Progress 05/15/24 to 05/14/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The short-term target audience for course developments and innovations was initially college students at TSU and UTM, and high school students in the state of Tennessee. No high school students have experienced the products of the grant as of yet. Both student groups, agricultural communications professionals, and educators and administrators at 1890 land grant universities were also targeted as the needs assessment studies were planned. These studies wereinitiated by a PhD student and a PI who left the project this year, but when they are resumed and completed by the PI and a new Co-PI the outputs will be published/presented widely so the target audience for dissemination inlcude lots of constituents, including students, educators, and administrators across the state and nation. We have also shifted focused to providing the courses to all students, constituents, and the public through by putting the content in modules and online since we have had trouble getting new courses approved at the university level. So the audience is really larger than originally attended and includes anyone who will access the courses that are developed. Changes/Problems:We encountered many problems this year. The first problem is that the PhD student we recruited for this position left the program. The needs assessments that were to be her dissertation research was left undone. She left for a full time teaching position because she could not afford to live on the assistantship. To make matters worse, the Co-PI responsible for designing and teaching the courses left for a position at Iowa State University. The course we developed was taught by here in year 1, but it was not taught this past year. Fortunately, we have replaced Dr. Rockers with a very qualified person, Dr. Gabriel Spandau. As noted in the previous sections, he is assisting with each objective of the project, but he will be able to teach the course that did get approved on this project, assist with the modules for the remaining courses, and assist with value added activities to accomplish our objectives of equipping studetns with these important skillsets. The university is going through financial stress, and therefore they have put a pause on new courses being approved. As described in other sections we are planning non-academic opportunities to teach students the same skills.As usual, low student numbers is also problematic for the success of this project, but once the products are complete this project should help with that problem. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to the events mentioned above, we also attended the State FFA Convention and National FFA Convention in order to let students know about product and program developments and opportunities. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Southern Region for Agricultural Education Research Conference, Dallas, TX AI for All Conference, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN Tennessee FFA Convention, Gatlinburg, TN National FFA Convention, Indianapolis, IN What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Conduct an actionable and publishable needs assessments of students and the industry to develop an Agricultural Communications program and courses at TSU and enhance it at our partner institution. We plan to finish the student needs assessment, and present and publish findings. We also plan to start and complete the industry assessments, and present and publish findings. 2. Establish and teach a new Agricultural Communications program and develop four essential and flexible courses: Introduction to Agricultural Communications (through online delivery and dual enrollment), Agricultural Photography (through a field-experience course to be referred to as Maymester in the Smokies), Online Communications for Agricultural Organizations (including social media management, website design, and Artificial Intelligence integration), Magazine Capstone (where students develop a college digital and print publication in the course). We will build out the remaining three courses in the Desire2Learn Learning Management system. This system can be used for Extension and actual courses if the budget and climate of the unviersity improves and we are allowed to add the actual courses back. In lieu of the field-trip based course for the Ag Photography course, we will organize some value-added field experiences for students where they can learn the digital photography skills, but also skills in capturing and editing content for 360-degree video and virtual field trips. 3. Enhance the course sharing collaboration between TSU and UTM to assist students with course and faculty access and on-time matriculation and graduation. UTM studens will be invited to participate in the value added experiences where students learn the digitial storytelling technologies. 4. Integrate Artificial Intelligence applications in the newly developed Agricultural Communications program (after a study tour and industry forum at UC-Davis). We will also provide additional value added opportunities to students by engaging them in local producer operations using AI (i.e. Hatcher Dairy that uses AI for milking and processing) 5. Recruit for and launch the agricultural communications curriculum, and evaluate, disseminate, and market the new curriculum. Needed more students is still the root of our problem. We will continue to improve our overall academic curriculum to attract more studetns. We will also recruit constituent youth and adults to view the products we develop. We will add a new Co-PI and a new student to help with the work.