Taylor, Carl (author), Symon, Elizabeth B. (author), Dabbs, Amy (author), Way, Alexander (author), Thompson, Olivia M. (author), and Center for Livable Communities
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-04
Published:
United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10447
7 pages., Via online journal., South Carolina public schools consistently rank low in academic performance. In addition, 39% of elementary, 40% of middle, and 30% of high school students within the state are classified as overweight or obese. School garden-based learning (GBL) is a low-cost and high-impact initiative that addresses both poor academic performance and childhood obesity. This study examined how school-based gardens, as part of a pilot farm-to-school (FtS) initiative, are administered and used within academic and cafeteria meal programs. An online survey was developed and sent to 102 educators who previously completed an online training course entitled School Gardening for South Carolina Educators during the 2012–15 academic school years. Data were collected from 37 educators (36% response rate). Survey results indicate that the majority of these educators, although they completed the training course, were unaware that their garden was a component of an FtS program. Moreover, gardens were not integrated with school-wide programs, especially in the cafeteria: most gardens did not contribute food to the cafeteria and meals offered most often did not align with plants learned about in the gardens. Successes of the pilot program were that the majority of educators started and maintained their garden for over 1 year and they were able to use their gardens during the day for academic instruction in multiple disciplines, including math, science, and nutrition.
Arnold, Michael A. (author), Meyer, Mary H. (author), Rhodus, Tim (author), Barton, Susan S. (author), and Texas A&M University
University of Minnesota
The Ohio State University
University of Delaware
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-04
Published:
United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10444
6 pages., Via online journal., Based on a survey of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), membership need was identified for an online peer review system to validate innovation and recognize excellence in science-based teaching and extension scholarship for promotion and tenure purposes. This system would also provide a clearinghouse for instructional materials of merit for use in classrooms, laboratories, and outreach education, which fall outside the parameters of the three academic journals of ASHS. It was determined HortTechnology already provided a valued outlet for peer review of manuscript style teaching and extension scholarship; however, a need was identified for a mechanism to provide peer review of instructional materials which did not conform to a traditional manuscript format. Herein we describe the process that led to the development and launch of HortIM™, a new peer review system for teaching and extension instructional materials. An online peer review process for juried assessment of instructional materials such as articles, bulletins, case studies, fact sheets, instructional videos, teaching modules, and laboratory exercises was developed. A beta test of initial solicited materials in each category was piloted resulting in an initial database of these scholarly materials. This activity culminated in an initial opening of the system for submissions in Fall 2016. This article documents the development of HortIM™, including the submission and review process.
