Assessing the relevance of Iowa State University\u27s AG 450 Farm Management and Operation Course content based on industry, alumni, and student perspectives

The purpose of this dissertation was to assess the relevance of Iowa State University\u27s Agricultural Education and Studies 450 capstone course based on industry, alumni, and students\u27 perspectives. This dissertation utilized quantitative and qualitative approaches to address the following three research objectives: (1) identify the professional and technical skills agricultural industry employers expect agricultural graduates to possess upon employment or entering the workforce, (2) describe alumni perspectives regarding the skills learned in an agricultural capstone course, and how those skills have been transferred or utilized in the agricultural workforce, and (3) describe students\u27 agricultural experiences before and during the Ag 450 course and also describe their perceptions in terms of the professional and technical skills that have been identified by agricultural industry experts. To address objective one, a Delphi study was conducted to identify the most important professional and technical skills that agricultural industry employers expect graduates to possess upon entering the workforce. A panel of 23 agricultural industry experts provided the data for the Delphi study. A total of 52 items reached consensus, which included 18 technical skills and 34 professional skills. It was concluded that agricultural employers place a high value on many technical and professional skills that graduates should possess, which could be used as a guide to evaluate current agricultural curriculum. To address objective two, a qualitative approach was utilized and interviews were conducted with former Iowa State University Ag 450 alumni. The interviews helped to describe the alumni\u27s perspectives regarding the transferability of skills learned in the Ag 450 course and application to the agricultural workforce. Ten alumni of the Ag 450 course shared their perspectives regarding the transferability of skills learned in the Ag 450 course. A common theme relating to the value of the Ag 450 course produced sub-themes associated with the value of the curriculum and experiential learning experiences were discovered. It was concluded that learning experiences and acquisition of skills learned in the Ag 450 course are being applied by graduates who are involved in the agricultural industry. An adaption of Finch and Crunkilton\u27s (1997) systems program model was designed that highlights the elements of the Ag 450 farm. Addressing objective three, a survey of Iowa State University\u27s Ag 450 students was conducted over the course of two semesters regarding their perceived competence and confidence of certain technical and professional skills expected by agricultural industry experts before and after completion of the Ag 450 capstone course. It was concluded the Ag 450 capstone course is improving student competence of technical skills and on average, students somewhat to strongly agreed they were confident regarding professional skills needed for the workplace. The results of this dissertation suggest agricultural industry employers and professionals require agricultural graduates from a four-year institution, such as Iowa State University\u27s Agricultural Studies students, to possess a certain amount of professional and technical skills upon employment in the workforce. Furthermore, it was discovered that a capstone course such as Ag 450, focused in farm management, business, and operations, is helping to prepare students to enter into the workplace based on the needs of industry and is also providing students with skills and opportunities that are being transferred to the workplace and the day-to-day aspects of the agricultural industry. Further research should include an assessment of learning objectives of agricultural capstone courses and their alignment with the expectations of an evolving agricultural industry. Research should also examine the effectiveness and design of other capstone courses or agricultural programs, designed to prepare students to enter into the agricultural industry

A feasibility study of the expansion of swine and management for Iowa State University’s AG 450 farm

Master of AgribusinessDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsAllen M. FeatherstoneFor more than 70 years, the Iowa State University Ag 450 Farm has been in operation south of the Iowa State University (ISU) campus located in Ames, Iowa. The Ag 450 farm is currently the only student managed farm at a land grant university in the United States. The idea for the Ag 450 Farm was developed by Dr. William Murray in 1938 and in 1943, the Ag 450 class was first offered by Dr. Murray. At the farm, the core principals of agribusiness and farm management have been taught while adapting to an ever-changing agriculture. The Ag 450 Farm is considered the capstone course for the Iowa State University Agricultural Studies major. ISU Ag 450 is currently under the supervision of farm manager Greg Vogel and the Iowa State University Agriculture and Studies Department. Today, the Iowa State University Ag 450 students manage approximately 275 acres of owned ground, 700 acres of cash rented ground, 80 acres of crop share ground, and 800 acres of custom farmed ground depending on the year. Ag 450 represents a commercial farming enterprise of corn and soybean production as well as housing nursery piglets and custom finishing over 1000 head of feeder pigs. In its current condition, the ISU Ag 450 is looking to expand its operations to meet the demands Agricultural Studies majors at Iowa State University. A focus of the expansion is to increase the amount of custom finished feeder pigs by building another finishing facility. That type of expansion requires the need for another full-time farm manager. This research examines the feasibility of expansion of the swine and management to determine the impact this may have on the future viability of the farm

