20 pages; Article 3, via online journal, Student-run publications, including newsrooms and similar agency-style work achieve the curricular goal of experiential learning (Roberts, 2006) for university agricultural communication students. Gaining a journalistic skillset in the classroom is richly supplemented with experiencing real-world and authentic agency immersion to reveal to students the genuine characteristics of a workplace. The purpose of this study was to use Q methodology to evaluate a real-world, out-of-class-but-supervised newsroom producing publications for the State FFA Convention. Fifteen undergraduate students who were immersed in this three-day program in which students publish original work to disseminate information to FFA participants and the public participated in the study at the end of the newsroom experience. With a concourse sampled along four dimensions of growth and development (Author, 2014), a Q set of 36 statements was sorted. In addition to the Q sorts, comments gathered from the students at the last session assisted in the interpretation of data. Post-sort interviews were conducted with exemplar sorters. Data were analyzed using principal components and varimax rotation and interpreted to show three ways the newsroom was experienced by the university students. The Supervisors honed managerial skills while working as colleagues with faculty supervisors. The Contented Staff valued the education gained from the experience and recognized the practical application of the communications-based skill-set. The Stressed Staff had insecurities and physical discomfort during the work and living in the city. Implications for program development, classroom instruction, and field experience assessment will be discussed.
4 pages., Via online journal., Interactive web-based questions were developed for students to review
subject matter learned in an online plant propagation course. Articulate Storyline
software was used to build nearly 250 review questions with five different testing
styles to ascertain proficiency in subject areas, including the biology of propagation,
the propagation environment, seed propagation, vegetative propagation, micropropagation, and cell culture. Questions were arranged to correspond to the
supporting textbook chapters in Hartmann and Kester’s Plant propagation: Principles and practices, ninth edition. These are open access and available to instructors
and students worldwide. Users received immediate feedback for each question
answered correctly or incorrectly. The system remembers where one leaves off,
which enables starting and stopping multiple times within a chapter. Means of preand posttest responses to nine content knowledge items showed that students
perceived a significant content knowledge gain in the course. These online interactive reviews can be adapted easily to other courses in a variety of fields,
including horticulture, botany, systematics, and biology. They can also be expanded
to overlay multiple objects and trigger events based on user response. Since inception,
the website hosting these online reviews averaged 156 unique visitors per month.
Students have reported this to be a useful tool to prepare them for course exams.
Harsh, Jessica (author), Lamm, Alexa (author), Telg, Ricky (author), and Meyers, Courtney (author)
Format:
Paper abstract
Publication Date:
2018-02
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D10019
Notes:
Abstract of paper presented at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) Agricultural Communications Section, Jacksonville, Florida, February 4-5, 2018.
2 pages., Research summary via online from the North American Association for Environmental Education., Researchers interviewed 11 environmental or science journalism educators from four-year institutions and identified four common challenges: (1) keeping up with technology, (2) student interest, (3) environmental advocacy among students; and (4) lack of potential careers in the field. They suggested pre-requisites.
Campbell, Julie H. (author), Henderson, Jason J. (author), Wallace, Victoria H. (author), and University of Georgia
University of Connecticut
Department of Extension, University of Connecticut
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018-08
Published:
United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 11 Document Number: D10327
7 pages., Via online journal., This study examined how different presentation formats affected knowledge gain among school grounds managers. Results indicate large-group participants (presentation to ≈50 participants at a turfgrass field day) had greater knowledge retention than small-group participants (presentation to 6–10 participants at an interactive workshop). Small-group attendees had more flexibility to discuss issues that affected them directly and may have focused on those issues instead of the targeted information. Large-group meetings were more ridged in format and attendees were less able to deviate from the main subject matter being presented. However, the value of the small-group meeting should not be discounted, especially when athletic field grounds managers and staff require information specific to their situation. When disseminating more general information, the large-group meeting format is a better means of delivery.
Waliczek, Tina M. (author), Parsley, Kathryn M. (author), Williamson, Paula S. (author), Oxley, Florence M. (author), and Texas State University
The University of Memphis
Austin Community College
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018-08
Published:
United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 11 Document Number: D10330
9 pages., Via online journal., Negative impacts from invasive species present a global problem. Consequently, invasive species biology has emerged as an important subdiscipline of conservation biology. One of the goals of invasive species biology is to educate the public about impacts and potential control of invasive species. The purpose of this study was to determine if a lecture, a lecture and laboratory learning model, or both influence college student learning gains and whether increase in knowledge results in changes in attitudes about invasive species. A pre- and posttest instrument that measured knowledge and attitudes of invasive species was administered to several different classes of students at a university and community college. One group of students received a lecture and laboratory curriculum between the pre- and posttest (the lecture and laboratory treatment group). A second group of students received a lecture between the pre- and posttest (the lecture-only treatment group) and a third group received no instruction between tests (the control group). The lecture was in the form of an electronic presentation, whereas the laboratory curriculum included a case study, a visual aid, and a scavenger hunt to educate students about examples of invasive plant and animal species. In all classes and groups, there were at least 2 weeks between administering the pre- and posttest. Results showed that the control group scores were not different between the pre- and posttest. However, both the lecture-only and the lecture and laboratory treatment groups had scores that changed after receiving the curricula. In addition, there was an effect of curricula on student learning for the three conditions. The differences between the group that received no curricula vs. the two that did indicated that the curricula were effective teaching interventions to help students become more educated about invasive species.
Researchers addressed an issue in teaching scientific communication. Surveys and interviews indicated that a disconnect existed between what instructors expected of their students in writing laboratory reports and what the stated learning outcomes were for their horticultural science courses. Researchers developed and tested a grading or analytic scoring rubric, observing positive results.
13th European Farming Systems Association (IFSA) Symposium, Greece., Provides a narrative review which identifies key functional characteristics that enable learning in demonstration farms.
9 pages., Online via UI e-subscription, Researchers examined Internet access and interest in receiving nutrition education via social media application among low-income adults participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed).Results indicated similar Internet accessibility in southern Illinois among low-income populations compared with national rural rates. Interest in using online nutrition education varied among participants according to age. Overall, 49% of middle-aged adults aged 33-64 years and 87% of seniors aged 65 years or older reported they would not use online nutrition education.
