bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining Undergraduate Student Attitude towards Interdisciplinary Education
Authors: DiBenedetto Catherine A. , Lamm Kevan W. , Lamm Alexa J. , Myers Brian E.
Published: January 2018

As the global population grows, concern for a food shortage may be looming. As the next generations of agricultural and natural resource leaders are prepared to address this challenge, input throughout multiple disciplines is required to solve this dilemma. Undergraduates must be prepared to engage in problem solving and entrepreneurial thinking if our society hopes to conquer this shortage. Opportunities to engage in interdisciplinary education can offer learning experiences focused on bridging research and policy, exploring real world problems, and developing solutions for socio-environmental issues. As interdisciplinary education in academia gains momentum, exploration is needed to understand the factors and influences affecting student attitude towards enrollment in interdisciplinary courses. This research examined the relationships between undergraduate goal orientation and attitude towards participation in interdisciplinary education specifically addressing, “How do we sustainably feed nine billion people by 2050?” Data was collected from a convenience sample of undergraduates who responded to Vandewalle’s (1997) goal orientation and a researcher-developed instrument. Findings indicated undergraduates were most interested in nutrition followed by human disease management and water issues and least interested in economic concerns and plant disease management issues. Learning goal orientation and performance goal orientation – prove were found to influence attitude toward interdisciplinary education.
Biology in the Agriculture Classroom: A Descriptive Comparative Study
Authors: Despain Deric , North Teresa , Warnick Brian K. , Baggaley John
Published: January 2018

Agricultural education can take scientific topics to higher levels, emphasize scientific concepts, involve hands-on learning, and develop interrelationships with the other sciences, thus making the living and non-living world around them relevant for students, potentially supporting a STEM curriculum. As such, in 1996, Utah deemed agricultural biology an adequate substitute for general biology in preparing Utah high school students to meet state biology requirements. The appropriateness of that decision was not tested until this 2014 descriptive comparative post-test only analysis of 2008-2012 data from the Utah State Office of Education Data and Statistics. As seen in this study, not only did agricultural biology students tend to score lower than their general biology counterparts, in multiple cases this difference was significant (p ≤ .05), indicating a potential gap within the agricultural biology curriculum. Further, there were cases where Cohen’s d was ≥ .2, indicating at least a small effect size. This suggests that reevaluation is needed to ensure that biology standards taught in agricultural biology classes are better aligned with content tested by the biology portion of the Utah end-of-course core biology test standards.
Undergraduate Student Course Engagement and the Influence of Student, Contextual, and Teacher Variables
Authors: Marx Adam A. , Simonsen Jon C. , Kitchel Tracy
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between undergraduate student course engagement and several independent variables. Total participants included 300 (N) undergraduate students. Students completed three instruments measuring course engagement, teacher verbal immediacy, and teacher nonverbal immediacy. It was concluded that class size and teacher verbalimmediacy significantly predicted student course engagement. Classes under 30 students significantly influenced factors of engagement. The unique influence of immediacy behaviors supported the researchers’ assertions coupled with previous research (Frymier & Houser, 2000; van Uden, Ritzen, & Pieters, 2014; Zepke & Leach, 2010). College teachers should be aware of the role immediacy behaviors play in student engagement within their classrooms. Teachers who demonstrate energy and concern for student learning through being inclusive, encouraging, and clearly communicate expectations can positively influence student engagement in the classroom. Restructuring large courses into smaller working groups could facilitate the opportunity for teachers to approach students more directly and personally. Future research should use observations to assess student behaviors comparing perceived engagement in the classroom. Quantifying the frequency of teacher immediacy behaviors alongside student perceptions could provide context for teacher behaviors. Qualitative studies around factors of engagement could provide context to the cognitive processes behind student behaviors.
Determining the Effects of Cognitive Style, Problem Complexity, and Hypothesis Generation on the Problem Solving Ability of School-Based Agricultural Education Students
Authors: Blackburn J. Joey , Robinson J. Shane
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this experimental study was to assess the effects of cognitive style, problem complexity, and hypothesis generation on the problem solving ability of school-based agricultural education students. Problem solving ability was defined as time to solution. Kirton’s AdaptionInnovation Inventory was employed to assess students’ cognitive style as either more adaptive or more innovative. Students were assigned randomly, by cognitive style, to solve either a simple or complex problem in small gasoline engines. A three-way independent analysis of variance revealed that a statistically significant interaction effect between the independent variables did not exist. Additionally, the two-way interactions between cognitive style and problem complexity, and cognitive style and hypothesis generation were not statistically significant. A statistically significant interaction effect did exist, however, between problem complexity and hypothesis generation. A simple main effects test revealed the students who hypothesized their problem correctly were the most efficient at solving the problem. Future research should require students who generate an initial incorrect hypothesis to re-hypothesize prior to attempting to solve the problem. Educators should encourage students to engage in metacognitive activities, such as hypothesizing, prior to engaging in problem solving activities.
Analyzing Student Teacher Critical Thinking through Blogs in an Electronic Community of Practice
Authors: Clark Taylorann K. , Paulsen Thomas H.
Published: January 2018

