ERIC Number: EJ1122268
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-0541
EISSN: N/A
Teachers' Use of Experiential Learning Stages in Agricultural Laboratories
Shoulders, Catherine W.; Myers, Brian E.
Journal of Agricultural Education, v54 n3 p100-115 2013
Experiential learning in agricultural laboratories has been a foundational component of secondary agricultural education. While inclusion of the four stages of the experiential learning cycle can enhance student learning in laboratory settings to help students reach various goals related to scientific literacy and higher-level thinking, agricultural laboratories have traditionally been sites of psychomotor skill development. This exploratory study used a nonexperimental survey design to assess NAAE members' use of the stages of Kolb's experiential learning cycle (1984) during lessons involving agricultural laboratories. Results indicated that respondents incorporated concrete experience activities and those associated with grasping information more frequently and for longer durations than they included active experimentation activities or those associated with transforming information. Further, over half of the respondents reported designing lessons in laboratory settings that engaged students in fewer than all four stages of the experiential learning cycle. Recommendations include further study in order to gain a more holistic understanding of how experiential learning is used in agricultural laboratories.
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Laboratories, Experiential Learning, Agricultural Education, Surveys, Concept Formation, Comprehension, Secondary School Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Learning Activities, Questionnaires, Statistical Analysis, Experiments, Active Learning
American Association for Agricultural Education. P.O. Box 7607, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, Raleigh, NC 27695. Web site: http://www.aaaeonline.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A