Examining Students’ Experiences and Perceived Skill Attainment in an Agricultural Capstone Course

Utilizing a context-based model for teaching agriculture and qualitative research methodology, a survey of Iowa State University’s Ag 450 students was conducted over the course of two semesters regarding their competence and confidence of certain technical and professional skills expected by agricultural industry experts before and after completion of the Ag 450 capstone course. It was concluded the Ag 450 capstone course is improving student competence of technical skills and on average, students somewhat agreed they were confident regarding professional skills needed for the workplace. It is recommended that this study be replicated for more in-depth analysis and that a longitudinal study regarding how skills learned in the capstone course are being applied in the workforce be utilized as a way to further this research. Furthermore, this study may be replicated utilizing a broader range of skills or focused on the core competencies and outcomes of the course itself. Recommendations for further research and future practice were provided.This article is published as Rinker, S. P., M. S. Hainline, and S. W. Smalley. "Examining Students' Experiences and Perceived Skill Attainment in an Agricultural Capstone Course." NACTA Journal 64 (2019): 254-261. © 2019 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. Posted with permission

Identifying the Professional and Technical Skills Agricultural Industry Employers Expect Agricultural Graduates to Possess

Through the lens of human capital theory, the Delphi technique was used to identify the most important professional and technical skills that agricultural industry employers expect graduates to possess upon entering the workforce. A panel of 23 agricultural industry experts provided the data for the Delphi study. At the conclusion of three rounds, a total of 52 items reached consensus, which included 18 technical skills (i.e. verbal communication skills, general knowledge of the agricultural industry, etc.) and 34 professional skills (i.e. flexible, accountable, relatable, etc.). It was concluded agricultural employers place a high value on many technical and professional skills that graduates should possess and this list should be used as a guide to evaluate current agricultural curriculum. It was recommended further research address how graduates are transferring these skills into the workplace.This article is published as Rinker, S. P., S. W. Smalley, and M. S. Hainline. "Identifying the professional and technical skills agricultural industry employers expect agricultural graduates to possess." NACTA Journal 65 (2020): 102-114. © 2020 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. Posted with permission

Technical agriculture skills teachers need to teach courses in the animal systems pathway

Fundamentally, agricultural teacher education programs and their faculty are tasked with preparing competent teachers capable of teaching students enrolled in public schools. As part of their design, an important facet of these programs is ensuring pre-service teachers are ready to provide educational opportunities in aspects of school-based agricultural education (SBAE), including teaching technical agriculture skills to students. We used a three-round Delphi technique to identify the technical agriculture skills SBAE teachers in Illinois and Iowa need to effectively teach courses in the Animal Systems pathway within the broader Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) Career Cluster. Thirty-four SBAE teachers who were nominated by state-level SBAE leaders and other SBAE teachers in their states contributed data for our study. Twenty-two teachers participated in all three rounds. In total, we identified 35 technical agriculture skill items. To help ensure teachers are competent and prepared to teach courses in the Animal Systems pathway, we outline several approaches agricultural teacher educators should contemplate: (1) facilitating opportunities to foster technical agriculture skill development within agricultural teacher education programs, (2) collaborating with agricultural faculty who teach technical agriculture courses to pre-service teachers, and (3) using our list of 35 skills to facilitate future scholarly investigation on the topic. While not generalizable beyond the SBAE teachers in these two states, we do believe our findings have value for SBAE stakeholders. To overcome the limitation of generalizability and to delve deeper into teachers’ technical agriculture skill needs, we suggest that our study be replicated in other states.This article is published as Wells, T., Solomonson, J., Hainline, M., Rank, B., Wilson, M., Rinker, S., & Chumbley, S. (2023). Technical agriculture skills teachers need to teach courses in the animal systems pathway. Journal of Agricultural Education, 64(3), 158–175. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i3.117. © 2023 American Association for Agricultural Education. Posted with permission

Technical Agriculture Skills Teachers Need to Teach Courses in the Plant Systems Pathway