Technology is becoming increasingly popular in higher education in the way students are asked to communicate and collaborate. The student teaching experience is an integral part of developing critical thinking skills in pre-service teachers. During this experience, it is important that student teachers practice the theory they have been taught in their preparatory programs. This study determined the frequency in which student teachers at Iowa State University posted blogs in an electronic community of practice at each level of critical thinking, the relationship between the number of blogs posted by each student teacher and student teachers’ average level of critical thinking displayed in those blog posts. The Florida Taxonomy of Cognitive Behavior was used to code student teacher blog posts. Six levels of critical thinking, according to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, were present. Of the student teachers’ blog posts (n=942), 89.5% (f = 843) were at lower-order levels of critical thinking, consistent with prior research. The results did not indicate a significant relationship between the number of posts per student teacher (N=21) and student teachers’ average level of critical thinking. Teacher preparation programs should focus on modeling critical thinking in order for student teachers to incorporate and practice problem-solving, evaluating, creating, and many other critical thinking skills during the student teaching experience.
Identifying Student Cultural Awareness and Perceptions of Different Cultures
Authors: Rodriguez Mary T. , Lamm Alexa J.
Published: January 2018

The population of the United States is growing and increasing in cultural diversity. Of the total U.S. population in 2010, 50.48 million were of Hispanic or Latino origin. Colleges and universities must prepare students to be successful in this diverse work place. Agricultural college students must know how to navigate diversity in order to adapt to an ever-changing industry; one that employs a large number of foreign-born and possibly undocumented immigrants, and all the complexities of decisions made that involve this workforce. Bandura’s social cognitive theory provides the framework for teaching students to have a multicultural mindset leading to positive attitudes and behaviors toward immigrants. This study investigated the colorblind racial attitudes of undergraduate students in a College of Agriculture. The relationship between colorblindness and their attitudes toward undocumented immigrants was found to have a correlation. A regression analysis showed level of colorblindness as a significant predictor of attitudes toward undocumented immigrants. Therefore showing that if students adopt a colorblind racial attitude, it can be predicted they will have less favorable attitudes toward undocumented immigrants. Improving students’ attitudes of immigrants by teaching multiculturalism can lead to better engagement in the agricultural industry by up and coming professionals.
Students’ Motivations, Value, and Decision to Participate in Service-Learning at the National FFA Days of Service
Authors: Roberts Richie , Terry Robert , Brown Nicholas R. , Ramsey Jon W.
Published: January 2018

As agricultural educators continue to seek methods of instruction to make learning impactful for students, service-learning has emerged as a desirable technique for meeting these educational objectives. A gap in the agricultural education literature exists, however, in terms of describing whether these learning experiences motivate students intrinsically. This investigation sought to describe FFA members’ level of intrinsic motivation resulting from participation in a service-learning activity, specifically the 2013 National FFA Days of Service. Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT) served as the theoretical base for understanding FFA members intrinsic motivation through three empirically based constructs interest, value, and perceived choice. Results from the study indicate FFA members were interested in and valued their service-learning experience; however, they had varied views in terms of their choice to participate. Findings also indicate a congruency between tenets of service-learning and axioms of SDT. We, therefore, offer the Intrinsic Service Learning Model in hopes of assisting practitioners of this pedagogical technique with delivering an intrinsically motivated service-learning experience for agricultural education students.
Student Teacher Dialogue in an Electronic Community of Practice: Cognition Level Related to the INTASC Standards
Authors: Clark Taylorann K. , Paulsen Thomas H.
Published: January 2018

Teachers are constantly being evaluated based upon their ability to provide the best education for their students. These evaluations are done at a macro level, where teachers must meet state and national mandates that deem them highly qualified, and at a micro level, where teachers must display proficiency as effective teachers through teacher education standards. Specific to preservice teachers, the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) aligns standards based upon what preservice teachers should know and be able to do. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency in which student teacher blog posts in an electronic community of practice related to the InTASC standards, as well as determine the average level of student teacher critical thinking displayed in the blog posts related to those standards. Student teachers most frequently blogged about the Professional Learning and Ethical Practices standard as compared to the other nine InTASC standards. It was found that for blog posts discussing InTASC standards, overall critical thinking was displayed at knowledge, comprehension, or application levels. It is recommended that future studies utilize open coding in order to gain a broader insight of the student teachers’ discussions.
Student Teacher Activities—Are They Relevant? The University Supervisor’s Perspective
Authors: Paulsen Thomas H. , Smalley Scott W.
Published: January 2018

