Two xeriscape gardens have been designed for the purpose of educating the public about the importance of water conservation through xeriscaping. One was designed and implemented for a temporary exhibit at the South Carolina State Fair in October of 1991. The exhibit was cosponsored by the Clemson University Extension Service and Master Gardener programs.
The second garden has been designed for the Clemson University Botanical Garden. This will be a permanant addition to the botanical garden soley for display purposes. It is designed to be a model for students, professors, and the general public to observe and study principles associated with water conservation in the landscape.
A garden-based science curriculum (Junior Master Gardener) was introduced into public elementary schools as an informal education program conducted by Master Gardener volunteers and service-learning university students. The program was held once a week for 2 hours during regular school hours with fifth grade classes. The service-learning students were enrolled in a senior level horticultural science education class. Students were surveyed pre- and post-program with the Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B, preservice), a background survey instrument, and weekly journals. There were significant differences in the students' perceived teaching efficacy pre- and post-program. Most of the student's STEBI scores either remained the same or increased over the semester. Overall, the service-learning college students had very positive responses to their experiences as teachers and mentors in public elementary schools. In addition, the students were able to use their horticultural skills and knowledge and they also gained an appreciation for the teaching profession.
In 1993, a modification of the Master Gardener volunteer program was created to focus on ecological principles for environmentally sound gardening. The new program is called the Master Gardener-Environmental and Community Stewardship (MGECS) program and addresses important environmental concerns in Middlesex County, N.J. Program participants receive more than 100 hours of training in horticultural and ecological principles and are required to share their knowledge with others through volunteer activities monitored by cooperative extension staff. Volunteers encourage home comporting, recycling of grass clippings, proper fertilization techniques, and least-toxic pest control in the home landscape and garden. Trained volunteers have helped more than 16,000 people during the past 2 years through lectures, demonstrations, telephone contacts, and newspaper articles. Since the MGECS program began in 1993, the number of volunteer hours per person during the first year has increased by 30% compared to the traditional Master Gardener program offered from 1989 to 1992. This new program is an effective model to encourage practical environmental stewardship through community volunteer action.
In a time of budgetary constraints, new strategies have to be developed if we are to continue to meet the demand for home horticulture information. This on-campus event was developed as one of those strategies. The goal of this event was to provide a train-the-trainer opportunity that would equip selected Master Gardeners to assume a larger role in the delivery of home horticulture information. Training needs were determined and included advanced training in insect and disease management, leadership, presentation skills, and computer skills. Educational materials were provided and “graduates” were given the charge of going back to their county groups and sharing what they had learned. Other goals of the event were to provide an opportunity to tour campus facilities, meet key university personnel, and provide recognition and motivation. Sixty-eight Master Gardeners attended this two-day pilot event in May. On-site evaluations were very positive with attendees ranking the educational sessions most beneficial of the activities provided. Year end reporting from the counties indicated that Master Gardeners conducted 82% more public programs in 2004, 49% more home visits and handled 18% more homeowner calls. Part of this substantial increase in program delivery can be contributed to the training these volunteers received at this event. Personal communication with county directors and Master Gardeners indicate that these volunteers are assuming more of a leadership role in the management of the county Master Gardener
The tremendous success of the Master Gardener Volunteer Program across the country,with more than 45,000 graduates, is a reflection of the nationwide interest in plants and gardening. Programs include students of all ages from diverse social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.
The need for a model educational program to empower individuals and communities to assume responsibility for environmental stewardship has never been greater.
A new model program, The Master Gardener/Environmental and Community Stewardship Program, has been developed in order to incorporate environmental and horticultural topics and encourage successful environemntal stewardship education for adults. Combining horticultural and environmental education with related community volunteer projects provides a logic vehicle to encourage practical environmental stewardship.
Science and math achievement scores of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade elementary students were studied using a sample of 196 students from McAuliffe Elementary School, located in McAllen, Texas. Students in the experimental group participated in the Junior Master Gardener™ program in addition to the traditional classroom-based math and science methods. In contrast, students within the control group were taught math and science using only traditional classroom-based methods. No statistically significant differences were found in comparisons of science students' achievement scores, indicating that those students using the Junior Master Gardener™ program as a method to learn science benefited similarly to those who learned using only traditional science classroom-based instruction. However, results indicated statistically significant differences in comparisons of students' math achievement scores showing that those students who received traditional math instruction had more improved math achievement scores compared to those taught using the Junior Master Gardener™ program. Results also found no statistically significant differences between demographic groups indicating that males and females and students from different ethnicities benefited similarly from participation in the Junior Master Gardener™ program.
Poster Session 29— Consumer Horticulture and Master Gardeners 29 July 2006, 1:15–2:00 p.m.
Master Gardener was taught by distance learning through the Mississippi Community College Network (CCN) in 1995 and 1996. Specialists delivered information from a studio on campus while the Master Gardeners were in classrooms in Clarksdale, Fulton, and Moorhead. The interactive video format was well accepted by most of the clientele. Specialists appreciated having to present each lecture once rather than traveling to each location and deliver each topic three times. The use of interactive video is currently being reevaluated due to two major factors: the increased use of CCN by Community Colleges has made scheduling the required weekly 4-hour block very difficult; and, the cost-ineffective method for delivering the training. Current Master Gardener training programs in Mississippi are being implemented through traditional classroom and field methods.
A random sample was made from 2000 Extension customers who had attended programs on Environmental Landscape Management within 17 counties in Florida. Four-hundred Master Gardeners and 500 other citizens were sent a questionnaire that gathered information on demographics as well as six landscape practices. Incentives and barriers to practice adoption were also examined. The return rate of the questionnaires was 83%. Results of the analysis and their implication for Extension programming will be presented.
Virginia Cooperative Extension's (VCE) Master Gardener–Water Steward program (MGWS) provides advanced training in leadership development and water quality management to Master Gardener (MG) volunteer educators so that they may expand the influence of Extension through leadership in community water quality management. Typically, agents cite limited staff and volunteer resources as the primary factor in restricting program expansion. The MGWS program simultaneously answers the desire of MGs to expand their role in the community landscape and the need of VCE to expand its outreach with increasingly limited resources. MGWS training, guided by a 10-unit resource book, integrates technical and program management expertise to foster volunteer pride and self-sufficiency. This allows MGWS to coordinate much of their own training and recruit and manage large numbers of non-MG volunteers to whom they can provide limited training for specific projects, thus allowing program expansion without additional staff. The Advanced Master Gardener–Water Steward Handbook allows for appropriate training of Master Gardeners so that Extension education is able to reach a larger audience than just that reachable by an agent alone. Eight slide sets on water-quality related topics are available as part of this program. They come complete with legible, easy-to-read scripts. Updated slide sets include Calibrating Your Lawn Spreader (40 slides), Minimum Chemical Vegetable Gardening (62 slides), Backyard Composting (56 slides), Reading and Understanding the Pesticide Label for Lawn and Garden (41 slides), Landscape Tree and Shrub Fertilization (43 slides), Applying Pesticides Safely for the Environment (47 slides), Water Quality and Landscaping Slide Set (48 slides), and Proper Management of Fertilizers on Home Lawns (40 slides).