Agricultural teacher education programs are designed to prepare competent teachers who are ready to teach students in public schools. One aspect of agricultural teacher education is ensuring teachers are ready to lead instruction in various aspects of school-based agricultural education (SBAE), such as teaching students various technical agriculture skills. As part of a larger study, we used a three-round Delphi study to identify the technical agriculture skills SBAE teachers in Illinois and Iowa need to effectively teach courses in the Plant Systems pathway within the broader Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) Career Cluster. A panel of 27 experienced SBAE teachers nominated by their colleagues contributed data for our study. Eighteen teachers participated in all three rounds. At the conclusion of our Delphi study, we identified 82 technical agriculture skills. To help ensure teachers are competent and prepared to teach courses in the Plant Systems pathway, we suggest several approaches agricultural teacher educators should consider: (1) facilitating opportunities to implement technical agriculture skill development opportunities within agricultural teacher education programs, (2) engaging with agricultural faculty who teach technical agriculture courses to pre-service teachers, and (3) using our list of 82 skills as a springboard to facilitate future scholarly inquiry on the topic. While our results are not generalizable beyond the SBAE teachers in Illinois and Iowa, we do believe our findings are valuable to SBAE stakeholders. To enhance generalizability and provide a more thorough exploration of teachers’ technical agriculture skill needs, replication of our study should occur in other states.This article is published as Solomonson, J. K., Wells, T., Hainline, M. S., Rank, B. D., Wilson, M., Rinker, S. P., & Chumbley, S. "Boot". (2022). Technical Agriculture Skills Teachers Need to Teach Courses in the Plant Systems Pathway. Journal of Agricultural Education, 63(3), 100–116. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2022.03100. © 2022 American Association for Agricultural Education. Posted with permission

Assessing the relevance of Iowa State University's AG 450 Farm Management and Operation Course content based on industry, alumni, and student perspectives

The purpose of this dissertation was to assess the relevance of Iowa State University's Agricultural Education and Studies 450 capstone course based on industry, alumni, and students' perspectives. This dissertation utilized quantitative and qualitative approaches to address the following three research objectives: (1) identify the professional and technical skills agricultural industry employers expect agricultural graduates to possess upon employment or entering the workforce, (2) describe alumni perspectives regarding the skills learned in an agricultural capstone course, and how those skills have been transferred or utilized in the agricultural workforce, and (3) describe students' agricultural experiences before and during the Ag 450 course and also describe their perceptions in terms of the professional and technical skills that have been identified by agricultural industry experts. To address objective one, a Delphi study was conducted to identify the most important professional and technical skills that agricultural industry employers expect graduates to possess upon entering the workforce. A panel of 23 agricultural industry experts provided the data for the Delphi study. A total of 52 items reached consensus, which included 18 technical skills and 34 professional skills. It was concluded that agricultural employers place a high value on many technical and professional skills that graduates should possess, which could be used as a guide to evaluate current agricultural curriculum. To address objective two, a qualitative approach was utilized and interviews were conducted with former Iowa State University Ag 450 alumni. The interviews helped to describe the alumni's perspectives regarding the transferability of skills learned in the Ag 450 course and application to the agricultural workforce. Ten alumni of the Ag 450 course shared their perspectives regarding the transferability of skills learned in the Ag 450 course. A common theme relating to the value of the Ag 450 course produced sub-themes associated with the value of the curriculum and experiential learning experiences were discovered. It was concluded that learning experiences and acquisition of skills learned in the Ag 450 course are being applied by graduates who are involved in the agricultural industry. An adaption of Finch and Crunkilton's (1997) systems program model was designed that highlights the elements of the Ag 450 farm. Addressing objective three, a survey of Iowa State University's Ag 450 students was conducted over the course of two semesters regarding their perceived competence and confidence of certain technical and professional skills expected by agricultural industry experts before and after completion of the Ag 450 capstone course. It was concluded the Ag 450 capstone course is improving student competence of technical skills and on average, students somewhat to strongly agreed they were confident regarding professional skills needed for the workplace. The results of this dissertation suggest agricultural industry employers and professionals require agricultural graduates from a four-year institution, such as Iowa State University's Agricultural Studies students, to possess a certain amount of professional and technical skills upon employment in the workforce. Furthermore, it was discovered that a capstone course such as Ag 450, focused in farm management, business, and operations, is helping to prepare students to enter into the workplace based on the needs of industry and is also providing students with skills and opportunities that are being transferred to the workplace and the day-to-day aspects of the agricultural industry. Further research should include an assessment of learning objectives of agricultural capstone courses and their alignment with the expectations of an evolving agricultural industry. Research should also examine the effectiveness and design of other capstone courses or agricultural programs, designed to prepare students to enter into the agricultural industry.</p

Alumni Panel on Teaching and Pursuing a Ph.D. after the MAB Program

A panel of MAB alumni share their experience in the MAB program, their thesis, and how the MAB has helped each to pursue teaching and continuing education after the MAB.This is a presentation of an Alumni panel on Teaching and Pursuing a Ph. D. after the MAB Program, Kansas State University, webinar series