Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The online course (HMGT 2850: Introduction to Agritourism) was designed to offer in the Summer of 2024. Accordingly, different field visits to farms during the preparation of the course were posted on LinkedIn. A flyer was developed and distributed to the advising officer from the College of Merchandising, Hospitality & Tourism (CMHT) to convey the offering of the course to the potential undergraduate students. Meanwhile, social media liaison from the CMHT was provided with the flyer to market the course. Similarly, a flyer was developed regarding an experiential learning opportunity in agritourism and provided to the CMHT advisor to market the opportunity to potential undergraduate students. Several college-led meetings were attended to meet other USDA-NIFA grantees at UNT and other college programs to discuss the grants and potential opportunities for undergraduate students. Changes/Problems:For the experiential learning opportunities, initially, it was proposed that students taking the online course during the summer will be encouraged to apply and enroll for experiential learning opportunities. However, due to the low numbers of students enrolled in the class, we changed that requirement and decided to allow students to enroll for experiential learning opportunities without taking the summer course. This is because an independent course for experiential learning opportunities could be a valuable course for students to learn different topics in agritourism and learning even if they don't take an online summer course. This will help us achieve the overall goals for this project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For the next reporting period, more marketing efforts will be made to enroll more students in the course offering. Due to limited time, marketing efforts were not as effective. Project PI and Co-PI will also utilize the resources and support from the college advising office and college social media liaison to market the opportunities, as well as reach out to different faculty members in the department to market the course (Goal 2) and experience learning opportunities (Goal 3) for potential undergraduate students. Project PI and Co-PI will also seek additional college and departmental-level opportunities and platforms to accomplish Goals 2 and 3.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Regarding Goal 1: A syllabus was prepared and proposed to the Hospitality, Event, and Tourism Management (HETM) Faculty at UNT. Upon approval by the faculty from the HETM, the syllabus was proposed to the Undergraduate College Committee, which was approved by the Committee. Based on the approved syllabus for HMGT 2850 (Introduction to Agritourism), a 3-credit online course was developed, which was offered during the summer 2024. Several farms in Texas were visited during spring 2024 to interview and videotape agritourism entrepreneurs' voices in preparing the course materials. This online course was approved by the Center for Learning Experimentation, Application and Research (CLEAR) that oversees design, accessibility, copyright compliance, learning technology integration, and more. The online course contains five modules focusing on introduction of the concept of agritourism, entrepreneurial pursuits in agritourism, sustainable pillars to agritourism (economic, socio-cultural, and environmental components), and policy & planning aspects of agritourism. Different forms of assignments (discussions, quizzes, essay, and exam) are integrated to examine the learning objectives of the course. The course was well received by the students. Regarding Goal 2: The course (HMGT 2850-Introduction to Agritourism) was offered during summer 2024. Initially, it was intended to provide a scholarship to access the online course for 20 students. However, the course enrollment was low with only four students taking the course. All four students achieved a GPA of 3.0 and above, therefore qualifying for a scholarship. After working with the personnel in the financial aid department at UNT, scholarships were distributed to the students. Regarding Goal 3: The flyer is provided to the college advising office and college social media liaison to distribute the flyer to market for potential undergraduate students to engage in experiential learning opportunities in agritourism. All the students enrolled in summer 2024 offering were provided with the information on experiential learning opportunities for fall 2024 or spring 2025. There was no enrollment for fall 2024 but for spring 2025, additional efforts are made to market the opportunities for potential undergraduate students, such as reaching out to marketing support from the advising office and college social media liaison.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:This funded USDA grant was highlighted in the news (the details below) and drew attention from students at UNT and small agritourism businesses in Texas. With USDA grant, UNT to add agritourism course and project-based learning opportunities: https://news.unt.edu/news-releases/usda-grant-unt-add-agritourism-course-and-project-based-learning-opportunities Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?For the next reporting period, An online course will be developed and taught. Students from underrepresented backgrounds will be supported to access the online course. Students from underrepresented backgrounds will be involved in experiential and project-based learning opportunities in agritourism. These students will be encouraged to attend professional meetings for networking opportunities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Regarding Goal 1: A syllabus was prepared and proposed to the Hospitality, Event, and Tourism Management (HETM) Faculty at UNT. Upon approval by the faculty from the HETM, the syllabus was proposed to the Undergraduate College Committee, which was approved by the Committee as well. Now, a 3-credit summer online course (5 weeks) will be offered as HMGT 2850: Introduction to Agritourism. A course developmentform is submitted to the Center for Learning Experimentation, Application and Research (CLEAR) at UNT. Spring 2024 is identified to preparespecific content details in consultation with CLEAR to develop a 3-credit online course to be offered in Summer 2024. Some textbooks were reviewed in the Summer of 2023 for course design and planning. To offer an online course in Summer2024through CLEAR, Spring 2024 is the only option to develop the course. However, the design and planning of the course are complete with details on the proposed 5 modules.
Publications
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