19 pages, Agricultural education is crucial in nations such as Nepal where agriculture is the backbone of society. However, many Nepalese students face challenges due to a lack of access to a quality education, socio-economic disparities, and political instability. The diverse and evolving needs of its agricultural students need to be examined to ensure educational practices are responsive and inclusive. This study developed and tested a hypothesized integration of learning styles and critical thinking styles. A survey research design was employed, targeting agricultural education students in Nepal. The findings indicated male and female students exhibited different critical thinking styles, but their learning styles did not differ. Female students preferred seeking critical thinking styles, whereas males preferred engaging critical thinking styles; therefore, educational strategies should be tailored to encourage information seeking for female students and engagement for male students. Additionally, first-year students preferred Concrete Experience (CE) when learning, while fourth-year students preferred Abstract Experimentation (AE). Therefore, curricula should be designed to incorporate practical, real-world tasks for first-year students and more theoretical, application-based tasks for fourth-year students. The study also found significant relationships between engager critical thinking styles and AE and Reflective Observation (RO), and between seeker critical thinking styles and CE and AE. Unexpected inverse relationships were observed, indicating complex dynamics between these constructs and the need for additional exploration conceptually. The results underscore the importance of testing new conceptual models to develop structures for future study that will support the diverse and evolving needs of agricultural education students around the world.
18 pages, This qualitative study explored rural students' motivations to participate in agricultural study abroad. Thirty-five undergraduate students (24 women and 11 men) applied to participate in a 6-month cohort internship program through the application form and statement of purpose. The analysis of this information allowed us to identify the motivations of rural students to apply to a cohort internship program that offer possibilities of international exchange at a large university in the U.S. Four motivational categories to participate in the study abroad were described (i.e., academic, personal, career, and community motivations). Practical implications are provided for government and university administrators and program coordinators with rural youth motivation information to help them plan their internationalization efforts for academic exchanges.
18 pages, International study is essential in developing diverse and well-rounded global citizens who will become the next generation of world leaders. International study equips students with the skills to address the world’s most pressing and complex problems. An integral factor in the success of international graduate students is the relationship dynamic with their faculty advisor. The faculty-graduate student mentoring relationship is crucial for academic and personal success and professional development (Lim et al., 2021; Woo et al., 2015). The role of faculty advisors with international students has expanded from traditional supervisory roles to include roles as translators, confidants, and pillars for social integration (Marijanovic et al., 2021; Woo et al., 2015). In this study, we hypothesize that cognitive differences, more than cultural differences, affect the productivity of this problem-solving dyad. This study investigated the lived experiences of international graduate students related to the development of and satisfaction with the faculty-student mentoring relationship. Findings show that besides cultural intelligence, clear expectations, mutual respect, and flexibility contributed to international students' perceived satisfaction with the mentoring relationship.
12 pages, Notable differences have been observed in how society perceives and understands the agricultural industry. Consumers today are concerned with how their food is raised and produced, and drastic changes in how information is gathered regarding those subjects have occurred due to the rapid development of digital media. As a result, the agricultural industry has fallen behind in ensuring accurate information is shared about the daily work done to feed the world. A form of digital media that has infiltrated the daily lives of society is social media (SM). This study sought to evaluate the impact established agricultural social media influencers (SMIs) on Instagram can have on changing participants' perceived knowledge regarding several agricultural topics. Participants were recruited through the platform Prolific and were asked to complete an anonymous Qualtrics survey. Survey questions were asked before and after participants were shown example images of agricultural SMIs. Data collected were analyzed utilizing IBM SPSS (Version 28) to compare pre-image and post-image results to determine the contents' impact on participants' perceived knowledge of subjects relating to agriculture. Results indicated significant differences between the pre-image and post-image perceived knowledge results and between different forms of reported engagement willingness.
15 pages, Agriculture is a significant contributor to the global economy and critical for future food and fibre production. To maximise the industry efficiencies and improve sustainability, a knowledgeable workforce is essential. Today’s school-aged youth will be the next generation agriculture workforce. However, there is concern that today’s youth are more detached from agriculture than ever before, viewing the industry as an unattractive career prospect and possessing low levels of agricultural literacy. Using a qualitative approach, this research presents the results from an open-response survey item asking Australian primary and secondary students to ‘list three words you think of when you hear the word ‘agriculture’’. Focus groups with Australian primary and secondary teachers were also conducted to explore these findings. Overall, students appear to have what can be described as a conventional understanding of agriculture as it relates to traditional farming, particularly animal production. However, students appeared to have a lower level of understanding and perception of the industry in less-traditional settings, including modern careers and the technologies involved. Improved agricultural education in Australia, including both formal and informal programs on possible career paths and technology adoption in the industry is recommended to support knowledge development of the modern sector to attract the next generation workforce.
