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.
There is an increasing demand for education in organic and sustainable agriculture from undergraduates, graduate students and extension agents. In this paper, we discuss highlights and evaluations of a multilevel approach to education currently being developed at North Carolina State University (NCSU) that integrates interdisciplinary training in organic and sustainable agriculture and the related discipline of agroecology through a variety of programs for undergraduate students, graduate students, and extension agents. These educational programs are possible because of a committed interdisciplinary faculty team and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, a facility dedicated to sustainable and organic agriculture research, education, and outreach. Undergraduate programs include an inquiry-based sustainable agriculture summer internship program, a sustainable agriculture apprenticeship program, and an interdisciplinary agroecology minor that includes two newly developed courses in agroecology and a web-based agroecology course. Research projects and a diversity of courses focusing on aspects of sustainable and organic agriculture are available at NCSU for graduate students and a PhD sustainable agriculture minor is under development. A series of workshops on organic systems training offered as a graduate-level course at NCSU for extension agents is also described. Connecting experiential training to a strong interdisciplinary academic curriculum in organic and sustainable agriculture was a primary objective and a common element across all programs. We believe the NCSU educational approach and programs described here may offer insights for other land grant universities considering developing multilevel sustainable agriculture educational programs.
curriculum development and integration. For the purpose of helping teachers and students in Texas, the curriculum also aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the common guidelines for curriculum content and teaching. Content that
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.
, we refer to them as “career skills.” The concept of career skill development is not new to higher education and accrediting agencies. For example, the American Society for Engineering Education and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
development, narration, and IT activities, and provided editing and quality control. The curriculum developer prepared program content, which consisted of conducting literature reviews, preparing slides (text and images), drafting scripts, and creating quizzes
with a university. VOA-GBR has a continuing education program for child care providers of youth ages infant through 5 years of age. The staff of VOA-GBR are trained in child development, education and curriculum development for this age group. VOA