The traditional student teaching experience includes a complex, triadic relationship between student teacher, cooperating teacher, and the university supervisor. Studies seeking to understand this experience from the perspectives of the student teacher and cooperating teacher are commonly found in the literature; yet research specific to the university supervisor has been considered meager at best. Building upon Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior, we sought to reveal the university supervisor’s voice regarding the relevance of traditionally required student teaching skills and activities commonly included in the capstone student teaching experience. A descriptive census study consisting of university supervisors (N = 62) from the North Central Region of the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE) was implemented. A document analysis of agricultural education student teaching handbooks from the North Central AAAE region provided the foundation for a researcher-developed, expert-panel validated instrument consisting of student teaching skills and activities organized into eight constructs. University supervisors considered seven of the eight constructs as very relevant for inclusion in the capstone student teaching experience. We conclude that university supervisors in the North Central Region of AAAE perceive activities and skills commonly required of student teachers as important to the capstone student teaching experience. Future activities should be aligned with those included in national performance-based, subject-specific assessments commonly being adopted by teacher preparation programs. Future research should seek to determine alignment of best practices in SBAE national standards-based assessments.
A Case Study of Learning, Motivation, and Performance Strategies for Teaching and Coaching CDE Teams
Authors: Ball Anna , Bowling Amanda , Bird Will
Published: January 2018

This intrinsic case study examined the case of students on CDE (Career Development Event) teams preparing for state competitive events and the teacher preparing them in a school with a previous exemplary track record of winning multiple state and national career development events. The students were interviewed multiple times during the 16-week preparation period before, during, and after the district and state CDEs. From the interview data it was found the teacher used a variety of motivational strategies when preparing CDE teams. The teacher shifted the use of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation strategies based on students' needs. The teacher also utilized performance strategies including both coaching and learning strategies, to develop students' competitive drive and content knowledge. From the findings it is recommended that CDE coaches assess students' needs and utilize the successful coaching behaviors and strategies accordingly.
The Effects of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model on Successful Intelligence in Secondary Agriculture Students
Authors: Baker Marshall A. , Robinson J. Shane
Published: January 2018

Experiential learning is an important pedagogical approach used in secondary agricultural education. Though anecdotal evidence supports the use of experiential learning, a paucity of empirical research exists supporting the effects of this approach when compared to a more conventional teaching method, such as direct instruction. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the effects of an experiential learning approach to instruction on the successful intelligence of secondary agricultural education students, as measured across three domains – practical intelligence, analytical intelligence, and creative intelligence. It was concluded students who received the experiential learning treatment produced higher creativity scores that were domain specific. In addition, they scored higher in their practical use of knowledge when compared to their direct instruction counterparts. However, regardless of treatment, both direct instruction and experiential learning yielded similar analytical knowledge scores. Thus, it was recommended agricultural educators utilize a blended approach of instruction to provide balanced growth in all four modes of learning.
The Importance of Source: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Toward Genetically Modified Food
Authors: Ruth Taylor K. , Rumble Joy N. , Gay Keegan D. , Rodriguez Mary T.
Published: January 2018

Even though science says genetically modified (GM) foods are safe, many consumers remain skeptical of the technology. Additionally, the scientific community has trouble communicating to the public, causing consumers to make uninformed decisions. The Millennial Generation will have more buying power than any other generation before them, and more research needs to be done to examine what factors influence their attitudes toward GM food. Guided by the elaboration likelihood model, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influences on undergraduate students’ attitude formation after receiving information about GM food. A convergent mixed methods design was used to collect data. This study found that message source had limited influence on students’ attitudes toward GM food, but risk perception, knowledge, and source credibility were significant predictors of their change in attitude. Participants also expressed wanting to learn more about the technology. Recommendations were to increase knowledge of GM food among university students to promote use of the central processing route and to further investigate influences on students’ change in attitude.
An Examination of University Agricultural Education Faculty Attitudes toward the Implementation of High Impact Learning Experiences
Authors: Murphrey Theresa Pesl , Odom Summer F. , Sledd James
Published: January 2018

