Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907
Performing Department
Agronomy
Non Technical Summary
A generation ago, the need for agronomy knowledge for crop production and environmental management was on a downward trend. Complicated mixes of herbicides and crop management recommendations specific to certain weeds and situations were largely replaced by a simple application of broad-spectrum herbicides to genetically modified organism (GMO) crops that effectively removed nearly all weeds. Insect resistance was bred into crops and dramatically reduced the impact of some of the costliest pests; major crop yields were on sustained upward trends. Crop production's environmental impact was reduced due to safer pesticides and reductions in tillage, which lessened soil erosion.Unfortunately, a number of factors turned in the last decade to change how crops need to be produced. 1) Weeds and insects have developed resistance to biotech tools, and a one-pronged approach does not usually work. 2) While erosion and pesticide effects in the environment are less, a surge in water quality problems points back to agriculture and blanket-applied fertilizers. 3) Consumers are increasingly dissatisfied with food production and often reject GMOs, chemical use, and mass production techniques; therefore, they are changing their buying preferences. 4) Food insecurity is increasing around the world. 5) Many farming operations are economically unstable, and rural economies are concurrently suffering.The oncoming suite of information technologies shows promise in helping agriculture with its challenges. New sensing tools provide more data about crop characteristics, and we can move around, store, and process this information with greater ease. A key part of an information-intense approach to crop production is the use of variable rate technologies, where characteristics across a field inform a tailored approach to the use of seeds, fertilizers, soil amendments, and pesticides. This approach can help growers address the complexities of production environments and the unique needs of food, feed, fuel, and fiber consumers.But we are commonly at a loss interpreting all this new information. USDA surveys show that two decades after the release of this technology, a majority of farmers are not using a variable approach (Lowenberg-DeBoer and Erickson, 2019). This shows that while information is overflowing, the ability to capitalize on that information is commonly lacking. Field environments are much more complicated than often perceived, as crop production is the outcome of dozens of factors. Factors that change across fields and from year to year, and factors that interact. In a crop field, these factors can include soil, rainfall, temperature, pest infestations, crop genetics, planting date, and fertilizer applications.Those who manage crop fields are responsible for analyzing and acting upon the complexity of production environments. Farmers depend heavily on input suppliers for decisions related to crop production. But a 2018 survey of agricultural retailers (Fausti et al, 2018) showed that for five of their key work roles related to technology, over 90% of retailers indicated it was at least somewhat difficult to find a qualified applicant. Well over half of agricultural retailers reported that it was either difficult (two to three months to find a qualified applicant), very difficult (more than three months to find a qualified applicant), or there were no qualified applicants in their area. This varied somewhat by the positions of equipment operator, agronomist, precision equipment technician, technical support, or precision sales specialist, which are all key roles in digital agriculture implementation at the farm level. As another measure of the workforce, retailers were asked (in the same 2018 survey) to evaluate the skills of their prospective employees from their recent interviews. With the exception of one skill, most respondents indicated their interviewees were either low or deficient in each of the ten skills measured. Interviewees had the highest skill levels for their ability to operate precision agriculture equipment; the lowest skill level indicated was for their working understanding of statistical standards to produce means and standard deviations, a key part of digital agriculture. Until artificial intelligence can help automate insights to better manage pests, nutrients, soil, food safety, and quality, we will need human knowledge to address all of these areas.Retailers indicate a two-year degree is sufficient education for many of their work roles related to digital agriculture, while bachelor's degree is desired for the field of agronomy (Erickson et al., 2018). As such, high school agriculture instruction is a key aspect of the knowledge pipeline for agricultural retailers. Previously referred to as vocational agriculture teachers, School-based agricultural education (SBAE) instructors in high schools and middle schools deliver instruction in agriculture that is Career and Technical Education (CTE). Career and Technical Education seeks to equip students to be both college- and career-ready by helping them develop their academic, employability, and technical skills (ACTE, 2019). Agriculture teachers work with numerous students and teach multiple classes in agriculture. The field of digital agriculture changes rapidly, which means a well-informed teacher five years ago may be quite out of date today. Keeping up with technology changes in the agriculture industry is a key element to effectively providing opportunities for students to learn and practice skills related to current best practices and helping prepare students for careers in digital agriculture.Due to the specific needs of SBAE teachers, we propose an online course in Digital Agriculture for high school ag instructors that could quickly and efficiently ramp up agricultural knowledge--education for educators. These educators could also use the resources in their own classrooms. The slides created for the online course would be downloadable, as would the scripts for the delivery and quiz questions. The course content will combine science delivered by subject matter experts and application demonstrated by agricultural input suppliers and farmers. In addition, we will provide examples to integrate these skills and knowledge to students within the courses that our teacher participants teach at the secondary level.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Indiana agriculture contributes roughly $30B GDP annually with over 100,000 Hoosier jobs supported by agricultural production, processing, and related activities. For agriculture in the state to stay competitive, while economically and environmentally sustainable, it must embrace the adoption of digital technologies. Unlike many technologies that are embedded in everyday work tasks, implementation of digital agriculture requires considerable human knowledge. The knowledge base in agriculture comes from numerous places, but agriculture instruction as a discipline starts in secondary schools and for most agriculturalists ends formally with an associate's or bachelor's degree. The proposed project addresses the AFRI Priority Area Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy for the farm bill priority area agriculture systems and technology; with online learning experiences for high school teachers that combines the science delivered by subject matter experts tied to the application as demonstrated by agricultural input suppliers and farmers. The overall goal of this program is to provide continuing education for educators in secondary schools that enriches their knowledge of digital agriculture. A secondary goal is to deliver curriculum that educators can incorporate into their own teaching. A series of learning modules packaged into a course will become part of the continuing education offerings promoted by the Indiana Department of Agriculture. The course will be built on the foundations of an existing Precision Agriculture course, offered free or for a nominal charge for educators, and also offered for a fee commercially.
