Agriculture Commons^™

Agricultural Experiences And Factors Of Undergraduates Who Enroll In A College Of Agriculture, Benjamin G. Swan, Ann M. De Lay

Agricultural Education and Communication

Industry partners and College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) faculty have observed students entering the college possessed fewer agriculture experiences and skills than their predecessors. They have also lamented the increasing pressure to develop industry-ready students, when the gaps are ever wider between their experience and skills entering college and what are required upon graduation. During the 2011 spring quarter, all CAFES students (N = 3,366) were sent an electronic survey that resulted in 911 responses (27% response rate). Three quarters of the students were female and one third were seniors. Prior to enrolling at the university, 34% …

Ag In Motion, Kerri Bermudez, Annelise Jensch, Michaela Stone

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to gauge the interest levels of Ag in Motion for the Central Coast. Positive feedback would allow the project to continue on after this project is finished. Ag in Motion is an important asset to middle school aged children because they have the opportunity to learn about agriculture and it’s value. This is especially important considering California is number one producer of agricultural commodities in the United States.

The Central Coast is defined as these three counties: Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County. An online survey was developed and sent …

Developing A Website For The Cal Poly Rodeo Program, Audrey N. Pearce

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create an effective website for the Cal Poly Rodeo Program in order to improve communication with key audiences and ensure continued success for the organization. This website was intended to remain consistent with other Cal Poly websites, such as those listed on the Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) Student Life page under Clubs and Organizations, and was included on this page once created. A secondary purpose of the project was to give the Cal Poly Rodeo coach an easier way to recruit and contact potential student athletes. The …

Development Of A Public Education Website: Building Bridges Over Water, Angelina Mckee

Agricultural Education and Communication

Website created by Angelina McKee to educate the public about water resource issues. Water is the basic unit of life, water resources are the basis for what societies and ecosystems are founded upon. Water shortages and droughts are more prevalent in our ever-changing world. It is no shock that there are discrepancies between various stockholders on either sides of the dry riverbed. This senior project resulted in the development of a website that addresses global water resources, water use in California, water conservation, and water allocation. The website informs the public on water resources and related issues and will hopefully …

Project Proposal And Development Plan For A New Security Gate At Swanton Pacific Ranch, K. Morgan Perry

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to develop a prototype gate for Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch in Santa Cruz, CA. Swanton Pacific Ranch requested that the author design and build a 21’x5’ single-retractable gate for Swanton Pacific Ranch to help decrease the security issues that have recently arisen at the facility. The design and format of this project are focused towards the desires and goals set forth by Swanton Pacific Ranch and the Operations Manager, Steve Auten in order to obtain a certain outcome. This project provides an outline of what needs to be done in order to produce …

Student Apathy As Defined By Secondary Agricultural Education Students, Ann M. De Lay, Benjamin G. Swan

Agricultural Education and Communication

Student motivation continues to be a source of concern for educators. This phenomenological study captured the voices of secondary agriculture students as they shared their perspectives and experiences surrounding student apathy. Four focus group interviews were conducted at four central California high schools with distinguished agriculture programs. The following question guided the research: What experience do secondary agriculture students have with student apathy in their academic environments? Findings suggest student apathy is born of personal choice and grown through mediocre teaching, archaic assessment and the absence of learning purpose. Recommendations suggest students, teachers, the local school and teacher educators form …

Sustainable Fire Clearance Using Goats Teaching Unit, Elida Noren Moore

Agricultural Education and Communication

This project was created in order to fulfill the need of creating a unit of teaching for sustainable fire brush clearance using goats. The beginning goes over all the literature that was used to help create the project as well as the thought process that was followed in order to write the unit. These decisions were crucial for figuring out what was going to be included in the unit as well as the activities and lecture prompts that are provided. The unit covers everything from fire history and fire regulations in the state of California, to the care and treatment …

Supervised Agricultural Experience Handbook: How To Graft Tomatoes, Lauren Elliott

Agricultural Education and Communication

The Purpose of this project was to create a handbook that could be used by high school agricultural programs to implement grafting of tomatoes. It could be used as a Supervised Agricultural Experience entrepreneurship project for a student or a fundraiser for the high school program as a whole. The handbook provides a resource with step-by-step procedures for the entire process grafting tomatoes entails. It is hoped that the handbook gives guidance but also leaves room for interpretation for educational purposes.

An Index Of California Regulations Affecting Rice Growers, Maddie Dunlap

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purposed of this project was to identify and compile California regulations that affect rice growers. The final product was an index designed for rice growers and their representatives to be used lobbying efforts with regulators and elected officials. The index serves to illustrate the intensive regulations that rice growers face in California. Areas of focus include water quality, air quality, labor and pesticides indirectly.

Central Coast Groundfish Species And Fillet Identification Manual, Robbie Milla

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create a manual that would aid fishermen and fish consumers in the successful identification of various groundfish species and their fillets. The manual was crafted with quality photographs to give the viewer a vivid depiction of the targeted groundfish species. The images were taken to specifically target the identification characteristics of each fish species. It was the hope of the author to educate anyone who was interested in the groundfish fishery. The manual includes: basic groundfish regulations, groundfish species identification, and groundfish fillet identification.