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2. Identification of industry needs and development of professional skills in students of horticulture
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Pearson, Brian J. (author), Moore, Kimberly (author), and University of Florida
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-10
- Published:
- United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10350
- Journal Title:
- HortTechnology
- Journal Title Details:
- 27(5) : 580-582
- Notes:
- 3 pages., Via online journal., Increased global trade coupled with diversified employment opportunities demand college graduates possessing well-developed professional skills. Recent survey results identified the importance of professional skills among candidates seeking employment, with communication being recognized as the most important skill or quality when selecting candidates. The ability to work within a team structure, solve complex problems, and organize and prioritize work also ranked high among industry employment needs. Despite a rigorous focus on discipline-oriented knowledge and skills, development of professional skills in students of horticulture may be overlooked or not fully developed. Teaching methods can be modified to incorporate development of professional skills and discipline-oriented knowledge to enhance student employment preparedness and directly address industry needs.
3. Introduction: Five-minute impact strategies for engaging student- Where to start with service-learning and fundraising workshop
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Trader, Brian W. (author), Kobayashi, Kent D. (author), and University of Hawaii at Manoa
- Format:
- Workshop report
- Publication Date:
- 2017-08
- Published:
- United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 15 Document Number: D10434
- Journal Title:
- HortTechnology
- Journal Title Details:
- 27(4) : 453-454
- Notes:
- 2 pages., Via online journal.
4. Learning by doing: Applying the concept of pollen viability in a horticulture classroom
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Perez, Kauahi (author) and University of Hawaii and Manoa
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-08
- Published:
- United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10362
- Journal Title:
- HortTechnology
- Journal Title Details:
- 27(4) : 461-464
- Notes:
- 4 pages., Via journal article., Learning by doing plays a critical role in a learner’s conceptual understanding. By actively engaging with a concept, students gain experience and develop an enduring understanding of the concept. The concept of pollen viability is a critical component in the field of plant breeding and can be used to explain various aspects of pollen quality. An inquiry activity was designed to expose undergraduate students in a horticulture course to the concept of pollen viability and its application. The entire class was tasked with collaborating to identify an in vitro germination medium optimized to germinate plumeria (Plumeria rubra) pollen. To determine optimum sucrose and pH concentrations of the medium, student groups were assigned treatments of pollen from two plumeria cultivars that were germinated in Brewbaker and Kwack media of differing sucrose and pH concentrations. Students calculated the percentage of germinated pollen and assessed pollen tube integrity and used these variables as evidence of an optimized medium. Although undergraduates were engaged in authentic research practices during the inquiry activity, lack of time and resources impeded completion of the activity. However, students were exposed to methods and instrumentation directly related to evaluating pollen viability. Moreover, they were exposed to the basic practice of pollen quality assessment that they can use to carry out investigations on pollen fertility. In addition, insight was gained to improve the inquiry activity in the future. Now, well-informed modifications to the inquiry activity can be made to pilot this activity in a formal horticulture laboratory section.
5. Student use and perceptions of virtual plant walk maps as a study tool in plant identification courses
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wilson, Matthew S. (author), Miller, Chad T. (author), Bloedow, Nicholas R. (author), and Kansas State University
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-02
- Published:
- United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10449
- Journal Title:
- HortTechnology
- Journal Title Details:
- 27(1) : 121-127
- Notes:
- 7 pages., Via online journal., Virtual plant walk maps were developed for an ornamental plant identification (ID) course, with the goal of providing an additional study resource to potentially enhance student learning. The maps provided students an opportunity to revisit plants covered in lecture and laboratory sections at their own convenience, using either a computer or mobile device. Each map plotted the locations of the plants from the corresponding list and provided photographs of specimens, plant family, common and scientific names, and plant type information. At the end of the course, a survey was given to collect information about student use and perceptions of the virtual plant walk maps for two fall semesters (n = 87). Survey results indicated 63% of the students used the virtual plant walk maps as a study resource. Students who used the maps reported accessing the maps an average of 3.2 times between receiving the maps and taking the plant ID quiz in laboratory. Students mainly used the maps to study the most current plant list and accessed previous plant list maps to a lesser extent. About 67% of students who used the virtual maps, used the maps to visually review the plants online only, although 31% of students used the maps for both visual review and to physically retrace the plant walk to view the live specimens. Of the students who did not use the maps, most found other study resources/methods more useful or they forgot about the maps as a resource. When asked to rate usefulness of the maps on a scale from slightly useful (1) to very useful (3), 43% of students indicated that the virtual maps study tool was very useful, 25% indicated the maps were useful, and 8% indicated that the maps were slightly useful. A significant dependence between student use frequency and student usefulness ratings of virtual plant walk maps was observed. As students’ use of the virtual maps increased, they perceived the maps to be more useful to their studies in preparing for ID quizzes. No differences between plant ID quiz scores were associated with virtual plant walk map use, learning style, or use by learning style. Our survey indicated that students used the virtual plant walk maps as a resource and perceived the maps as a useful tool in preparation for ID quizzes.