Meaningful learning is a goal across the broad field of agricultural education and high impact learning (HIL) experiences are a mechanism to facilitate that goal. The purpose of this study was to examine university agricultural education faculty attitudes toward the implementation of HIL. Faculty (n=85) from 10 agricultural education departments nationwide responded to a survey about perceptions of HIL experiences for undergraduate and graduate students. The majority of respondents reported that as a student they had participated in HIL experiences such as study abroad, research projects, internships, and student teaching. However, neither participation as a student nor current involvement in HIL activities influenced their perceptions of HIL. Characteristics that influenced perceptions included teaching experience and departmental support. Respondents with less teaching experience possessed a stronger perception of the benefit of HIL and those who perceived they had departmental support reported less concern for barriers (i.e., time and planning) to HIL implementation. Findings revealed a need for support and training related specifically to the implementation of study abroad activities.
Exploring the Role of Agriculture Teachers in Core Academic Integration
Authors: McKim Aaron J. , Sorensen Tyson J. , Velez Jonathan J.
Published: January 2018

Core academic skills are essential for success in our society. However, an abundance of research has identified a large proportion of secondary school students are underperforming in core academic areas such as literacy and math. Researchers have suggested integrating core academic content throughout all secondary coursework as a potential solution to students’ underperformance in core academics. This study focused on core academic integration in secondary agricultural education classrooms and explored a conceptual model for teachers’ core academic integration competence in the areas of math and literacy. Results indicated pedagogical competence and technical knowledge were significant predictors of teachers’ reading integration competence. Pedagogical competence was also a significant predictor of respondents’ writing and math integration competences. These findings highlight the importance of agriculture teachers’ ability to engage students through effective pedagogical strategies as a potential precursor to competence integrating reading, writing, and math. Implications and strategies for utilizing the proposed model and the findings from this research are discussed.
Development and Validation of an Instrument to Assess Youth Motivation to Participate in Career Development Events
Authors: Knobloch Neil A. , Brady Colleen M. , Orvis Kathryn S. , Carroll Natalie J.
Published: January 2018

Career development events develop career and life skills in youth, but limited work has been done to assess the motivation of students who participate in these events. The purpose of this study was to validate an instrument developed to measure youth motivation to participate in career development events. An instrument grounded in expectancy-value motivation was developed to assess student motivation of youth participants (N = 2,153) at 12 career development events in various domains at the state level. Four factors—self-efficacy, cost & utility value, intrinsic value, and attainment—explained 60% of the variance in youth motivation to participate in state career development events. Youth were most motivated to participate in career development events based on the cost & utility factor, therefore, they were willing to put forth the time and effort to participate in career development events because they felt career development events would help them achieve their goals. However, youth coaches should consider using strategies to develop youth self-efficacy to perform the tasks in career development events as it explained 39% of the variance in youth motivation. Coaches should also consider the role interest motivation plays a role as it was highly correlated with self-efficacy.
Impacts of an Agricultural Leadership Extension Program for County Officials
Authors: McKee Valerie Lynn , Odom Summer Felton , Moore Lori L. , Murphrey Theresa Pesl
Published: January 2018

Agricultural leadership extension programs aim to expand the horizons of leaders through study and experiences. These programs can have direct implications for communities when they are designed and delivered for county officials. This study specifically examined a leadership program administered in Texas which has graduated five classes of county commissioners and judges over the past decade, boasting 54 alumni. Given that the program had not been evaluated, this study used qualitative methodology to determine the program’s impacts on community leaders. Eleven program graduates were interviewed as well as asked to provide artifacts representing impacts of the program. Categories emerged from the data and were identified as: affective impacts, behavioral impacts, and cognitive impacts. Data revealed that the social networks and relationships participants gained was an overarching outcome of the program as these influenced the affective, behavioral, and cognitive impacts of the program. Several recommendations for further research, program modifications, and community leadership opportunities resulted from the study. Findings provide insight for those seeking to improve programming for agricultural leadership extension programs.
Capital A, Capital E - Ripples in the Agricultural Education Pool
Authors: Newman Michael E.
Published: January 2018

Dr. Michael E. Newman presented the 2016 AAAE Distinguished Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education in Kansas City, Missouri in May, 2016. The article is a philosophical work based upon the author’s experiences in the agricultural education profession.
Millenial and Non-millenial Agriculture Teachers' Current and Ideal Emphasis on the Three Components of the Agricultural Education Program
Authors: Shoulders Catherine W. , Toland Hannah
Published: January 2018

