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…

Local problems in the surrounding environment can be developed in school learning according to independent curriculum policies so that students are responsive and can play an active role in solving problems, such as those related to viruses and their role. This study aims to determine the symptoms of viral infections in various food and…

In spring 2016, a course at Ohio State University (OSU) was introduced to teach advanced agronomic concepts and included the option to prepare students for the Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) exams offered by the American Society of Agronomy. From 2019 to 2021, revisions in instructional methods were implemented that introduced the use of pretests…

In most of the pedagogical development experiences, the contents that students generate as a result of the course activities are not considered as a primary source of knowledge. Thus, students see their learning disadvantaged, when their intellectual outputs are not considered in the design of the learning activities. Today, the Web offers a wide…

Purpose: There are many complexities to be considered when selecting tactical control options in crops grown under an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) regime. Students being trained in IPM are made aware of this complexity but do not always get the chance to experience IPM decision-making first-hand. This case study describes a web-based…

Writing performance of a complex recommendation report produced by student teams for an actual client during a 15-week semester was compared in a writing-intensive Agronomy 356 course and in paired Agronomy 356/English 309 courses. The longitudinal study investigated differences that existed between reports produced for each learning environment…

Over the past several years, we have been exploring and researching a phenomenon that occurs among undergraduate students that we called extension of linear models to non-linear contexts or overgeneralization of linear models. This phenomenon appears when some students use linear representations in situations that are non-linear. In a first phase,…

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.…

The purpose of the research done in 1970-71 in 9 secondary agricultural schools in Zaire was to generate a system for analyzing agricultural education. For this purpose, how the agricultural school relates to the 4 main currents in sociology--the sociology of organization, of education, of occupation, and of "rural animation"--is…

Advocates the use of clear instructional objectives in agricultural courses. Provides an explanation of instructional objectives according to Bloom's Taxonomy and includes suggestions for writing and using them. Also contains examples of objectives with accompanying examination questions related to the study of crop production. (ML)

Reported are the results of a survey of awareness, use, and attitude of Indiana secondary school agriculture and social science educators toward soil survey reports. An analysis by teaching discipline and geographic location is presented. (CW)

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)

This paper is the second of a two-part series which discusses the findings related to laboratory segments in the beginning crop science courses offered in Land Grant institutions. Survey results reveal that laboratories are used but employ traditional teaching rather than individualized or auto-tutorial techniques. (ML)