Vol. 65 No. 01 (2015)

The manuscripts in Volume 65, Issue 1 (2015) of the Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research (JSAER) address building more scientifically literate and globally aware students, preparing teachers to serve diverse and urban populations, and identifying the professional development needs that keep educators effective across their careers.

Scientific Literacy and Innovative Instruction

• SSI-Based Instruction and Argumentation Skills: A pre-experimental study of agriscience students following a six-week socioscientific issues (SSI)-based unit on cultured meat finds that while overall argumentation quality improved from pretest to posttest, the number of justifications students offered varied by grade level, socioeconomic status, agricultural education experience, and FFA membership, establishing a foundation for future research on SSI-based instruction in agricultural education settings.

Diversity, Immigration, and Social Awareness

• Migrants, Farming, and Immigration: A quantitative survey of 359 students at a Georgia university maps young Southerners' — including preservice teachers' — knowledge and attitudes about immigrant and migrant farm workers, finding that political affiliation, race, gender, and cosmopolitan experience are the strongest predictors of attitudes, and recommending that agricultural educators take a more active role in building informed, honest dialogue about the agricultural workforce's dependence on immigrant labor.

Teacher Preparation and Recruitment

• Student Teachers' Perceptions of Rural and Urban Programs: A quantitative study of 70 Western Region student teachers finds that location is the most important job selection factor, that most participants grew up in rural programs and desire to teach in similar settings, and that a statistically significant relationship exists between the type of program experienced in high school and the type of program in which student teachers desire to teach, recommending that universities create greater exposure to urban agricultural education programs early in preservice preparation.

Youth Development and FFA Programming

• FFA Camp and Attitudes Toward Leadership Learning: A descriptive-correlational study of 344 Oklahoma FFA Alumni Leadership Camp participants finds that campers hold an overall positive attitude toward the camp experience but that no statistically significant relationship exists between their attitudes and their content knowledge gains or retention six months later, recommending that camp planners reconsider the use of academically structured small group sessions and return to leadership concepts delivered through outdoor and recreational activities.

Professional Development

• Professional Development Needs of Tennessee SBAE Teachers: A descriptive study of 127 Tennessee agricultural educators using mean weighted discrepancy scores identifies the top five professional development needs as utilizing Common Core standards in agricultural instruction, teaching critical thinking skills, managing stress, balancing work and personal life, and teaching problem solving skills, with notable differences in needs by years of experience, gender, contract length, and region, recommending that professional development be purposefully tailored to specific subgroups rather than delivered as a one-size-fits-all program.