J. Pigg, Kristin S. Stair, Richie Roberts, J. Blackburn
{"title":"The one-way (Agri)cultural mirror: A case study of how young agricultural leaders understand and experience culture.","authors":"J. Pigg, Kristin S. Stair, Richie Roberts, J. Blackburn","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.04119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.04119","url":null,"abstract":"As the global economy continues to advance, cultural competence has become a buzzword in education, professional development, and research. Despite this, little research has been devoted to understanding cultural competence in agriculture. Thus, a need emerged to describe the cultural competence of young agricultural leaders in Louisiana. Through data analysis, four themes emerged: (a) cultural anxiety, (b) cultural pressure, (c) the one-way (agri)cultural mirror, and (d) cultural lens expansion. The participants expressed anxiety to discuss cultural issues because of a fear of negative social ramifications. As a result, this yielded a pressure to adopt a culturally competent mindset to be successful. Additionally, participants recognized that the agricultural profession exhibited a unique cultural identity that produced a one-way cultural mirror whereby consumers and producers cannot understand one another. Because of this cultural barrier, participants recognized a need to expand their cultural lens, through domestic and international experiences, to better serve diverse populations. Therefore, we recommend that future research explore strategies that can cultivate cultural competence at earlier ages. For example, perhaps opportunities that feature cultural concepts could be offered more purposefully through 4-H, FFA, and Ag in the Classroom.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44154743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Determining the Effects of Response Mode and Incentives on Survey Response Rates of School-based Agricultural Education Teachers: An Experimental Study","authors":"William Doss, J. Rayfield, D. Lawver, S. Burris","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.04151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.04151","url":null,"abstract":"A decline in response rates was found for agricultural education research studies using survey research methods. The use of incentives and various response modes can affect survey response rates and were the focus of this experiment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of survey response mode and incentives on response rates when surveying SBAE teachers. Findings revealed a significant increase in response rates for groups receiving an incentive. No significant differences were found between groups using different survey response modes. When examining summated scale scores for each construct in the questionnaire, participants answering on paper scored more positively in four of the six constructs compared to web responses. Recommendations for practice included using mixed response modes when financially feasible and oversampling to achieve the desired sample size to represent a population. Further research on the effects of communication mode on response rates is needed. An examination of why differences in scale scores occur with different response modes is recommended.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43894508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Historical Examination of Food Labeling Policies and Practices in the United States: Implications for Agricultural Communications","authors":"Rexanna Powers, Richie Roberts","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.04168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.04168","url":null,"abstract":"Knowledge of agricultural practices has declined in recent years, resulting in consumers becoming uncertain of where and how their food has been produced and the marketing tactics used to promote the product. Historically, the U.S. population’s rich agricultural heritage coincided with higher levels of agricultural literacy. Some scholars, however, have maintained that U.S. culture has begun to lose touch with its agricultural foundations. More recent evidence has demonstrated that consumers acquire knowledge about their food from various media, most notably the Internet and social media. Often these sources use incorrect information and promote food and agricultural marketing trends that may not be grounded in scientific data. In response, this historical narrative analyzed a reform effort that occurred in U.S. food labeling policy and practice in the 1900s, which contributed to food labeling issues and consumer distrust in the agricultural industry. Based on the findings of this investigation, we concluded that food labels were initially intended to provide consumers with more profound knowledge of the food they purchased. However, key legislative acts such as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act and the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act shifted the food labeling movement into a branding device to differentiate products and brands. We recommend that agricultural practitioners explore new ways to communicate their message more effectively. We also call for producers to incorporate more personal and emotional appeals when marketing agricultural products to better compete with third-party branding efforts.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47849930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Science Citizenship through Secondary Agricultural Education","authors":"Rosalina Gawryla, Kevin Curry, Jr.","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.04039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.04039","url":null,"abstract":"Global society has major scientific challenges to solve over the coming decades including climate change and food insecurity. Considering school-based agricultural education can play an important role in developing scientifically literate and civically engaged citizens to help address these challenges, this study sought to describe and compare Pennsylvania agricultural education students’ science literacy, civic engagement, and science citizenship. In addition, the purpose of this study was to determine which variables of science literacy and civic engagement best predicted students’ science citizenship. Using a descriptive-correlational research design, the study utilized a questionnaire adapted from three existing instruments to measure science