Educators within agricultural and natural resource disciplines are tasked with educating students to critically engage with and problem-solve complex issues. As society's relationship with science and technology changes, coupled with an information-dense environment, strategies for sustainably addressing complex issues are needed. One potential…

Effective recruitment initiatives for underrepresented student populations interested in pursuing degrees in agricultural-related sciences have the potential to diversify colleges of agriculture while also increasing enrollment. In the current study, we used a qualitative case study approach to examine the effectiveness of the recruitment…

With the continued shortage of teachers in agricultural education, the teacher preparation faculty in agricultural education at Texas Tech University began a series of investigations evaluating the teacher preparation program. These evaluations sought to identify areas for improvement and determine if elements of the student teaching experience…

Dr. J. Scott Vernon presented the 2017 AAAE Distinguished Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education in San Luis Obispo, California in May, 2017. The article is a philosophical work based upon the author's experiences in the agricultural education profession.

There is an ever-imminent need for career-ready graduates from collegiate agriculture programs. Generational shifts in attitudes and background experiences of agricultural students challenge educators to maintain curricular programming which establishes a successful career trajectory for students. Students studying animal science and/or…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explain the development of preservice agriculture teachers' PCK [Pedagogical Content Knowledge] for the concept of plant fertilizers within a content-focused methods course. The emergent central phenomenon was an overall lack of PCK development for plant fertilizers, highlighted by five main…

Social media is known for having the ability to rapidly disseminate information and university students now receive the majority of information about agriculture through social media platforms rather than through first-hand experience. In order to understand the impact of social media on university students related to the beef industry, a study of…

Nationwide, agricultural education has experienced a shortage of qualified school-based agriculture teachers for over four decades. Students who seek careers as agriculture teachers are often those who participated in agricultural education and FFA in high school. The Ag Ed FITChoice® Model (Lawver 2009; Lawver & Torres, 2012) was used as the…

Afghanistan remains an agrarian country with most analyses holding food production and processing as key to recovery. To date, however, there are no public or private higher education departments focused on food technology. To bridge this gap, Herat University initiated a new academic department conferring BS degrees in food technology. Models for…

Current research demonstrates a need to explore the effects of specific course designs or directed activities on higher education students' critical thinking abilities. Specifically, such research on the effect of an experiential learning-based capstone course is limited. All students (N = 54) enrolled in a capstone farm management course…

Agricultural education is defined by a best practice three-component model of instruction that includes a classroom experience, leadership development and FFA involvement, and an experience-based activity through a Supervised Agricultural Experience program (SAE). Based on program of activities award criteria, each year state FFA associations…

The decline of youth engagement in agriculture worldwide amidst an increasing global population remains a big challenge to ensuring food security for future generations. This phenomenon is worsened by the shortage of professional female agriculturists, though they comprise about 60% to 80% of the traditional workforce in the agriculture sector of…

The USDA/NIFA has awarded funding to Land Grant Institutions to conduct and enhance the Hazardous Occupations Safety Training in Agriculture (HOSTA) program. The HOSTA program is designed to provide relevant educational opportunities in an effort to reduce the frequency and severity of farm-related injuries to all youth who work in agricultural…

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing FFA members to continue their FFA experience beyond high school. Two focus groups were conducted, one for collegiate FFA members and one for past/current state officers. Participants provided several areas of improvement for collegiate and alumni FFA membership. Participants noted…

A team of nine researchers from the United States spent 10 days exploring the formal agricultural education system in Trinidad and Tobago from primary education through postgraduate education. Data were collected from interviews and observations from students, teachers/instructors, and agricultural producers. The team concluded that (a) the people…