5 pages., Via online journal., Food security is a growing global concern. To meet the needs of an ever-growing population, food production practices will need to evolve to maximize food quantity and quality. Controlled-environment food production has increased significantly in the United States over the past 5 years, and a component of that production includes hydroponic food crops. In an effort to better prepare a workforce with knowledge of hydroponic crop production, a new course was added to an existing greenhouse curriculum. A service-learning project was integrated in the course that allowed students to experience both growing crops hydroponically and volunteering at a local food bank with a free meal program. Self-assessment showed a significant increase in student confidence in understanding food security by the end of the course. There was also a significant knowledge gained in defining terminology, factors, and the impact of food security in a community. The three guided reflections students completed during the course identified four common themes relative to the course content and service-learning project including the following: community benefits, value of volunteering, local and global effects of food insecurity, and personal growth.
Ruiz-Carpio, Miguel Rafael (author), Safai, Cyrus (author), Djobo, Arafat (author), Gaichuk, Ivan (author), and Safai, Nick M. (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2018
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: D10863
Notes:
Poster/paper published in proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education annual conference and exposition, Salt Lake City, Utah. 2018, pages 1-15., Motivating, promoting interest in teaching engineering subjects is always a challenge for undergraduate engineering students especially for junior and lower level students. This approach also brought social awareness to members of the group, as well as tolerance and responsibility. It also emphasized to the students a tolerant and an open-minded world, now and forevermore. A group of multinational, multicultural undergraduate students at Salt Lake Community College, majoring in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Computer engineering are working on a project involving vertical farming, hydroponic watering, and making the plant growing process smart.
Food and its availability is of major concern in all nations, especially the underdeveloped communities. Students get exposed to different engineering disciplines, and learn how to work in a multicultural team and become socially responsible in an ever increasing connected world. Each student also becomes a teacher to other students at times discussing his specialty and field of engineering.