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For the first goal, we re-initiated the needs assessment studies. Dr. Alyssa Rockers, our Agricultural Communications Co-PI, left for Iowa State University and the PhD student identified to conduct the needs assessments left for a full time job teachning agriculture. After many months, we identified a replacement Co-PI, Dr. Gabriel Spandau, and we have begun the process of completing the first goal to conduct an actionable and publishable needs assessments of students and the industry to develop an Agricultural Communications program and courses at TSU and enhance it at our partner institution. We identified an instrument that has been used nationally by the Ag Comm community, adjusted it for our needs and have begun collecting data. We anticipate the need for undergraduates to return to campus this fall to finalize this needs assessment. For the second goal to establish and teach a new Agricultural Communications program and develop four essential and flexible courses, all course syllabi and requests were made, but the university is not approving new courses at this time. Therefore, we established Learning Managmene System shells and have begun building out the courses so that students can matriculate through the content to earn a value-added certificate until budgets and conditions improve at the university for the courses to be approved and deployed. The new courses not being approved at TSU also hinders and opportunities at UTM for course sharing, but some students at Martin were able to participate in the one course that was taught, Intro to Ag Comm. In terms of the goal to integrate Artificial Intelligence applications in the newly developed Agricultural Communications program, this was done as part of the Intro course, and what we learned from AIFS was included in the plans/syllabi/course shells for the remaining courses. Specifically, generative AI and AI used in agriculture are embedded in each course. Lessons learned were also shared with other faculty at the AI for All Conference hosted by TSU. We also shared farmer opinions of AI adoption to fellow faculty at the Southern Region AAAE Research Conference.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Ricketts, J. C. (2025). Agricultural Communications Needs Assessment Strategies in Support of a New Agricultural Communications Minor at an 1890 Land-grant Institution. Proceedings of the 2025 National Agricultural Communications Symposium. Irving, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Morris, D. & Ricketts, J. C. (2024) Dissertation research assistance: Leveraging AI. Proceedings of the AI for All Summit, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Trewin, K., Norwood, J., Rockers, A., & Ricketts, J. C. (2024). College students need in agricultural communications programs. Proceedings of the 2024 ARD Biennial Research Symposium. Nashville, TN.
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Progress 05/15/23 to 05/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The short-term target audience for course developments and innovations included college students at TSU and UTM, and high school students in the state of Tennessee. No high school students have experienced the products of the grant as of yet. Both student groups, agricultural communications professionals, and educators and administrators at 1890 land grant universities were also targeted as the needs assessment studies were planned. These studies have only been initiated, but when they are completed the outputs will be published/presented widely so the target audience for dissemination inlcude lots of constituents, including students, educators, and administrators across the state and nation. Faculty and graduate students were also targeted as part of the AI integration and education activity to the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems training in California. Changes/Problems:One problem that has slowed progress is the ability to secure course approval for the courses that are being developed. Until the courses are approved, we can't teach them. The system at our university has presented logistical challenges that have hindered project progress. The PhD student brought on board added serving as a Teaching Assistant to her plate. Her TA work was not charged to this project, but it did slow the process of the needs assessment studies we intended for her to lead. Faculty from UTM were unable to attend the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems study tour and forum in California, but we invited two additional professors from TSU who are experts in AI and Digital Agriculture. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems at UC Davis study tour and forum described above was a significant training and development activity of the project. In addition, the National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) Professional Development meeting was an important event.The National Agricultural Communications Symposium is a meeting comprised of university instructors and professional (primarily land-grant) agricultural communicators. The group meets in conjunction with the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) to present and hear research focused on issues related to agricultural and applied communication research, strategies and practice. