Plants are crucial parts of ecosystems but are traditionally considered boring and difficult by students. It is therefore not clear whether factual knowledge about plants contributes to building positive attitudes and interest in botany. We investigated whether factual knowledge about monocotyledonous plants is associated with secondary students'…

If education could be considered the profession of the utilization of knowledge, then this would be difficult to pass on, especially when we talk about human sciences. In such disciplines, it is critical to develop students' ability to reflect philosophical contemplation, theories, and different themes on the real life. Consequently, education in…

Student interest in plants is lacking. Therefore, we investigated potential drivers of situational interest in cultivated plants and interactions between different dimensions of interest, i.e. topic, context and learning activity. A total of 462 high school students (14-17 years of age) rated two sets of questionnaire items combining eight plants…

Peer review is not included in undergraduate horticultural curricula. Our research objectives in an 8- year study, which ranged from 2000 to 2007 in two sections (2000-2002 non-peer reviewed and 2003-2007 peer-reviewed) of Greenhouse Management students at the University of Minnesota were to determine whether iterative peer reviews would result in…

Six units of instruction are provided in this manual designed for deaf students enrolled in an ornamental horticulture program. Unit 1 contains eight lessons (pictures and names) on tool and equipment identification (e.g., cutting and pruning tools, lawn and garden equipment, and power equipment). Unit 2 provides ten lessons on the care of tools…

This Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS) criterion-referenced test item bank provides 325 multiple-choice items and 18 matching items for ornamental horticulture production occupations. Job titles covered are specialty grower, plant propagator, and horticultural worker I and II. The following information is provided in…

This secondary horticulture curriculum guide is one of a set of three designated as the basic core of instruction for horticulture programs in Kansas. Units of instruction are presented in eight sections: (1) Human Relations, (2) Business Operations, (3) Greenhouse, (4) Retail Flowershop Operation, (5) Landscape Nursery, (6) Lawn Maintenance, (7)…

This second horticulture guide is one of a set of three designated as the basic core of instruction for horticulture programs in Kansas. Units of instruction are presented in eight sections: (1) Leadership, (2) Supervised Occupational Experience, (3) Plant Propagation, (4) Soil and Plant Growth Media, (5) Fertilizers, (6) Greenhouse, (7) Plant…

This revised version of "Mathematics for Horticulture" was developed to meet the needs of educators faced with teaching a mathematics curriculum based on real-life applications. The manual includes a wide range of topics, some remedial in nature, but all very basic to success in the industry. The manual contains seven chapters that cover the…

This secondary horticulture curriculum guide is one of a set of three designated as the basic core of instruction for horticulture programs in Kansas. Units of instruction are presented in thirteen sections: (1) Orientation and Careers, (2) Leadership and Future Farmers of America, (3) Supervised Occupational Experience Program, (4) Plant…

This report examines conditions in the California nursery industry and develops a comprehensive baseline of labor force requirements and practices. A telephone survey was conducted with 167 randomly selected nurseries in a 10-county area. Additionally, 455 workers and 85 employers participated in on-site interviews. Workers were classified as…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

The 1987 Master Gardener program was presented at 16 locations in Iowa, where weekday sessions were supplemented with Saturday satellite telecasts. This cooperative extension service program provided special training in horticulture to members of the local community who would then work as volunteers through their local cooperative extension office…

This guide is intended for use by licensed irrigators who wish to teach others how to design and install residential and commercial irrigation systems. The materials included in the guide have been developed under the assumption that the instructors who use it have little or no formal training as teachers. The first section presents detailed…

This guide is intended for use by individuals preparing for a career in commercial and residential irrigation. The materials included are geared toward students who have had some experience in the irrigation business; they are intended to be presented in 10 six-hour sessions. The first two sections deal with using this guide and preparing for the…