Comparison of Course Completion and Student Performance through Online and Traditional Courses

Enrollment in online courses has outpaced overall university enrollment for the past several years. The growth of online courses does not appear to be slowing. The purpose of this study was to compare course completion and student academic performance between online and traditional courses. Archival data from the host university student records system was collected using the Structured Query Language. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze student characteristics. Chi-square analysis was used to determine if statistically significant differences existed between students enrolled in online and traditional courses when comparing course completion and academic performance. Analysis found statistically significant differences existed in both course completion and academic performance for students enrolled in online versus traditional courses. Additional analysis indicated statistically significant differences existed in course completion by course discipline

Salmonella and the Media: A Comparative Analysis of Coverage of the 2008 Salmonella Outbreak in Jalapenos and the 2009 Salmonella Outbreak in Peanut Products

The purpose of this study was to catalog and compare data from the coverage of two different Salmonella outbreak events in the United States through the lens of framing theory. Using qualitative content analysis, the transcripts of television newscasts that covered the 2008 Salmonella outbreak in tomatoes and jalapenos and the 2009 Salmonella outbreak in peanut products were researched and analyzed. These transcripts were taken from ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN for both outbreaks. The researchers determined that while the manner in which the stories were framed was similar in some respects, such as story presentation and attitudes, there were also differences, particularly in regard to interview sources used. Tomato growers were used as sources in the 2008 outbreak, but peanut farmers were not used in the 2009 outbreak, where victims and politicians were favored. However, it was determined this had no overall effect on the accuracy, fairness, or overall economic or social impact of the stories presented

A Nutty Study: A Framing Analysis of the 2009 Salmonella Outbreak in Peanut Products

The purpose of this study was to examine television news coverage of the 2009 Salmonella outbreak in peanut products through the scope of framing theory. The aim of this research was to understand how the television news media frame agricultural, particularly food safety, messages. By employing a qualitative content analysis, researchers analyzed television news transcripts from ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC that aired during the peanut product recall. The frames found from this research were informational, anti-Peanut Corporation of America, and anti-FDA. The most commonly used sources were victims of Salmonella, politicians, and current and former FDA off icials. No agricultural frames were present, and the only agricultural organizations interviewed were one representative of the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The researchers concluded that sources did not appear to have a large impact on the way the news was covered for this study. The researchers also found a need for more scientific food safety information to be communicated to the national media

Identifying Stakeholders’ Needs for Agricultural Communications in Higher Education Curriculum in Australia

Agriculture is a vital part of the Australian economy. With an industry poised for growth, and a growing disconnect between consumers and agriculture, additional communication efforts are needed. The purpose of this study was to complete a curriculum visioning process to inform agricultural communications curriculum development in Australia. This study used a qualitative research design consisting of face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with individuals from 14 agricultural organizations and two universities. The results indicated the industry is addressing many challenges, but also has opportunities that would benefit from strategic communication efforts. Participants provided suggestions regarding the specific communication skills and agriculture knowledge future employees should possess. Recognizing these competencies informed the curriculum visioning process for agricultural communications as an academic discipline within Australian higher education. Recommendations for both practice and future research are provided

Exploring the Uses and Gratifications of Agricultural Blog Readers

Blogs are a type of social media that present a unique opportunity to provide information to a large audience without the constraints of traditional media’s gatekeeping barriers. Within agriculture, several studies have examined agricultural blogs but not from the perspective of blog readers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the uses and gratifications of agricultural blog readers. This study used a descriptive survey research design and online questionnaire to assess agricultural blog readers’ demographics, Internet and blog use, attitudes toward agriculture, and motivations for reading blogs. Findings indicated most respondents had direct experience in agriculture and were supportive of the industry. The strongest motivations for accessing agricultural blogs were to find out what other people think about important issues or events and to find alternatives not covered by traditional news sources. Blogs proved to be a useful source of information, but more should be done to expand reach beyond those in the industry. Additional research is needed to more fully describe agricultural blog readers’ uses and gratifications

Using an Experiential Learning Design to Teach Photography in Agricultural Communications

