Educational leaders implement professional development activities to facilitate teacher learning and growth. Each summer, scores of secondary agriculture teachers attend Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) institutes as a form of professional development. Recently, teacher preparation programs have begun offering CASE institutes…

School gardens and garden-based learning, though not new in the landscape of United States public education, have gained great popularity in recent years. Scholars from myriad disciplines have examined school garden programs' impact on outcomes ranging from standardized test scores to childhood obesity. As school gardens become commonplace across…

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…

School gardens programs and garden-based education are positioned to become fixtures in educational institutions given recent trends and the national interest in gardens at school sites. Agricultural education professionals have integrated school gardens into core science, social studies, math, and language arts courses as well as agricultural…

Acceleration of courses has been documented to achieve an extended academic calendar, financial benefits to universities, time savings for professors, and provide more flexibility for students. The purpose of this study was to examine preservice teachers' learning experiences while enrolled in two accelerated teacher preparation courses. Results…

Laboratory instruction is an important component of school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs (Phipps, Osborne, Dyer, & Ball, 2008). Early field experience (EFE) coursework can be an important component of agricultural teacher preparation programs (Retallick & Miller, 2007). Through the use of a modified photovoice technique, we…

Much is known about the benefits of interacting with animals for learners. However, little is known about the animals' potential influence on the communication ability of the presenter/educator. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experience of undergraduate students who used live animals (baby chicks, turtles, salamanders,…

SAE programs were designed as an integral component in SBAE. However, participation has continued to decline. This qualitative study examined exemplary SAE programs in rural SBAE to discover factors that were working in SAE development and implementation. Through focus groups, individual and informal interviews, and observations, two themes that…

The integration of agricultural and science curricular content that capitalizes on natural and inherent connections represents a challenge for secondary agricultural educators. The purpose of this case study was to create information about the employment of Cooperative Learning Groups (CLG) to enhance the science integrating learning objectives…

Flipping or inverting a course is a relatively new approach to structuring a course. Using this method, the lectures traditionally delivered during regularly scheduled class time are converted to a media for delivery online, often in the form of videos. Learners are expected to view the online lectures prior to class. Then in turn, in-class time…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the type of training module on argumentation skill, student content knowledge achievement, and performance in an agricultural sales practicum completed by secondary school agriculture students. Current research has concluded that most students do not possess the academic or transferable…

Numerous calls have been made for agricultural education to support core academic subject matter including mathematics. Previous research has shown that the incorporation of mathematics content into a teaching methods course had a positive effect on preservice teachers' mathematics content knowledge. The purpose of this study was to investigate…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influences of American agricultural education student teachers on a rural community in New South Wales, Australia. The study analyzed interviews with eleven participants of the American student teacher program in a rural New South Wales community. Results of the study were formulated by two…