literacy, civic engagement, and science citizenship. Data was collected from a proportionate stratified random sample of Pennsylvania agricultural education programs for a total of (n = 197) students. The multiple linear regression model was found to be a significant predictor of students’ science citizenship and explained 57.8% of the variance. Civic skills efficacy, civic participation, value of science, science skills, and civic duty were significant predictors of students’ science citizenship. Recommendations from results include incorporating civic education that builds students civic skills into agricultural education curriculum, educating pre-service agriculture teachers how to incorporate civic engagement into their programs, and further research to determine the extent to which agriculture teachers currently support students’ civic engagement in their programs","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49133083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Krystle Allen, Richie Roberts, Michael Burnett, J. Blackburn
{"title":"Cultivating Black Leaders for Rural Communities: A Case Study of a Leadership Development Program at an 1890 Land-Grant Institution","authors":"Krystle Allen, Richie Roberts, Michael Burnett, J. Blackburn","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.04078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.04078","url":null,"abstract":"Rural leadership development has been a field with a long, varied history. Despite this, Black rural leadership development programs have been almost non-existent. In response, this investigation explored the effectiveness of a cooperative extension program called Learning Everyday About Development (LEAD), designed and facilitated by an 1890 land-grant university to revitalize rural communities while supporting economic development in traditionally historically Black communities in Louisiana. Three themes emerged from our qualitative analysis: (1) sparking rural leadership, (2) challenges to new leadership approaches, and (3) rethinking rural renewal. As such, we found the participants reported that LEAD was effective overall. This effectiveness was demonstrated in the first theme, sparking rural leadership. For example, the participants discussed in detail the benefits of networking at LEAD, an immense appreciation of not being forgotten, and being made aware of resources. Although participants reported they experienced growth in their leadership style and career because of participation, the extent of the growth varied substantially. The participants also reported that they devoted more time in their offices to work on grants and programming. Moving forward, we recommend a robust longitudinal evaluation of LEAD. Perhaps data from this study could provide a basis to create a framework for other Black rural development initiatives and add meaningful insight into this phenomenon.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47168333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perceptions of Agricultural Extension and Communication Professionals Regarding Current, Preferred, and Emerging Communication Channels: A Qualitative Study","authors":"Barbara Worley, Jason B. Peake, N. Fuhrman","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.04022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.04022","url":null,"abstract":"This study sought to identify what messages are important to share regarding innovations of new turfgrass cultivars, and to determine the current, preferred, and emerging channels of communication as perceived by Extension/Outreach and Communications professionals in ANR for sending information. This study utilized a focus group consisting of turfgrass extension professionals, an interview with communication professionals, and individual semi-structured interviews. From the twelve questions presented through these methods, seven predominant themes emerged. Effectively communicating about turfgrass involves: (1) conveying long-term benefits of the innovations, (2) considering the sender and receiver of turfgrass information, (3) considering the traditional communication channels used for turfgrass, (4) emerging or sought channels for communicating with clientele about turfgrass, (5) barriers to adopting communication channels for disseminating turfgrass information, (6) factors that influence use of communication channels for turfgrass, and (7) who should be disseminating the identified messages. Respondents indicated that though Twitter was the preferred channel of social media communication for those in the turfgrass industry, interpersonal communication and factsheets were still being requested predominately by their clientele. Respondents recommended working with organizations such as city and county municipalities, as well as residential home builder groups, that are likely to adopt innovations, influence behavior change, and create and institute policies, will be essential for dissemination of information. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions associated with it, researchers are depending on emerging communications channels for dissemination of information more so than traditional methods utilized in the past such as field days","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44325927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Describing North Dakota Small Farmers and Their Connection with Extension","authors":"Lindy Berg, Adam A. Marx, Travis W. Hoffman","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.03166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.03166","url":null,"abstract":"Small farms and small farmers are a growing sector of the agricultural economy nationwide. Notably, small farms are influenced by similar antagonists to the success of their business as large, concentrated operations, but they experience it differently. The purpose of this study was to describe small farms and farmers in North Dakota to assist North Dakota State University Extension in defining their needs for programming development. We found that nearly 45% of small farmer respondents are women. Small farmers prefer to access information for their operations in a variety of ways but like to engage with Extension through more direct and personal means. Recommendations include developing programming targeted at female farmers and organizing Extension information resources targeted at small farm needs, specifically.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42579264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jason D. McKibben, Marco Giliberti, Christopher A. Clemons, Kelly Holler, James R. Linder
