Metacognition is an important skill required for improving students' reading comprehension ability. Studies have reported effectiveness of metacognitive reading strategies to increase reading comprehension and information retention. However, there is limited research utilizing eye-tracking technology to explore the effectiveness of metacognitive…

Educational laboratory management is a paramount issue in agricultural education settings. Agricultural mechanics laboratories are found in many agricultural education programs. One of the most important issues an instructor in agricultural education settings faces is safety in the agricultural mechanics laboratory. Identifying and cultivating a…

As novice teachers gain experience, they are more efficacious and likely to overcome adversity. The more authentic, rigorous, and frequent the experience in preservice methods coursework, the better prepared candidates are to teach. We used a mixed methods, convergent, nested design to examine the Teacher Self-Efficacy (TSE) of 21 SBAE preservice…

Meeting the demands of a proficient scientific workforce depends on students' communication skill preparation. To describe students' self-perceptions of their communication skills, we surveyed 315 students in Texas A&M University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Participants noted they were most proficient in their ability to listen…

The profession of agricultural education is experiencing shortages across the nation. Texas is critically impacted due to the renewed emphasis of career and technical education. This leads to questions about the preparedness of recent college graduates to handle the demands placed upon agricultural educators. Starting in 2012, Texas Tech…

Undergraduate students should be able to identify relationships between agricultural and natural resources (ANR) issues to be prepared for ANR sector jobs. The purpose of this study was to determine if communication courses focused on teaching about ANR issues influenced students' understanding of the relational nature of these issues. A…

With a continuous shortage of qualified agricultural science teachers (Foster, Lawver, Smith, 2014; Kantrovich, 2010), it is imperative teacher preparation programs identify and utilize effective cooperating teachers, as well as develop training for in-service teachers that will assist in preparing more effective cooperating teachers. The purpose…

Student teaching as the culminating experience of a teacher preparation program has been shown to be of great importance in the preparation of pre-service agricultural educators (Harlin, Roberts, Mowen, Edgar, & Briers, 2007; Roberts, Mowen, Edgar, Harlin, & Briers, 2007; Kitchel & Torres, 2006, 2007; Myers & Dyer, 2004). Kolb's…

Writing skills are one of the most important skills college graduates need to possess; however, college graduates struggle to complete written communications proficiently in the workforce. Previous researchers have explained that college instructors must understand the students' fears with writing in order to create effective writing curriculum.…

This study characterized perceptions of agricultural leadership programs in colleges of agriculture, food, life, human, or environmental sciences at 1,862 land-grant institutions. Objectives included describing the need for programs, studying evolution within the discipline, discussing faculty recommendations for future development, and examining…

The importance of creating global mindedness within pre-service agricultural science teachers through international experiences cannot be overstated. However, providing opportunities for international experiences and college students selecting to participate in these opportunities are two very different actions. Mechanisms must be put in place…