4 pages, Resource constraints have lowered the number of collegiate livestock judging teams, dropping the number of opportunities for collegiate judging, even though interest among students remains high. These opportunities can be provided for less expense through student-led extracurricular organizations. This approach increases the student initiative required, but also provides an increased opportunity for developing and demonstrating leadership skills.
7 pages, Graduate education is an important aspect of the life of most academic scientists and a serious responsibility because it comes with the obligation to help students achieve their career and life goals. It can also be very fulfilling for the graduate mentor in terms of personal satisfaction and advancement of the research program. Learning to be a good major professor is an active process that depends on developing a formal framework of education and modifying that framework for each student based on past experiences and experimentation, advice from colleagues, and the individual personality of the student. Perhaps most important is for the graduate mentor to buy into the success and well-being of the student. Among the characteristics that a major professor could seek to instill in his or her students are critical and independent thinking, self-confidence, a thick skin, teamwork, laboratory skills and understanding, and the ability for hard work. Work to make science joyful by celebrating accomplishments, creating a fun environment in the lab, and stressing the societal value of science as compared to personal rewards or ambition.
11 pages, Individual background and demographics affect student perceptions of animal production. Understanding how science-based education alters these opinions is a critical aspect of improving university instruction as well as increasing consumer engagement in the poultry industry. The study objectives were to quantify the effects of student background, career interests, and science-based instruction on opinions regarding current issues in the poultry industry. Undergraduate students enrolled in a one semester poultry science course at Iowa State University between 2018 and 2021 were anonymously surveyed at the start and end of the semester as part of a 4-yr study. Students who opted to take the survey answered three demographic questions indicating their 1) livestock experience, 2) sex, and 3) career goals. The body of the survey consisted of 16 “poultry issue statements” where students were directed to mark a vertical dash on a 130 mm horizontal line indicating their level of agreement with each statement. Post-survey collection, the line was separated into 5 sections for discussion: responses within 0%–20% indicated strongly disagree, 21%–40% disagree, 41%–60% neutral, 61%–80% agree, and 81%–100% indicated strongly agree. Responses were analyzed using Proc Mixed in SAS Version 9.4 with a Tukey–Kramer adjustment for all pairwise comparisons using main effects including demographic categories, education (pre- or post-instruction), and year the survey was taken. Responses to various issue statements were affected by students’ livestock experience (P < 0.05; 6 out of 16 statements affected), sex (P < 0.05; 5 out of 16 statements), and ultimate career goals (P < 0.05; 4 out of 16 statements). Pre- vs. post-education responses differed significantly in 6 out of 16 statements (P < 0.05), and in 2 out of 16 poultry issue statements, the year of instruction affected student response (P < 0.05). These data indicate that individual student background, sex, and differing career interests impact opinions of current topics in the broiler and layer industries. Further, science-based education as well as the year the course was taken over consecutive semesters significantly altered student opinions.
14 pages, Agriculturalists can be divided into broad ideological camps with differing value sets. While many different groups exist, there are two primary ideological groups: (1) conventional or agrarian populists and (2) non-conventional or neo-agrarians. Agricultural education students’ values about agriculture shape how they will work in their future classrooms, schools, and communities, as well as how they will interact with students and community members. The purpose of this narrative study was to describe undergraduate agricultural education students’ conceptualization of their values about agriculture. The findings from this study highlighted the polarization of ideologies in American agriculture. The agricultural education students’ conceptualization of agricultural values was largely conventional. Some students formed conventional agriculture values as they grew up, while other students experienced a change of their values towards conventional attitudes while in college. Students’ responses to others with differing values ranged from indifferent to negative. These differences indicate a real challenge for post-secondary agricultural educators. Students have the right to maintain their own values in agriculture, however they must be able to work with others who have differing values. Research is needed to evaluate effective ways to help students learn how to work with people who have differing agricultural values.
Cletzer, D. Adam (author), Mott, Rebecca L. (author), Simonsen, Jon C. (author), Tummons, John D. (author), Peckman, Jaelyn Y. (author), and Preston, Kate (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2022-01-01
Published:
USA: American Association for Agricultural Education
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12706
17 pages, Agricultural leadership coursework has sought to developed leadership skills in graduates of colleges of agriculture for decades. Yet, a national study of the scope and nature of undergraduate leadership coursework has not been conducted since 2003. The purpose of this study was to provide empirical data for discussion of the state of agricultural leadership education. A census of all programs represented by faculty in AAAE was conducted, and 227 courses were determined to exist, the most common types of courses were introduction to leadership, personal leadership, and team and group leadership. The most common leadership theories or concepts present in the 100 course syllabi analyzed were “traits and skills,” “ethics,” and “servant leadership.” More than 80 different textbooks were used.