Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Assessing Virtual Free-Choice Agricultural Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach, Richard John Kennedy Aug 2022

Assessing Virtual Free-Choice Agricultural Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach, Richard John Kennedy

Theses and Dissertations

Since the mid-19th century, agricultural museums and living history sites, first in Scandinavia and then in the United States and Canada, have provided historical, cultural, and, sometimes, scientific information about farming to visitors. Many of these visitors have been school children on field trips. Assessment of this learning, however, has been scant, particularly within the free-choice style inherent in these types of educational venues. At the same time, assessment of free-choice learning, often analyzed through the Contextual Model of Learning (Falk & Dierking 2000), has taken place at educational sites like zoos, natural history museums, and science centers. This study, …


Is Agriculture Being Implemented In Private School Classrooms? The Impact Of Teacher Willingness And Availability Of Resources., Casey Moss May 2022

Is Agriculture Being Implemented In Private School Classrooms? The Impact Of Teacher Willingness And Availability Of Resources., Casey Moss

Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural literacy has been a topic of concern as most of the population have little to no understanding of agriculture, and the impact it has on society. Agricultural literacy can be defined as “having knowledge and understanding of agriculturally related scientific and technologically based concepts and processes required for personal decision making” (Meischen & Trexler, 2003, p.44). Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the significance of agricultural literacy beginning with elementary aged children and continuing through high school. The majority of studies conducted focus on public school students and teachers. This has led to a gap in the knowledge …


Assessing The Impact Of Parental Involvement On The Scaling Of Agricultural Technologies From School Garden To Home Farm Through Experiential Learning, Gracie Pekarcik May 2022

Assessing The Impact Of Parental Involvement On The Scaling Of Agricultural Technologies From School Garden To Home Farm Through Experiential Learning, Gracie Pekarcik

Masters Theses

Cambodia is a predominantly rural nation with a heavy dependence on agriculture, particularly smallholder rice farming systems. While several sustainable agricultural technologies have been successfully piloted on research stations or with small numbers of early adopters, questions remain on how to extend these technologies to large numbers of resource-poor smallholders. The Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies Project (S3-Cambodia) seeks to examine pathways for scaling sustainable intensification (SI) technologies to smallholder farmers. One of the identified pathways to scaling SI is through the education system. Cambodian youth serve as an entry point to extend target technologies to farm families through experiential learning …


Teaching Programmable Microcontrollers To Novice Users In A College Of Agriculture: Effects On Attitude, Self-Efficacy, And Knowledge, Grant T. Hood May 2022

Teaching Programmable Microcontrollers To Novice Users In A College Of Agriculture: Effects On Attitude, Self-Efficacy, And Knowledge, Grant T. Hood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of two articles that examined an instructional treatment based on the use of Arduino UNO R3 programmable microcontrollers in a fundamentals of agriculture systems technology course at the University of Arkansas. The first article examined students’ breadboarding and programming self-efficacy and knowledge of Arduino. The treatment consisted of a three-class-period instructional treatment, starting with a pretest before instruction to measure students’ baseline interest, knowledge, and self-efficacy of breadboarding and programming Arduino. This was followed with a short 30-minute instructional video explaining basic Arduino programming and breadboarding. Next a hands-on laboratory activity requiring students to breadboard and program …


The Relationship Between Food Retailers And Distributors, Madison Seigler, Julia Anderson, Aidan Morton, Cassandra Williams, Victoria Bloomgren, Jacob Tutty Jan 2022

The Relationship Between Food Retailers And Distributors, Madison Seigler, Julia Anderson, Aidan Morton, Cassandra Williams, Victoria Bloomgren, Jacob Tutty

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Our understanding of the science of anthropogenic climate change and its immediate and indirect impacts has grown within the last decade.Alongside anincrease in concern for the inequities within the industrialized food system, climate change is impacting agriculture and the communities that depend on it in myriad ways. These challenges have catalyzed investment in sustainable agriculture, “eat local” food movements, and rethinking of all aspects of food systems, including consumers, producers, retailers, and distributors. The body of literature on food systems primarily focuses on the connection between consumers and retailers; however, there is a notable absence of literature on the relationships …