Faculty and Administrative Partnerships: Disciplinary Differences in Perceptions of Civic Engagement and Service-Learning at a Large, Research-Extensive University

In recent years, considerable energy has been expended attempting to define, evaluate and promote active learning pedagogies such as civic engagement and service-learning. Yet much of this scholarship treats civic engagement and service-learning at either a macroscopic level (studying an entire university system) or microscopic level (studying a particular course or project). There has been comparably less research examining how different disciplinary cultures influence the conceptualization and implementation of active learning pedagogies within individual institutions. This study draws on quantitative survey methodologies to examine faculty perceptions of civic engagement and service-learning at a major public research university within and across four disciplines: the Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and the Applied Professions. Quantitative results reveal significant variance in disciplinary approaches to civic engagement and service-learning across a variety of measures including advocacy, concerns, and goals for active learning pedagogies. The findings suggest several strategies for recognizing disciplinary differences and encouraging collaboration among faculty and between disciplines on civic engagement and service-learning approaches in higher education

Runoff Loss of Pesticides and Soil: A Comparison between Vegetative Mulch and Plastic Mulch in Vegetable Production Systems

Current vegetable production systems use polyethylene (plastic) mulch and require multiple applications of agrochemicals. During rain events, runoff from vegetable production is enhanced because 50 to 75% of the field is covered with an impervious surface. This study was conducted to quantify off-site movement of soil and pesticides with runoff from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mil.) plots containing polyethylene mulch and a vegetative mulch, hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth). Side-by-side field plots were instrumented with automated flow meters and samplers to measure and collect runoff, which was filtered, extracted, and analyzed to determine soil and pesticide loss. Seasonal losses of two to four times more water and at least three times as much sediment were observed from plots with polyethylene mulch (55.4 to 146 L m-2 and 247 to 535 g m-2, respectively) versus plots with hairy vetch residue (13.7 to 75.7 L m-2 and 32.8 to 118 g m-2, respectively). Geometric means (±standard deviation) of total pesticide loads for chlorothalonil (tetrachloroisophthalonitrile) and α- and β-endosulfan (6,7,8,9,10,10-hexachloro-1,5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-6,9-methano-2,4,3-benzodioxathiepin 3-oxide) for a runoff event were 19, 6, and 9 times greater from polyethylene (800 ± 4.6, 17.6 ± 3.9, and 39.1 ± 4.9 μg m-2, respectively) than from hairy vetch mulch plots (42 ± 6.0, 2.8 ± 5.0, and 4.3 ± 4.6 μg m-2, respectively) due to greater concentrations and larger runoff volumes. The increased runoff volume, soil loss, and off-site loading of pesticides measured in runoff from the polyethylene mulch suggests that this management practice is less sustainable and may have a harmful effect on the environment