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Decision cases have been written for use in horticulture education for some time at the Univ. of Minnesota. How faculty involve graduate students in this process will be discussed using the decision case Sunny Hollow Orchard. This decision case concerns the need to make management decisions in a commercial apple orchard planted largely with Haralson, a russet-susceptible cultivar. The growers involved had to decide whether the application of GA4+7 for russet suppression was appropriate for their operation, given all the factors which required addressing. The case was written for use in fruit production or other intermediate-to-advanced undergraduate course. The case can be used to illustrate the decision-making processes involved in operating a commercial crop production enterprise encompassing such issues as cultural and environmental factors, financial viability and pesticide concerns. The case exposes students to a real-life situation and provides them with the opportunity to face a complex but not uncommon situation for producers in the horticultural industry. We will then focus on how this case fit into the entire PhD research program and how we hope to integrate this kind of experience into graduate education.
Decision cases are designed to enhance students critical thinking by engaging them in authentic problem situations. Students are assigned the role as decision maker with a dilemma to solve. In the assignment, the decision maker has to weigh the issues, identify the options, and develop strategies for solutions either individually or as a group. The authors have been writing and using decision cases in upper level undergraduate production courses in fruits and vegetables to integrate information from classes in plant pathology, entomology, and production horticulture. Decision cases dealing with weed control strategies in small fruit production and vegetable production scheduling will be discussed to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the case approach.
Decision cases have been used as an instructional tool in business education and are now being written for agricultural disciplines. Students are placed as the decision maker to solve managerial problems without having to experience the situation first-hand. In the assignment, the decision maker has to distinguish germane from unimportant facts, identify alternatives among several issues, and formulate strategies and solutions either individually or as a group. Decision cases allow students to become actively engaged in the analysis of the facts and details of the case, the selection of a strategy, and the refinement and justification of the chosen strategy. A sample case will be presented where an orchard manager must decide on a pest management strategy for an apple orchard. This case will be used to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the case approach.
This decision case concerns the need to make management decisions in a commercial apple orchard planted largely with `Haralson,' a russet-susceptible cultivar. The growers described in this situation had to decide whether applying GA4+7 for russet suppression was appropriate for their operation, given the financial, cultural and pesticide issues that required addressing. The case is intended for use in fruit production or other intermediate to advanced undergraduate horticulture courses and assumes a knowledge of basic perennial-crop production practices. Students assume the role of a decisionmaker in the complicated issue of orchard management.
`Haralson,' the most widely-grown cultivar in Minnesota, is highly susceptible to russetting and cracking in many orchards. Because wax platelet arrangement has been proposed as a cause for russettting in `Golden Delicious' apples, we examined the wax platelet arrangement of `Haralson' apples. When compared to the wax platelet arrangement found on the russet-susceptible `Golden Delicious,' and on `McIntosh,' a cultivar which does not russet in our region, `Haralson' platelets were large and upright in orientation, more numerous than found on `Golden Delicious,' but unlike the smaller, more granular platelets found on `McIntosh.' In a concurrent study, we made four GA,,, (Provide) applications, at petal fall and at p.f. +10, 20, and 30 days. At harvest, the treated and untreated blocks of trees were examined for incidence of russet, 25-ct. wt., and total yield per tree. Treated trees produced a greater number of fruit of slightly larger size and with reduced incidence of russet than untreated trees in the study.
Horticulture students in an entry-level course (Plant Propagation) and an upper-level course (Small Fruit Crop Production) were assigned brief writing tasks at the end of each class period based upon that day's lecture. Student writing was intended to be expressive in nature, i.e., for the author's use only. For the first five minutes of each class period, students divided into small groups to discuss possible responses to the previous day's task and to generate questions related to the task topic. The class then reconvened as a whole for a question-and-answer session before lecture was resumed. Students collected their writings in a workbook which they turned in for experimental evaluation only at the end of the quarter. When compared to previous and concurrent sections of the same courses, students engaging in the writing tasks asked more numerous and thoughtful questions in class and demonstrated increased ability to perform well on complex exam questions requiring integration and synthesis of information.
Horticulture students in an entry-level course (plant propagation) and an upper-level course (small fruit crop production) were assigned brief lecture-based writing tasks at the end of each class period. For the first 5 minutes of each subsequent class period, students divided into small groups to discuss their responses to the previous day s task and to generate questions related to the task topic. The class then reconvened as a whole for a question-and-answer session before the lecture was resumed. Students collected their task responses in a workbook that they turned in for experimental evaluation at the end of the quarter. When compared to previous and concurrent sections of the same courses, students engaging in the writing tasks more frequently posed questions in class, posed questions of increased complexity, and demonstrated improved ability to perform well on complex exam questions requiring integration and synthesis of information.