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The number of school garden programs in America is growing. With interest in school gardens rising, research exploring the benefits of school gardens is important to establish the value of horticulture and gardening in primary education to help schools develop, promote, and use gardens for a variety of purposes. The goals of this research project were 1) to develop a typology, or matrix, of school garden program intensity and 2) to determine if variables related to positive youth development varied within the intensity typology. Twenty elementary schools in Florida participated in the research project accounting for ≈20 teachers and 400 third-grade students. This presentation will include how the typology was developed using three levels of intensity (high, medium, and low) and three types of gardens (vegetable, flower, and combination). The dependent variables examined for this study were the student developmental assets of responsibility, school engagement, achievement motivation, and interpersonal competence. Additional dependent variables included students' environmental attitudes and attitudes toward science. Discussion of school garden program intensity and the influence it may have on positive youth development will be the focus of this presentation.
In Spring 1999, the Environmental Horticulture Graduate Student Association (EHGSA) at the Univ. of Florida was given the opportunity to develop a professional development course, for credit, for graduate students. Members of the EHGSA determined that there was a need for seminars on topics such as curriculum vitae development, interview techniques, effective presentations, successful teaching, and many more topics pertinent to the graduate student as a future professional both inside and outside of academia. As a group, the EHGSA determined the seminar topics, found speakers to present the information and organized the course for the Fall 1999 semester. The rationale for creating this course, its development, topic selection, and student reviews will be presented.