Classroom and laboratory instruction, FFA, and SAE have long represented the complete agricultural education program via the three-component model. While the model depicts three circles of equal size to represent these components, the focus and level of emphasis of each component within the agriculture program is the decision of the agriculture teacher. The purpose of this study was to describe [State] agriculture teachers’ behavioral intentions and actual behaviors regarding emphasis of each component in the profession’s three-component model. Results of this descriptive study indicated the average program emphasized instruction most, FFA next, and SAE least. However, the majority of respondents indicated a disparity between the emphasis of each component in their current program and their ideal program. Most respondents indicated their ideal program would emphasize instruction, FFA, and SAE equally. Differences between Millennial and Non-millennial teachers indicate the younger generation spent more time on FFA than the older generations, while the older generation wanted more personal time than their younger peers. We recommend further research be conducted to determine whether these results are found among other populations, as well as to uncover the reasons behind these results.
Identifying International Agricultural Concepts for Secondary Agricultural Education Curriculum
Authors: Conner Nathan W. , Gates Hailey , Stripling Christopher T.
Published: January 2018

The globalization of the agriculture industry has created an emerging need for agricultural education in the United States to take a more globalized approach to prepare students for future careers in agriculture. The purpose of this study was to identify international agricultural concepts for secondary agricultural education curriculum. A Delphi study was used to obtain a general consensus by a panel of experts, and 24 overarching concepts were identified to incorporate into an internationalized secondary agricultural curriculum within the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Career Cluster. The overarching concepts were placed into five categories including: (a) production, (b) business, (c) culture, (d) environment, and (e) global awareness. We recommend the 24 concepts be used by curriculum specialists to internationalize secondary curriculum for school based agricultural education (SBAE). Future research should investigate the utility of the concepts and best practices for teaching international content in SBAE.
When Defining Agriculture and Science, Explicit is not a Bad Word
Authors: Stofer Kathryn A. , Newberry III
Published: January 2018

Agriscience is an emerging field at the intersection of recently separate fields of agriculture and science. For meaningful communication with and engagement of public audiences around agriscience, researchers, educators, and the public must have a consensus definition. We used personal meaning mapping to collect public audience understandings of the individual terms agriculture and science to find spontaneous overlap. We qualitatively coded them and compared them to each other. Very few participants explicitly included “agriculture” on science maps and vice versa. However, many maps included terms that related to the other topic; for example, on agriculture maps, many participants included “biology.” Agriculture maps used more terms related to tangible products, while science maps contained more terms related to intangible results and specific disciplinary areas. We found some overlap of categories with both sets of standards but in differing amounts, reflecting the career emphasis of agricultural programs. The lack of consensus definitions of agriculture and science confound our efforts to support both public engagement with agriscience and literacy efforts in both science education and agricultural education. This research could form the basis for larger, broader quantitative public surveys and comparisons across geographic areas.
Enhancing Extension Programs by Discussion Water Conservation Technology Adoption with Growers
Authors: Lamm Alexa J. , Warner Laura A. , Martin Emmett T. , White Sarah A. , Fisher Paul
Published: January 2018

Nursery growers are one of the largest agricultural users of water. Researchers have been developing new water treatment techniques and technologies for nursery growers to assist in preserving this precious resource, yet adoption within the industry has been limited. Extension professionals need to work closely with nursery growers to encourage adoption but the enablers and barriers are largely unidentified in the literature. Twenty-four interviews were conducted with nursery growers nationwide to identify the barriers and enablers to adoption in an effort to provide recommendations for improved extension programming with this audience. The findings revealed nursery growers have a positive attitude towards water conservation but the financial cost of replacing equipment keeps them from adopting. In addition, nursery growers perceive new technologies to be complex and difficult to understand and implement. Extension professionals can leverage this positive attitude and use social norms to assist in overcoming some of the barriers. Using case studies as examples of success stories, partnering with researchers to develop easy to use instructions and integration tools that could be offered online, and assisting growers in connecting with agricultural economists to conduct cost/benefit analysis associated with adoption are a few of the recommendations offered.
Preliminary Development of an Attrition Risk Assessment Instrument for Secondary Agricultural Educators
Authors: Greenhaw Laura L. (Lemons) , Brashears M. Todd , Burris Scott , Meyers Courtney , Morrison Carley C.
Published: January 2018