6. The potential return on investment of the recruitment strategies for an academic unit focused on agricultural sciences
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Robertson, J. Tanner (author), Hurst, Taylor (author), Williams, Kevin (author), and Kieth, Lance (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 169 Document Number: D08981
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Applied Communications
- Journal Title Details:
- 101(2) : 59-71
7. Training tomorrow's environmental journalists: assessing the extent of environmental-themed training in college-level journalism programs
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Schmidt, H.C. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article summary
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 136 Document Number: D11413
- Journal Title:
- Applied Environmental Education & Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- 16(1) : 17-28
- Notes:
- 2 pages., Research summary online via the North American Association for Environmental Education., Author used a three-component data collection frame. Findings suggested that "very little training exists at the college level; almost 80% of schools with communication or journalism programs did not offer any courses described as directly or indirectly about the environment. Nevertheless, almost 80% of surveyed students thought coursework in environmental reporting was somewhat important, important, or very important. Furthermore, of the news article published in campus papers, under 2% covered environmental topics, which the researcher rated as "typically simplistic and local(typically campus) in geographic scale.
8. Using an experiential learning design to teach photography in agricultural communications
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kennedy, Lindsay (author), Akers, Cindy (author), Jackson, Rachel B. (author), and Texas Tech University
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Published:
- United States: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 2 Document Number: D10172
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Applied Communications
- Journal Title Details:
- 101(4)
- Notes:
- 13 pages, via online journal, Photography is an important competency of agricultural communications graduates and is a core skill taught in the discipline’s curriculum. The [department] at [university] offers an undergraduate photography course twice yearly in two semester formats: a traditional spring semester where photography principles are taught in the classroom and a 12-day experiential intersession semester that allows for flexibility in how and where the course is taught. Both semesters utilize the same instructor, assignments, and grading rubric. While much agricultural communications research has focused on photography as a needed skill, few studies examine photography teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to compare student performance in an agricultural communications digital photography course taught with an experiential learning approach to a traditional classroom approach during the 2016 and 2017 academic calendar years. Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare students’ cumulative mean assignment scores, individual assignment mean scores, and rubric criteria mean scores within the two instruction formats. The results suggest instruction method has an effect on student performance in agricultural communications digital photography courses. Students in the experiential intersession course had significantly higher mean cumulative assignment scores compared to students in the traditional course. While individual assignment performance was less affected by instruction format, students’ understanding of specific photography skills (rubric criteria), especially composition and clarity was higher when in the experiential intersession format.
9. Using flipped classrooms and virtual field trips to engage students
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kobayashi, Kent D. (author) and University of Hawaii at Manoa
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-08
- Published:
- United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10364
- Journal Title:
- HortTechnology
- Journal Title Details:
- 27(4) : 458-460
- Notes:
- 3 pages., Via online journal., Student engagement in the classroom is critical for effective learning. To enhance student engagement, several teaching approaches can be used, including a flipped classroom approach and virtual field trips. The flipped classroom approach was used in an undergraduate tropical production systems course in which students viewed lecture materials outside of class, brought their smart devices to class to review materials, searched for new information on the Internet, and participated in small group discussions. In the virtual field trip assignment, each student visited a commercial farm or nursery, interviewed the owner or manager, and gave a presentation to the class about the operation of the enterprise and its sustainable practices.