Student Retention: Impacts of an Agricultural Economics First Year Seminar Course

As universities seek to enhance student retention, a positive first year experience is critical for student success. The objective of this research is to determine whether an agricultural economics first-year seminar course improves retention rates of its undergraduate students. This course provides a unique opportunity for students to learn about the agricultural economics discipline, and also gain insights into what it takes to be a successful college student. Analysis examines whether departmental retention and graduation rates improve after course implementation in 1998, and compares departmental retention and graduation rates to those of the college and university. Qualitative analysis using student evaluations, senior exit interviews and student surveys also assess the impact of this course on student success. Results show that retention and graduation rates improve following course implementation. Retention, four-year graduation rates and five-year graduation rates for the Department exceed those for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and exceed the four-year graduation rates for the university.first year seminar, first year experience, student retention, graduation rates, student success, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Evaluation of the Photometrics CH250 CCD Camera for use in the NOAA/MLML Marine Optics System

This report summarizes initial work to incorporate Photometries CH250 charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors in the NOAAIMLML Marine Optics System (MOS). The MOS spectroradiometer will be used primarily in the Marine Optics Buoy (MOBY) to surface truth the ocean color satellite, SeaWiFS, scheduled for launch later this year. This work was funded through Contract NAS5-31746 to NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center. (PDF contains 24 pages

Industry Concentration Impacts on Business Strategies Used by Small Produce Wholesalers

Opportunities for small produce wholesalers are affected by concentration in the supply chain, and availability and use of information technology for cost and service issues. Case studies evaluated perceptions, technology adoption and use, and strategies. Ongoing relationships, contracts and bids were common, and a differentiation strategy was chosen.Agribusiness,

AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION AND PRODUCE MARKETING IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Growers and community leaders have expressed interest in establishing a horticultural shipping-point market in Southwest Virginia. This paper reports on a study that assessed whether horticultural production would be profitable in the region and, if so, the physical and organizational requirements for a successful shipping-point market. It appears that tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins can be produced and marketed profitably to large-volume wholesale buyers if growers meet the exacting requirements of the retailers. A cooperative association is the organizational structure with the greatest chance of success. At the conclusion of this study, a shipping-point market in the recommended form was established in Southwest Virginia.Agribusiness, Marketing,

Designing a Learning Historian for Manufacturing Processes

In all aspects of life, reviewing history has proven to have some influence on future decisions. Review of past events is not new to our society. Basketball coaches often review videotapes of games to see what worked well and what could be improved upon (Plaisant et. al page 1). Black boxes in airplanes also provide a record of the conversation held by the pilot and co-pilot prior to a plane crash (Plaisant et. al page 1.) Allowing users to have some record of their actions gives them the opportunity to review these actions and perhaps decide what to do next. Providing a way to review history may also prove beneficial in the manufacturing environment. Simulations provide a means of modeling a "system to reproduce the dynamic behavior of the system" (Herrmann page 11). While simulations are excellent tools for creating these models, they may lack in helping the user to understand the relationships that exist in manufacturing processes. For example, they may lack in facilitating learning that would help the user to understand the relationship that exist between such measures such as the capacity (the number of machines), rate (part/time), through-put (number of completed parts), net profit and cycle time (average time per part). Understanding the relationship held between these measures is the key to understanding the model itself.The Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland in a joint effort with the Human Computer Interface Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland endeavored to provide a solution to helping the user understand these relationships. Their objective was to help students understand the relationship held between the following performance measures: capacity, throughput and cycle time. Once this relationship is understood, the student could use this knowledge to optimize system design. It is believed that providing a link between the student and the simulation that would facilitate learning and understanding would accomplish this objective. The Learning Historian had the capabilities of providing such a tool. The following course of action was followed in designing a Learning Historian for a manufacturing process:ﵠDevelop a simple simulation of a manufacturing process using ArenaﵠUse a Learning Historian that is able to read the Arena fileﵠSelect the input and output configuration files to be displayed in the HistorianﵠDevelop a study that would test the usability of the Historian as a user interface ﵠTest the usability of the Historian on users by means of an informal study ﵠObserve and record users comments and suggestions ﵠImplement minor changes to Historian based on frequency of suggestion or comment ﵠAfter initial testing of historian is complete collate all studies and look for trends in suggestions, comments and problems encountered by users <p

Falling in Line: An Examination of Education Editorials Appearing in Four Leading U.S. Newspapers from the Inauguration of Georg

This report investigates the topics taken up in education-related editorials in four of the nation's leading newspapers between January 1 - September 11, 2001

Some tests of jacketed space heaters for heating small farm dwellings

This bulletin is largely an abstract from a thesis submitted by Mr. Reaves to the graduate faculty of the University of Missouri in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering--P. [3].Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (page [40])

Buy Me! Buy Me!

The Fourth Annual Report on Trends in Schoolhouse Commercialism, Year 2000-2001, finds growing resistance to – and acceptance of – commercial activities in schools

Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Employment Law

This survey covers judicial and legislative developments in Virginia employment law between June 1988 and June 1989. The survey does not address judicial and legislative developments in the areas of workers\u27 compensation or unemployment compensation

Inverse Dynamics Analysis of Youth Pitching Arm Kinetics Using Body Composition Imaging

This study’s objectives were to: (1) assess whether dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-mass inverse dynamics (ID) alters predictions of youth pitching arm kinetics and (2) investigate correlations between kinetics and body composition. Eighteen 10- to 11-year-olds pitched 10 fastballs. DXA scans were conducted to obtain participant-specific upper arm, forearm, and hand masses. Pitching arm segment masses and kinetics calculated with scaled and DXA masses were compared with paired t-tests and correlations were investigated with linear regression. Hand (p \u3c 0.001) and upper arm (p \u3c 0.001) DXA masses were greater, while forearm (p \u3c 0.001) DXA masses were lesser, than their scaled masses. Shoulder compressive force (p \u3c 0.001), internal rotation torque (p \u3c 0.001), and horizontal adduction torque (p = 0.002) increased when using DXA masses. Shoulder compressive force correlated with body mass (p \u3c 0.001) and body mass index (BMI; p = 0.002) and elbow varus torque correlated with body mass (p \u3c 0.05). The main conclusions were that (1) using participant-specific mass ratios leads to different predictions of injury-related pitching arm kinetics and, thus, may improve our understanding of injury risk factors; and (2) pitching arm kinetics were correlated with body composition measures and a relatively high total body mass and/or BMI may increase shoulder and/or elbow injury risk