Secondary agricultural education has consistently faced a shortage of teachers for the past several decades. Because there are not enough newly qualified teachers certified annually to fill all the vacancies, attrition must be addressed. The purpose of this research was to develop and pilot test an attrition risk assessment instrument. Items were written and included in a preliminary instrument based on existing literature as well as a qualitative study we conducted previously. Principal components analysis resulted in a 25-question instrument, with 17 questions measuring attrition risk in four constructs including alternative career opportunities, expectations versus realities, passions, and people frustrations. Cronbach’s alpha indicated overall instrument reliability wasα= .76. Individual construct reliabilities ranged fromα= .57 toα= .85. Recommendations include further development and refinement of constructs and questions. Additionally, longitudinal data should be collected in order to identify the threshold magnitude of each risk factor that results in actual exit of a teacher from the profession. Finally, implementation of the instrument could assist researchers and teacher educators in identifying the most prevalent risks contributing to teacher attrition in a population.
Teachers' Beliefs about the Purpose of Agricultural Education and its Influence on their Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Authors: Rice Amber H. , Kitchel Tracy
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to conceptualize the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of experienced agriculture teachers in the plant sciences. The overarching theme that emerged during data collection and analysis was the influence of beliefs on participants’ PCK. This finding guided subsequent data collection and analysis that focused on what was shaping the participants’ PCK in plant sciences. The integrated beliefs system was the driving force in shaping the participants’ PCK and the primary component of this system was the participants’ beliefs about the purpose of agricultural education. These individual purposes for agricultural education included: career preparation, college preparation, practical life skills, agricultural literacy, and student individualization. These purposes influenced the type of experiences teachers sought out to develop new knowledge and how they transferred that knowledge in the classroom. These findings support further examination of how beliefs about the purpose of agricultural education are influencing teacher knowledge and practice.
A National Study of Work Characterisitcs and Work-Family Conflict among Secondary Agricultural Educators
Authors: Sorenson Tyson J. , McKim Aaron J. , Velez Jonathan J.
Published: January 2018

Data from a random sample of secondary school agriculture teachers in the United States were utilized to explore work characteristics and their relationship to work-family conflict, specifically how the work role interfered with the family role. Nine workplace characteristics (i.e., salary, work hours per work week, weekend work hours, years of teaching experience, number of agriculture teachers within the school, school community type, number of students per class, work salience, and perceived family-supportive work culture) were explored by gender. Two of the workplace characteristics, years of teaching experience and salary, were significantly different for male and female agriculture teachers. An analysis was conducted of the relationship between identified workplace characteristics and teachers’ perceptions of their work role interfering with their family role. In total, the workplace variables accounted for 22% of the variance in teachers’ perceptions of work interfering with their family. Four of the workplace variables (i.e., perceived family- supportive work culture, number of agriculture teachers per school, work salience, and work hours per work week) were statistically significant predictors of work interfering with family. Recommendations and implications for the agriculture teaching profession are discussed in light on these findings.
Advisory Councils in Tennessee School-Based Agricultural Education Programs
Authors: Taylor Samantha , Stripling Christopher T. , Stephens Carrie A. , Hart William E. , Falk Jeremy M. , Foster Daniel D.
Published: January 2018

Advisory councils are essential to successful, working relationships among school-based agricultural education programs and the surrounding community. The purpose of this study was to describe how school-based agricultural education programs implement and utilize advisory councils in Tennessee and to determine agricultural education teachers’ perceptions of program advisory councils. We found 76.5% of program respondents had an active advisory council. Respondents perceived advisory councils positively; however, most teachers felt they could better utilize their advisory council. The belief that the agricultural education teacher is the leader of the program’s advisory council was also implied. Future research is needed to further strengthen methods to enhance the use of an advisory council. In addition, professional development programs focused on how to best establish and utilize an advisory council is recommended.
Seeing What They See - A Photovoice Analysis of Exploratory Early Field Experiences
Authors: Baker Marshall A. , Culbertson Avery L. , Robinson J. Shane , Ramsey Jon W.
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this photovoice study was to investigate what and how pre-service teachers conceive and make meaning of exploration observations of early field experiences (EFEs). EFEs are vital components of the teacher preparation program and include all activities that occur in pre-service teacher education prior to student teaching, including exploratory observations (Retallick & Miller, 2010). Process coding of 123 photographs and reflective captions led to five themes: (a) optimizing student aperture, (b) affirming the decision to teach, (c) identifying learning strategy outcomes, (d) balancing the three components of agricultural education, and (e) creating a felt need to learn. Praxis included more purposeful inclusion of cooperating teachers as experts, distinguishing between an experience and observation, and seeking those observations outside of agricultural education classrooms.
Can land degradation drive differences in the C exchange of two similar semiarid ecosystems?
Authors: López-Ballesteros Ana , Oyonarte Cecilio , Kowalski Andrew S. , Serrano-Ortiz Penélope , Sánchez-Cañete Enrique P. , Moya M. Rosario , Domingo Francisco
Published: January 2018

