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International travel and study courses for undergraduate students can be significant academic learning experiences if there is a well-defined curriculum and high expectations for student performance on homework exercises, class discussions and evaluation instruments. An interdisciplinary perspective serves to broaden students' understanding. “In the English Landscape” is a three-credit, 4-week undergraduate course in-residence, primarily in Corsham, Wiltshire, U.K. Students explore the history of English landscapes and gardens in the context of post-medieval British history. The course is team-taught every other year by Purdue faculty from the Horticulture, History and Landscape Architecture programs. Excursions to landscape, garden and cultural sites provide the primary basis for student discovery. Pretravel readings and lectures prepare students for in-country, site-specific worksheets and class discussions. Course philosophy, content, structure, logistics, and instructional materials, which may be useful as a basis for course development by educators at other institutions, are presented.
Colorado State Univ. recently underwent the development of a new all university core curriculum. All faculty were encouraged to submit proposals for new courses or revised courses, which would be reviewed for inclusion under specified categories. Basic Horticulture was redesigned te emphasize the scientific method, the understanding between science and society, and the use of handson and inquiry-based instruction in the laboratory. Horticultural Science is now an applied science course that includes the use of hypothesis formulation, experimentation, observation, data collection, summation and presentation in scientific format of reports of at least three laboratory exercises, as well as extensive general observation and presentation in both written and oral format. It teaches science in the context of everyday interaction with the environment in which the student lives, the interior and exterior plants that surrounds the student at CSU, and the controversies as well as the health aspects that surround the production of foods derived from plants that require intensive cultivation. Examples of such issues include sustainability, the organic movement, genetically modified organisms, ground water pollution form overfertilization, and water usage for landscaping and golf courses in a water short region. A review of the revisions as noted above and the use of technology in teaching the course will be presented.
As universities are required to “right-size,” faculty resources of time and expertise are strained as the institution must cater to undergraduate students while providing a complete graduate curriculum. Thus, many institutions are offering more team taught courses. For a new upper-level undergraduate and lower-level graduate course offering in Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Management, the team consists of faculty from two institutions who each bring different expertise into the classroom. The course utilized weekly chat room discussions to bring students into contact with experts from around the United States and the world. Two-way compressed video was used to allow for synchronous lecture delivery and discussion across sites. A Web site was created to facilitate student interaction and provide chat room access. Multiple student evaluations were conducted to separate learning objectives with the effectiveness of using technology. A flow-chart will be presented which details the steps and problems/accomplishments encountered in successfully delivering this course via distance technologies, including: funding procurement, determining technological compatibility across institutions, delineation of course content, Web page development, and course evaluations.
Nutrition plays an important role in the life of a child because of the impact it has on growth, development, and the ability to learn. One part of proper nutrition is consumption of five fruits and vegetables a day. Currently, children eat an average of 2.5 fruits and vegetables a day, which is only half of the recommended servings. Education is needed to help increase consumption. School gardens are one education tool that can provide active hands-on activities in supportive environments. Through gardening, children learn not only what they should eat but also obtain a greater appreciation for how their food is grown. The main goals of this study were to provide teachers with a guide book for teaching nutrition through horticulture activities and school gardens and to test the effect of gardening on food preferences and eating behaviors of children. A curriculum guide, “Nutrition in the Garden”, was developed for teachers to use with their garden containing background information in horticulture and nutrition. Each lesson includes three to four related activities that can be completed with a garden or in the classroom. A pretest/posttest instrument developed by Tom Baranowski, Professor of Behavioral Science, Univ. of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, was used to determine students' attitudes toward fruits and vegetables. A 24-hour recall food journal was used to determine eating behaviors. Results examine the effects of school gardens on nutritional attitudes and behaviors.
Florida is one of the nation's leading states in citrus, foliage, vegetable, and ornamental crop production. The Univ. of Florida is the only public institution in the state of Florida that offers a bachelors degree in horticulture and /or environmental horticulture. The main campus in Gainesville is centrally located ≈400 to 500 miles from either end of the state. Changing population demographics within Florida have emphasized the necessity of developing programs to reach non-traditional students. Students who are place bound due to work or other responsibilities represent an increasing part of the potential market. The Univ. of Florida, recognizing the specialized needs of non-traditional students, established Bachelors of Science degree programs in environmental horticulture at the Fort Lauderdale and Milton research and education centers. The centers teach the same core curriculum being taught in Gainesville, but the centers also teach additional courses specific to their geographic location to allow for a tailored program. The off-campus facilities have teaching faculty at the centers to teach the courses and also use satellite technology to down link courses from Gainesville. The development of off-campus programs in Fort Lauderdale and Milton allow the Univ. of Florida to improve the effectiveness of educational programming to reach place-bound students.
Classrooms are radically changing across the nation's campuses. Rooms that were once dominated by bright lights, chalkboards, and overhead projectors are being transformed into multimedia “Master Classrooms,” complete with task lighting, video projectors, visualizers, laserdisk and videotape players, soft boards, and computers. What are these pieces of equipment, how much do they cost, and how can they be implemented into horticultural curriculum? Just as our college students teethed on television programs such as Sesame Street when they were toddlers, they now are continuing to learn through a combination of audio, video, and kinesthetic stimulation in the classroom. Computer hardware and software empowers today's educator with a multimedia development studio on his/her desktop to create simple “slide” presentations or complex, interactive multimedia applications. However, it is not multimedia itself, any more than it was the chalkboard, that makes a powerfully educational presentation; rather it is the educator's creativity, utilization of instructional methods, and delivery. Interactive, multimedia development software allows the educator to address different styles and paces of learning as he or she develops a lesson. Through on-screen hot spots, movable objects, buttons, etc., the educator engages the learner's attention and provides the opportunity for the learner to rehearse a concept as often and repeatedly as necessary to encode the information for later retrieval and application to new concepts. Given the power of this new medium to visually and audibly present information, how does the educator avoid overloading the learner? Although multimedia applications readily engage the learner, it takes careful programming by the educator to maintain and direct the learner's attention to ensure transfer of the information from short- to long-term memory.
( http://pbgworks.hort.oregonstate.edu/ ) with the goal of partnering with other CAPs. Education will consist of curriculum development, breeder workshops, and development of a graduate course. The five broad research objectives of the project are: to
. As horticulturists, it is important for all of us to have dreams of a better world through horticulture. I know that many of you work to fulfill your dreams, through research or business projects, plant breeding and development, looking for answers to
and loves the university environment, be it curriculum development, providing input to leaders on a range of education topics, or other academic duties. But, first and foremost, he is an excellent and committed teacher. He gets the message across. He
Committee, 2017 ). Extension Master Gardener programs were originally targeted for development in metro areas to help extension to meet the growing demands for CH information in an increasingly urbanized environment ( Boyer et al., 2002 ). Since their