Fundamentally, agricultural teacher education programs and their faculty are tasked with preparing competent teachers capable of teaching students enrolled in public schools. As part of their design, an important facet of these programs is ensuring pre-service teachers are ready to provide educational opportunities in aspects of school-based…

With agricultural education teachers continually leaving the teaching profession, it is up to schools and administrators to assist in retaining teachers. People are motivated differently based on their experiences and goals for their futures. Both intrinsic and altruistic motivators are highly involved when one decides to become a teacher. The…

The purpose of this study was to determine students' perceived confidence in mechanics skills increases through exploration and enlargement of the college education experience. This paper describes the relationship between West Virginia University first-semester agricultural education pre-service teachers' perception of their confidence in…

Historically, less than two-thirds of all newly certified agricultural education students enter the school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teaching profession. Teacher educators must understand preservice teachers' intention to teach to help fulfill the demand for SBAE teachers. This study examines the motivations to consider a teaching career…

Global learning began as an expanded approach to world studies and in recent decades has taken on the role of studying both global concepts and issues. The integration of global learning into comprehensive education will help prepare globally competent individuals to join the workforce. Recent studies have called for a targeted approach using…

Agricultural mechanics is a primary subject area in school-based agricultural education (SBAE). Despite a high prevalence in SBAE, preservice and in-service SBAE teachers have frequently expressed concerns regarding teaching agricultural mechanics. Early 21st-century research documented the characteristics of preservice SBAE teacher training in…

School based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers are required to have expertise in pedagogy and a complex array of agricultural content areas. This study integrated an experience with agricultural technical skills and pedagogical experimentation for preservice teachers in a teaching methods course. An integrated skills acquisition (ISA)…

The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the impact of using young adult literature in a content area literacy course to leverage the development of professional identities in preservice agriculture teachers (n= 4). Empirical studies of the literacy-based experiences and professional development of agricultural education majors are…

The purpose of this study was to describe the self-efficacy and professional identity of preservice agricultural education teachers and other secondary education preservice teachers. Data were collected from respondents (n=85) from 13 institutions and included both agricultural education preservice teachers (n=68) and other secondary education…

Global citizenship is critical to the development of a globally ready 21st century workforce in food, fiber, and natural resources. The global citizenship model utilized in this study includes domains of social responsibility, global competency and global civic engagement. The knowledge, skills, and dispositions of educators are critical factors…

Teacher educators face the perpetual challenge of providing pre-service teachers with the most pertinent pedagogical and content-related knowledge and skills to ensure their success in the field of education. Using a modified version of a Borich needs assessment instrument, we assessed the agricultural education training needs of agricultural…

The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative research was to identify the influences on students' decisions to pursue a career as a high school agriculture teacher and develop a proposed theoretical model to conceptualize this career decision. Two samples of students -- one sample of high school students and one sample of college students --…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate agricultural students on the cognitive and emotional processes produced after exposure to low- and high-level questions, as well as the effects of post-question wait-time to determine the benefits of differing lengths of post-question wait-time based on the level of…

Students coming to university agricultural education programs have less agricultural experience than in the past. Teacher educators are limited to the experiences they can facilitate. Universities have graduated qualified agricultural teacher candidates who do not have experiences in content area skills required of them to teacher. This study…

Digital literacy, technology self-efficacy, and attitude toward technology play an impactful role in the life of pre-service and in-service agriculture teachers. Proficiency in digital literacy and technology self-efficacy, along with a positive attitude toward technology, can predict and shape an educator's capacity to implement best practices…