Abstract. Currently, drylands occupy more than one-third of the global terrestrial
surface and are recognized as areas vulnerable to land degradation. The
concept of land degradation stems from the loss of an ecosystem's biological
productivity due to long-term loss of natural vegetation or depletion of
soil nutrients. Drylands' key role in the global carbon (C)
balance has been recently demonstrated, but the effects of land
degradation on C sequestration by these ecosystems still need to be
investigated. In the present study, we compared net C and water vapor
fluxes, together with satellite, meteorological and vadose zone (CO2,
water content and temperature) measurements, between two nearby
(∼ 23 km) experimental sites representing “natural”
(i.e., site of reference) and “degraded” grazed semiarid grasslands. We utilized
data acquired over 6 years from two eddy covariance stations located in southeastern Spain
with highly variable precipitation magnitude and distribution.
Results show a striking difference in the annual C balances with an average
net CO2 exchange of 196 ± 40 (C release) and −23 ± 2 g C m−2 yr−1
(C fixation) for the degraded and natural sites,
respectively. At the seasonal scale, differing patterns in net CO2
fluxes were detected over both growing and dry seasons. As expected, during
the growing seasons, greater net C uptake over longer periods was observed at
the natural site. However, a much greater net C release, probably derived
from subterranean ventilation, was measured at the degraded site during
drought periods. After subtracting the nonbiological CO2 flux from net
CO2 exchange, flux partitioning results point out that, during the 6
years of study, gross primary production, ecosystem respiration and water use
efficiency were, on average, 9, 2 and 10 times higher, respectively,
at the natural site versus the degraded site. We also tested
differences in all monitored meteorological and soil variables and CO2
at 1.50 m belowground was the variable showing the greatest intersite
difference, with ∼ 1000 ppm higher at the degraded site.
Thus, we believe that subterranean ventilation of this vadose zone CO2,
previously observed at both sites, partly drives the differences in C
dynamics between them, especially during the dry season. It may be due to enhanced
subsoil–atmosphere interconnectivity at the degraded site.
Análisis, diseño, implementación y prueba piloto del sistema de información gerencial para la toma de decisiones, basado en la gestión de la Carpeta Docente del profesorado de la Facultad Regional Multidisciplinaria de Carazo (FAREM-Carazo)
Authors: Soza López Marcos Adolfo
Published: January 2018

Se presenta una investigación que tiene como resultado la creación de un sistema de apoyo a la toma de decisiones para el manejo y control de la Carpeta Docente, que es una práctica fundamental en las instituciones de educación superior y que contribuye en gran medida a la gestión del conocimiento organizacional. Desarrollado para la Facultad Regional Multidisciplinaria de Carazo (FAREM-Carazo), trae consigo la mejora de los procesos de registro y manejo de las experiencias, evidencias y prácticas docentes. Los resultados finales del estudio fueron: la elección de una alternativa de tecnología de desarrollo, el análisis, diseño, implementación de un sistema con componentes sólidamente estructurados, con base en los elementos teóricos de la Carpeta Docente y la validación de su uso a través de pruebas de usabilidad que permitieron medir el nivel de aceptación por parte de los docentes que fueron capacitados en el uso de la herramienta. Este sistema hace posible la gestión del conocimiento organizacional, la toma de decisiones acertadas y sirve como instrumento de ayuda para la inserción de docentes noveles, permitiendo así, contribuir en gran medida a la automatización de procesos académicos institucionales.
Local Product Marketing Strategy (Home Industry) in ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Era
Authors: Handayani Nur , Ardini Lilis
Published: January 2018

The ASEAN free market era (ASEAN Economic Community) encourages countries that are members of ASEAN organizations to compete globally, including Indonesia. This research is a qualitative research with focus group discussion method (FGD). The subject of this research is home industries that joined in Self Help Group (SHGs) group of 19 groups. These SHGs are chosen because they have high entrepreneurship power. Entrepreneurship is needed as a fundamental force of SHG in order to create a sustainable and growing business. The result of focus group discussion is the formation of the same perception and goals in making the home industry business is survive and sustainable through several strategies. Some of the strategies adopted based on FGD results are marketing strategy through exhibition both national and international. This strategy is expected to introduce local products from home industry in the eyes of the world to face MEA competition. This will increase local wisdom value in the era of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
Research on the Protection Mechanism of the Party Building in Rural Areas from the Perspective of Governing Ethics
Authors: Hao Baoquan
Published: January 2018