Photography is an important competency of agricultural communications graduates and is a core skill taught in the discipline’s curriculum. The [department] at [university] offers an undergraduate photography course twice yearly in two semester formats: a traditional spring semester where photography principles are taught in the classroom and a 12-day experiential intersession semester that allows for flexibility in how and where the course is taught. Both semesters utilize the same instructor, assignments, and grading rubric. While much agricultural communications research has focused on photography as a needed skill, few studies examine photography teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to compare student performance in an agricultural communications digital photography course taught with an experiential learning approach to a traditional classroom approach during the 2016 and 2017 academic calendar years. Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare students’ cumulative mean assignment scores, individual assignment mean scores, and rubric criteria mean scores within the two instruction formats. The results suggest instruction method has an effect on student performance in agricultural communications digital photography courses. Students in the experiential intersession course had significantly higher mean cumulative assignment scores compared to students in the traditional course. While individual assignment performance was less affected by instruction format, students’ understanding of specific photography skills (rubric criteria), especially composition and clarity was higher when in the experiential intersession format

Misleading or Informing? Examining the Effects of Labeling Design on Consumers’ Perception of Gluten-Free Products and Wheat Safety

As food products marketed as “gluten-free” become increasingly popular, many consumers start to exclude sources of gluten (e.g., wheat, barley, and rye) from their diets for both medical and non-medical purposes. The grain industry is facing a growing challenge to (re)boost consumers’ confidence in the healthiness and safety of its commodities. Using 561 participants recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk workers’ panel, this study implemented a 2 (pretzels vs. potato chips) * 2 (positive- vs. negative- frame) * 2 (wheat image vs. no wheat image) experiment to examine the effects of gluten-free labels on consumers’ perceived healthiness and safety of wheat, perceived benefits of labeled products, and their evaluation of the shown labels. Results showed that consumers evaluate the gluten-free labels most positively when they appear on products that could have contained gluten. For products that are naturally gluten-free, adding a gluten-free label only decreased consumers’ confidence in such labels. The presence of gluten-free labels increased consumers’ perceived benefits of the labeled products when they do not contain any misleading information (e.g., image of a wheat head). However, some gluten-free labels could have negative impacts on consumers’ perceptions of the healthiness and safety of wheat. Overall, food producers and marketers might have undervalued consumers’ literacy and overestimated their susceptibility to marketing strategies. We discussed the implications for food marketers, regulators, and communicators

Ag Resource Tools & Media Coverage: A Study of Newspaper Coverage of Cotton in Texas

Many Extension professionals work with journalists in order to get their message out to various stakeholders. Some develop agricultural resource tools for the media. The study reported here examined coverage of cotton articles from 534 Texas newspapers following the dissemination of the CottonLink© media resource tool. An overall increase was found in the number of articles, newspapers, and circulation size after the dissemination of the CottonLink© media resource tool, while a decrease was found in the number of judgment sentences during the study. Additional research is recommended

Farm Broadcaster Knowledge and Beliefs of Biotechnology and Genetically Modified Organisms

Farm broadcasting members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) were studied to determine their knowledge and beliefs about biotechnology and genetically modified organisms. This study used bimodal data collection techniques. Farm broadcasters in this study were described as typically male, over 35 years of age, married, and with at least some college education. Most farm broadcasters had an audience size of more than 50,000 listeners with typically a local distribution. In addition, most deliver a story about biotechnology and genetically modified organisms at least once a week. The majority of farm broadcasters believed that it was important to have a knowledge base of the subject they were reporting on, yet they did not demonstrate a high level of knowledge about food biotechnology, as measured by eight multiple choice questions. The average farm broadcaster only answered five of the eight questions correctly. Farm broadcasters believe that the U.S. food supply is safe and do not feel that GMOs are a risk for future generations. However, farm broadcasters believe that their audiences have a higher perception of GMOs as a potential risk to future generations. Recommendations for future research and evaluation of university agricultural communication curriculum are included

A Case Study and Framing Analysis of the 2008 Salmonella Outbreak

During the summer of 2008, a nationwide Salmonella outbreak sickened more than 1,400 people; the initial cause was thought to be tomatoes, but after further investigation, jalapeno and Serrano peppers from Mexico were the cause. The purpose of this study was to examine television news coverage of the 2008 Salmonella outbreak in jalapenos with case study methodology, through the scope of framing theory, to gain an understanding of how reporters’ ideologies, attitudes, corporate pressures, and interview sources influenced the frames that were reported on national television news networks. The reporters revealed they would like to see changes within the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) food investigations and communications system, they had confidence in the U.S. food supply, and corporate policy did not influence news coverage. Reporters used the agency that issued the recall for an interview source; however, they also used consumer watchdog groups, industry organizations, and university researchers. This study concluded that in some instances, television news frames are influenced by the reporters’ attitudes and ideologies, and in other instances, they are not. Agricultural communicators should be proactive with the news media — ensure they know about the organization, periodically offer information, and be willing to be interviewed — so that if a crisis does occur, it is much easier to get a message out