Project Methods
Curriculum Development MechanismsThe core of the curriculum will be new content delivered by the Agronomy e-Learning Academy at Purdue University. Current courses include Agronomy Essentials, Precision Agriculture, and Nutrient Management (see current detailed syllabi). Each of the courses includes over 100 short form videos and accompanying reading materials, links to more information, printable slides, downloadable audio, a glossary, and a quiz at the end of each module.The current online Precision Agriculture course will serve as a reference point and foundation during the creation of the Digital Agriculture course. The new course will contain new videos and rewritten online content. A limited number of computer simulations will be incorporated into the instructional materials to demonstrate key principles. While simulation technology has advanced in recent years, we feel that more will be gained by recording practitioners, such as farmers and agricultural input retail suppliers, demonstrating the practices in actual production and service environments.Subject matter experts will be selected to deliver the core scientific principles of the online content. Applications of the scientific principles to field crop production will demonstrate relevancy and engage students. Core principles will be delivered by a university subject matter expert. These subject matter experts will be nationally recognized leaders in their field. Application will be demonstrated by an ag retailer or farmer. These videos will be recorded as Q and A sessions on the farm or at the retail site. A set of questions will be carefully prepared to ensure the core lessons are captured in the answers of the farmer or retailer. A professional videographer will accompany the PI to their site. These videos will then be edited and annotated to help explain various digital agriculture technologies, implementation, and the value to production, the environment, economic sustainability, satisfying consumer preferences, and other factors.Video production: The Agronomy e-Learning Academy has a process in place for producing high definition, engaging videos that has been exceptionally successful. This process includes videos that will be 1) short in duration (usually five to ten minutes); 2) produced in a greenscreen room using high definition video and high sound quality, or using a professional videographer in a crop production setting such as a crop field or agricultural input retail supplier; 3) directed--a video professional and project director are always in the room when recording. The video professional manages quality aspects, and the project director ensures content follows goals of the instruction; 4) not a talking PowerPoint--presenter appears in front of the screen; 5) engaging--presenter points to materials being discussed to involve the learner; 6) annotated--key points are bolded, revealed, or highlighted as discussed; 7) closed captioned; and 8) edited--produced slide by slide (with transitions in between to ensure concise, succinct delivery), irrelevant materials are removed, and mistakes are re-recorded. To enhance these, we propose that one third of the content will be either videos produced on site of lab, field, or workplace or videos that integrate farmers or agribusiness providing the lesson with the narrative of a subject matter expert.Videos will be placed in easy to digest learning modules with accompanying materials to help engage students. Learning objectives will be listed at the beginning of each module, and high-definition video lessons, featuring subject matter experts, will be accompanied by reading and graphics, which appeal to different learning styles. Each module will end with a five-point test, which they must pass to proceed on in the class. If they earn fewer than five points, a new test will be generated with questions drawn from an item bank and presented in random order.A pivotal aspect of the online classes is the delivery method--they will be easy for the high school teachers to take. Instruction will be compartmentalized into modules that learners can pause and resume during their workday or time off work. Lessons will be designed to be integrated into the daily tasks of the learner, and learners will be offered a happy medium of flexibility and discipline. Learning materials will be offered fully asynchronously, to allow maximum flexibility to learners, with no live lessons. Learners can work ahead if they anticipate they will need extra time, such as a company meeting, vacation, or family commitments. But learners will not be able fall behind deadline dates without contacting the class administrators for an exception. Learners will follow a 12-week course schedule, which fits within summer recess, but they can also work ahead as they wish and finish sooner than 12 weeks. This will keep them progressing at an even rate that maximizes learning, yet allows time for learners to complete work and home responsibilities. Besides the published schedule, they will be reminded of upcoming due dates on a weekly basis.Teacher Recruitment and SupportThere are over 300 middle and high school agriculture teachers in more than 220 school districts across Indiana. With possibly one exception, each of Indiana's 92 counties has at least one high school agriculture program (Allen Talbert, Purdue University Agricultural Science Education and Communication, personal communication). Licensed educators in Indiana must renew their teaching license every five years, and part of the renewal is to complete continuing education courses. We propose to work with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, which oversees Professional Growth Points (PGP) activities for agricultural instructors across the state. Taking the classes we have developed, we will qualify educators to earn PGPS, which can contribute toward license renewal and certification.The state of Indiana's Next Level Agenda has directed Ivy Tech, Indiana's statewide community college, to offer dual credit courses in Precision Agriculture Equipment Technology (Kimberly Barkman, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, personal communication). These courses will be taught in high schools but allow students to obtain credits toward a college degree. High school teachers will need to be prepared to teach these courses.Courses will be free of charge to any educator at a high school; community college; technical college; in an Extension role for a university; or a government, state, or county agency employee that is being paid by government funds. A small administrative fee may be charged. Courses will not be open access--registration will be required. Courses will continue to be offered through the academy to individuals not meeting the criteria above or through partnerships with companies for a fee. Course graduates receive a personalized printed certificate.Project Evaluation and ReportingThe proposed Digital Agriculture course will follow the timeline in the Management Plan. This course will allow high school agriculture teachers to take a continuing education course in Digital Agriculture. With the success of this course, relevant courses that are needed in the agricultural workplace can be developed. We anticipate as a result of completing these continuing education courses, agriculture teachers will feel more empowered and confident in their ability to expose high school students to current agriculture issues related to Digital Agriculture. This approach is based on the success of previous courses developed and maintained by PI Erickson. Experience from the previous courses served as lessons learned in the development on this Digital Agriculture course.