Governing ethics act as the moral basis for the political authority of the governing Party and the value guidance of the behaviors of the governing Party and its members. Community-level Party organizations, playing a key role in the work of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in rural areas, are the basic platforms for rural Party members to be acknowledged and respected. The building of them has always been highly emphasized by the Party. However, the key role of community-level Party organizations in rural areas has been weakened to some extent by the increasing amount of rural Party members joining the floating population, the negative effect of pan-market phenomenon in the whole society, and the hollowing condition caused by the floating away of population in the under-developed rural areas, which all have added up a critical problem hindering the building of governing ethics of the Party in the rural areas. Thus, this paper proposes a comprehensive protection mechanism which is constituted by five steps as the standard for the building of community-level Party organizations in rural areas, a stimulus for the effective restoration of the role of community-level Party organizations in rural areas in enhancing the development of rural economy, serving people, rallying public support and promoting harmony, and a choice for community-level Party organizations in rural areas to regain their function and subjective position in the vision of governing ethics.
A New Branching Rule to Solve the Capacitated Lot Sizing and Scheduling Problem with Sequence Dependent Setups
Authors: De Oliveira Willy Alves , Santos Maristela Oliveira dos
Published: January 2018

In this paper, we deal with the Capacitated Lot Sizing and Scheduling Problem with sequencedependent setup times and costs - CLSD model. More specifically, we propose a simple reformulation for the CLSD model that enables us to define a new branching rule to be used in Branch-and-Bound (or Branch-and-Cut) algorithms to solve this NP-hard problem. Our branching rule can be easily implemented in commercial solvers. Computational tests performed in 240 test instances from the literature show that our approach can significantly reduce the running time to solve this problem using a Branch-and-Cut algorithm of a commercial MIP solver.Therefore, our approach can also improve the performance of other approaches that need to solve partial sub problems of the CLSD model in each iteration, such as Lagrangian approaches and heuristics based on the mathematical formulation of the problem.
Characterisation of Antimicrobial Properties of Extracts of Selected Medicinal Plants
Authors: CIOCH MONIKA , SATORA PAWEŁ , SKOTNICZNY MAGDALENA , SEMIK-SZCZURAK DOROTA , TARKO TOMASZ
Published: January 2018

The scope of the experiments included analysis of the antimicrobial activity of ethanolic, methanolic and aqueous extracts against bacterial and fungal cultures and determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration of plant extracts tested microbial growth. Analysis of the antifungal and antibacterial activity was carried out by the disc diffusion method using paper discs. In the experiment 11 species of microorganisms – 8 bacterial and 3 fungal strains were used. The highest antimicrobial activity against the tested strains was demonstrated by black elder (Sambucus nigra L.), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) extracts. The study showed the diverse morphological activity of specific parts of elderberry and quince, which is the effect of different polyphenolic profile of these plants. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida and Bacillus subtilis showed the highest sensitivity to the effect of extracts of the analysed plants. As a positive control three antibiotics – amphotericin B, vancomycin and amoxicillin with clavulanic acid were used.
The Diversity, Growth Promoting Abilities and Anti-microbial Activities of Bacteria Isolated from the Fruiting Body of Agaricus bisporus
Authors: XIANG QUANJU , LUO LIHUA , LIANG YUHUAN , CHEN QIANG , ZHANG XIAOPING , GU YUNFU
Published: January 2018

Agaricus bisporus plays an important role in ecological processes and is one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms worldwide. Mushroom growth-promoting bacteria have been isolated from casing soil and compost, but microorganisms in the fruiting body have received only a little attention. To get an overview of phylogenetic diversity of microorganisms in the fruiting body of A. bisporus, as well as to screen antimicrobial and mushroom growth-promoting strains, and eventually intensify mushroom production, we isolated and characterized microorganisms from the fruiting body of A. bisporus. In total, 55 bacterial strains were isolated, among which nine isolates represented Actinomycetes. All the isolates were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene RFLP and sixteen representative strains by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. According to the phylogenetic analysis, eleven isolates represented the Gram-positive Bacillus, Lysinibacillus, Paenibacillus, Pandorea and Streptomyces genera, and five isolates belonged to the Gram-negative Alcaligenes and Pseudomonas genera. The bacteria isolated from the fruiting body of A. bisporus had broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities and potential mushroom growth-promoting abilities.
Bactericidal Activity of Octenidine to Various Genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi, Sensu Lato Spirochetes in Vitro and in Vivo
Authors: TYLEWSKA-WIERZBANOWSKA STANISŁAWA , ROGUSKA URSZULA , LEWANDOWSKA GRAŻYNA , CHMIELEWSKI TOMASZ
Published: January 2018

The aim of our studies was to invent a reliable method for detection of the bactericidal activity of disinfectants against Borrelia burgdorferi in suspension (in vitro) and in cell line cultures (in vivo). In the suspension method, 0.01% octenidine at 20°C and 35°C was bactericidal to Borrelia afzeli; Borrelia garini, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto after 5 minutes treatment. Increase of the temperature to 35°C speed up the bactericidal effect to 1 minute. The bactericidal action of octenidine towards B. burgdorferi spirochetes growing in fibroblasts was less effective and needed a longer time to kill them than in the suspension.