Especially within the light of the current loss of biodiversity, we want our students to gain a better understanding of the issues at stake in order to take action and support plants and their pollinators. Many educational approaches focus on honeybees, disregarding the vast diversity in the context of pollination systems and the complex…

This book presents essential learning approaches. It introduces educational and training activities, as well as various innovative methods aiming at the development of practical skills, in order to strengthen the continuous process of environmental education, and in particular the education for sustainable development (ESD). In doing so, it…

"Forensics," in its most universal sense, is defined as the use of science or technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence for determining identity or relatedness. Most forensic reasoning is used for arguing legal matters. However, forensic studies are also used in agronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and…

Primary literature is an underutilized learning resource for undergraduate courses in crop science. Reading assignments from scientific journals were utilized in an undergraduate University of Minnesota crop physiology course at Southwest Minnesota State University from 2002 to 2004. The subjects of the articles corresponded to the lecture topics.…

Discusses procedures for teaching basic soil morphological concepts using soil cores collected along a toposequence. Describes materials and methods for collecting, laboratory use of cores, and student evaluation results. Shows a table of criteria used to describe soils for profile descriptions. (RT)

Reviewed is research which supports retesting students to enhance learning. Evaluation results, materials and methods used to implement the procedure are described. Included are tables on student responses concerning involved groups and the value and benefits of retakes. (RT)

Offers perspectives and an overview of 35 years of teaching an elementary course in soils at Mississippi State University. Discusses the nature of and changes over the years in course content, teaching methods, and student characteristics. Explains the principles that guided instruction in the course. (ML)

Explains the use of a cropping systems project to teach agronomic principles and crop management techniques, and to enhance communication skills. Provides a sample progress report instructions sheet which was used for the project. (Author/RT)

The advantages and disadvantages of poster sessions vs. oral talks are reviewed. Front-end and secondary planning, materials, and follow-up needed for poster sessions are outlined. An example session and a check list are included. (Author/CW)

This article details some of the changes that have occurred in U.S. land-grant universities and colleges of agriculture, and the resulting issues and challenges facing faculty. Strategies for addressing these challenges are proposed. (Author/CW)

Presented is a successfully implemented active learning project and results of a survey to assess the success of the project. Materials and methods are discussed, and an example of one project is provided. (Author/CW)

Describes a course designed to teach the relationship between science, agronomy, and society. Includes course and class description, course content, and evaluation of the course. (11 references) (MCO)

We describe our pedagogical approaches and experiences with a novel course in agroecology (one semester, three credit-hours, for graduate students and upper level undergraduates). Our course responds to recent proposals that agroecology expand its disciplinary focus to include human factors as well as ecological factors, thus taking a more…

Addresses four concerns faced by educators incorporating specific features of learning objectives into a course: structure of the course, students' acceptance of changes, time commitment required of professors, and format interference with presentation of subject-matter. (RT)

Summarizes the capabilities of a computer program related to forest fertilization. Provides a description of input parameters, some sample exercises, software specifications, and availability information. Additional references are listed. (Author/RT)