Assessing Teacher Practices Related to Precision Agriculture in Secondary Agriculture Education
Keywords:
Precision Agriculture, Secondary Agricultural Education, Diffusion of Innovation, Teacher Perceptions, STEM Integration, Professional Development, Educational TechnologyAbstract
The effect of participating in and observing a guided group discussion on attitude toward agriculture-specific controversial issues was investigated. Fifty-five undergraduate students over two semesters completed a pretest to measure attitudes toward two controversial topics: sustainable agriculture and animal welfare. After the pretest, students were randomly assigned to one of four roles. Each role was assigned one of the two topics and given neutral questions to research in preparation for a group discussion that were related to the characteristics of controversy. Two roles, each with a different topic, met for the purpose of having neutral discussions on the topic. While one group discussed, the other group observed. A posttest was administered to measure the change in attitudes toward the controversial topics. Students also provided written responses to open-ended questions regarding their experience with the group discussion activity. No significant differences between pretest and posttest scores were observed. Based on the qualitative data, students preferred teacher centered methods of teaching controversial issues and appreciated that the guided group discussion approach allowed controversial topics to be considered and delivered objectively.
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