{"title":"My Ag Teacher Never Made Me Go To The Shop! Pre-Service Teacher’s Perceived Self-Efficacy in Mechanics Skills Change Through Experience.","authors":"Jason D. McKibben, Marco Giliberti, Christopher A. Clemons, Kelly Holler, James R. Linder","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.03283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.03283","url":null,"abstract":"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 specific woodworking skills and who the student considered to be their primary instructor of woodworking-based skills, (university faculty, schoolteachers, family/friends, the student themselves) as they entered the teacher preparation program. Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and social learning was adopted as the theoretical framework for this study. This study utilized a quantitative non-experimental survey research design. Quantitative methods and correlational analysis were employed to provide clarity. The homogeneous nature of the population provided no demographic variables of significance. The results of data analysis found that all participating students (n = 11) reported a higher level of self-confidence in selected woodworking skills after a sixteen-week-long course of agricultural mechanics education. Results of the Spearman’s (rs) correlation indicated that a highly significant relationship existed between students’ perception of self-confidence in woodworking (wood testing, identifying, measuring) and who the students perceived to be their primary teachers of woodworking as they finished the semester. No significant correlations existed at the beginning of the semester. By learning more about agricultural education students’ perception of learned woodworking skills, stakeholders will be better equipped to make up-to-date programming pronouncements about the long-term assessment of agricultural mechanics courses, and their relevance to the agricultural education curriculum.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45510805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jefferson D. Miller, Kylie Hackworth, Casandra Cox, Jill Rucker, Karli S Yarber
{"title":"Themes and Tones of Blog Posts about Animal Agriculture and Protein Production","authors":"Jefferson D. Miller, Kylie Hackworth, Casandra Cox, Jill Rucker, Karli S Yarber","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.03016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.03016","url":null,"abstract":"Research on blogs’ role in public relations about animal agriculture production is limited at best. This case study set out to describe the characteristics of selected bloggers’ writing about protein-related topics and issues, with a special focus on how the protein industry was represented, what themes were most common, and what the tonal characteristics of the blog posts were. Researchers used a content analysis approach to describe the content of 37 blog posts from eight purposively selected blogs that contained posts about protein-related topics. The content analysis showed at least three types of blogs about protein—organizational, which included meat industry organizations as well as activist groups that seek to effect changes in the protein industry; professional, which included blog entries by experts (such as dieticians) representing their own opinions; and personal, which included lifestyle bloggers who were not experts but who provided information to readers on a variety of topics. In terms of themes, four prominent overarching themes were identified by coders, including environment, consumption of protein, alternative protein sources, and alternative dieting. Tones associated with the environmental theme were mostly negative toward the protein industry. Tones associated with the consumption of protein were mostly positive toward the industry. Tones in the blog entries about alternative protein sources and alternative dieting were mixed—both positive and negative toward the protein industry.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45102543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jay K. Solomonson, Trent Wells, Mark S. Hainline, Bryan D. Rank, Matthew Wilson, S. Rinker, S. Chumbley
{"title":"Technical Agriculture Skills Teachers Need to Teach Courses in the Plant Systems Pathway","authors":"Jay K. Solomonson, Trent Wells, Mark S. Hainline, Bryan D. Rank, Matthew Wilson, S. Rinker, S. Chumbley","doi":"10.5032/jae.2022.03100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.03100","url":null,"abstract":"Agricultural teacher education programs are designed to prepare competent teachers who are ready to teach students in public schools. One aspect of agricultural teacher education is ensuring teachers are ready to lead instruction in various aspects of school-based agricultural education (SBAE), such as teaching students various technical agriculture skills. As part of a larger study, we used a three-round Delphi study to identify the technical agriculture skills SBAE teachers in Illinois and Iowa need to effectively teach courses in the Plant Systems pathway within the broader Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) Career Cluster. A panel of 27 experienced SBAE teachers nominated by their colleagues contributed data for our study. Eighteen teachers participated in all three rounds. At the conclusion of our Delphi study, we identified 82 technical agriculture skills. To help ensure teachers are competent and prepared to teach courses in the Plant Systems pathway, we suggest several approaches agricultural teacher educators should consider: (1) facilitating opportunities to implement technical agriculture skill development opportunities within agricultural teacher education programs, (2) engaging with agricultural faculty who teach technical agriculture courses to pre-service teachers, and (3) using our list of 82 skills as a springboard to facilitate future scholarly inquiry on the topic. While our results are not generalizable beyond the SBAE teachers in Illinois and Iowa, we do believe our findings are valuable to SBAE stakeholders. To enhance generalizability and provide a more thorough exploration of teachers’ technical agriculture skill needs, replication of our study should occur in other states.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47280376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}