers to lead a question and answer session midway through the first academic semester. These teachers have taken this training back to thier secondary classrooms. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have created a website dedicated to the Agricultural Mechanics Academy. We have also created a social media page for current particiants to continue to provide additional support. We have also created press releases for each of our participants to share with thier local news outlets. We are tracking the AMA participants social media posts that highlight the skills and competencies gained in the Academy. We are also in the process of anylzing pre & post-test data to disseminate in peer-reviewed conferences and journals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to replicate the recruitment, selectction, and training of twenty participants for the second agricultural mechanics academy. We will also develop a social media page dedicated to the 2022 participants prior to the academy in order to track thier social media presence prior to and after attending the academy. The pre & post-test data collection will continue with the second group of participants to measure knowledge and skill aquistion before and after the academy.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? We held our first Agricultural Mechanics Academy where 20 participants were able to improve their competency to teach agricultural mechanics. They were able to improve their laboratory awareness and management skills and prepare secondary agricultural educationstudents to fill the skills gap in the agricultural mechanics workforce.

      Publications