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?See above regarding the State FFA Convention What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period we plan to get the remainder of the courses approved and uploaded into the TSU Learning Management System (Desire2Learn). We also aim to teach the Agricultural Photagraphy course in addition to the Intro to Ag Comm course, and we aim to add recruit more students from both institutions to the courses. In addition, we will complete all three needs assessment studies in the next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Conduct an actionable and publishable needs assessments of students and the industry to develop an Agricultural Communications program and courses at TSU and enhance it at our partner institution. Contacts with industry have been made in preparation for the needs assessment that addresses what they believe should be part of an Ag Comm curriculum. Plans for the focus group associated with this study have been established. Plans to assess youth have been designed, and data will be collected at respective youth camps in the coming summer. 2. Establish and teach a new Agricultural Communications program and develop four essential and flexible courses: Introduction to Agricultural Communications (through online delivery and dual enrollment), Agricultural Photography (through a field-experience course to be referred to as Maymester in the Smokies), Online Communications for Agricultural Organizations (including social media management, website design, and Artificial Intelligence integration), Magazine Capstone (where students develop a college digital and print publication in the course). While content for all the courses has been assembled, only the Introduction to Ag Comm course has been taught at this time. The Agriculturtal Photography course has been submitted through the university course approval process. Needed equipment (computers, cameras, etc.) for the courses to be developed was purchased and installed. 3. Enhance the course sharing collaboration between TSU and UTM to assist students with course and faculty access and on-time matriculation and graduation. Course sharing collaboration is underway. The first course (mentioned above) included a student from UTM and nine students from TSU. UTM is working hard to recruit students for this course and others as they come on board. We have also been working on the course sharing platform, the Ag Network. Through this network, students at both institutions can cross-register seamlessly. Efforts for adding additional courses to the network have been ongoing, including monthly meetings between the two institutions. 4. Integrate Artificial Intelligence applications in the newly developed Agricultural Communications program (after a study tour and industry forum at UC-Davis). Four faculty (Ricketts, Rockers, Sang, Molaei) and two students (Trewin, Bentley) completed a study tour and discussion form with theAI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems at UC Davis. During the trip, representatives from Tennessee State University, Delaware State University, New Mexico State University, and Fort Valley State University had the valuable opportunity to engage with AIFS leadership and gain insights into AIFS programs, research, and the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The primary purpose of the meeting was to foster stronger relationships between AIFS and these universities, with the aim of either establishing or strengthening collaborative programs within the fields of AI and Agriculture. In addition to the meetings, the group had the privilege of visiting the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, where Ned Spang and Nitin Nitin provided a comprehensive tour of the facilities. This allowed the attendees to witness firsthand the cutting-edge research and advancements in food science taking place at UC Davis. Furthermore, the trip included participation in the AIFS Open House at the UC Davis Conference Center. Graduate students and post-docs presented 25 posters showcasing their research on topics related to AI in food systems and agriculture. Notable speakers such as Abigail Stevenson, Chief Science Officer at Mars, and David Wishart from the University of Alberta, gave insightful talks on the grand challenges within the food systems and the applications of AI in agrifood informatics. The trip provided a platform for fruitful discussions and knowledge-sharing, enabling the attendees to explore the potential of AI in agricultural communication and establish connections for future collaborations. 5. Recruit for and launch the agricultural communications curriculum, and evaluate, disseminate, and market the new curriculum. Recruitment for the ag program and dissemination of the project outcomes was done at the State FFA Convention by two faculty (Ricketts, Rockers), three graduate students (Kibirige, Norwood, and Trewin), and a staff member from TSU. Hundreds of students and adults came by the booth at FFA convention and we were able to get several to apply to TSU Agriculture. Dr. Tiffany Drape, project external evaluator, from Virginia Tech made a visit to Nashville where she conducted an evaluation of our progress in various activities and guided us on the needs assessment studies that still need to be conducted. Once course has been taught and the remaining courses are in still in the approval or development stage.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Agriculture Exchange, (2023). https://agriculture.quottlyinc.com/
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bently, K. & Rockers, A. (2024). Diffusion of Environmentally Related Terms among Tennessee Farmers. Association of Research Directors, Nashville, TN.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Trewin, K. (n.d.) Summary of AI Study Tour/Forum at the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems. White Paper. Tennessee State University.
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