with a lack of regulatory licensing can lead to an assortment of quality control issues in the industry. Education, even if it is not tied to licensure, can be a key part of overcoming this problem ( PLANET, 2013b ). Iowa Nursery and Landscape
149 POSTER SESSION 6F (Abstr. 379–386) Children and Community Education
One role of public horticulture institutions, and museums in general, is the education of their visitors and their community. While many gardens offer educational programming for adults and elementary school–aged children, the teenage audience seems
them. Phone (44%) and e-mail (40%) answer lines, along with small hands-on workshops (42%) and community education classes (41%) were information sources likely to be used. Lectures would be used by 26% of the respondents, but 40% said they were not
-secondary training in horticulture or a related discipline and PTE was a distant second (24%) ( Table 2 ). Table 2. Gardening experience and post secondary education in horticulture or related discipline of University of Minnesota Extension's Yard & Garden News
A survey of bachelor degree programs in the United States indicated that horticultural enrollment declined 4.4% between 1986 and 1988. Programs that increased enrollment (39% of those responding) were more likely to use various recruitment materials and activities than were those with declining or no change in enrollment (48% and 13%, respectively). Supply of students and time required to recruit were most often reported as high priority issues. The percentage of new majors recently graduated from high school had declined in 43% of the programs, but increases were reported in students age 22 and above, no prior horticultural experience, and interested in a part-time program. Both the direct approach, open house or personal visit, and the indirect approach, students and alumni promoting the program, were reported as effective recruitment activities.
Writing in horticulture courses helps students develop a better understanding of the subject matter and prepares them for careers where they must communicate with the general public. Three writing assignments that can be modified for use in a wide range of horticulture courses are presented, along with grading sheets. The writing assignments simulate situations that horticulturists encounter frequently; i.e., answering questions about plant materials and their utilization and maintenance or proposing site improvements or additional expenditures for maintenance programs.
A yearlong community education project was conducted in Edina, Minn., to teach residents about low-input lawn care techniques. Informational articles, a World Wide Web (Web) page, public seminar, and demonstration sites were the four major strategies employed by the project. Each of these teaching methods had a specific objective for influencing the lawn care knowledge and practices of Edina residents. Feedback from surveys at the completion of the project showed that printed articles had the highest familiarity. Based on these results, recommendations are given for other communities to implement low-input lawn care education programs.
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia serves as an important academic resource for the University of Georgia by supporting interdisciplinary learning experiences in fields including botany, horticulture, environmental design, ecology, anthropology, geography, instructional technology, science education, entomology, forestry, and art. Field trips, independent study, internships, work-study and other botanical garden experiences strengthen and support the university's teaching, research and public service/outreach missions.
The University of Tennessee's undergraduate and graduate public horticulture concentrations are new programs designed to prepare individuals for careers in public horticulture that emphasize people and their education and enjoyment of plants. These new programs could not exist without the educational resources of the university's gardens. The gardens play a variety of roles in supporting faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students in these programs. The gardens serve as an outdoor laboratory and classroom and provide on-campus opportunities for the following teaching and learning activities: plant identification; plant photography; garden design; plant use; garden maintenance internships; special problem topics (e.g., production of annual variety trials, planting and labeling trials, writing garden literature, and creating interpretive displays); mapping and cataloging plants; and garden writing. Only through a university-based garden could opportunities to engage students in such meaningful learning experiences occur providing them with the competitive edge for entering the public horticulture field.