Vol. 70 No. 01 (2020)

The manuscripts in Volume 70 of the Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research (JSAER) examine how agricultural education can evolve to meet 21st-century demands, with themes spanning instructional innovation, technology integration, teacher preparation, and the professional development of school-based agricultural educators.

Instructional Methods and Controversial Issues

• Teaching Controversial Topics: A mixed-methods study investigates the use of guided group discussion as a strategy for teaching agriculture-specific controversial issues such as sustainable agriculture and animal welfare. While no statistically significant attitude change was detected, qualitative findings reveal that students valued the neutrality and evidence-based structure of the approach, and that the method effectively removes instructor bias from contentious content delivery.

Technology Integration in Secondary Agriculture

• Precision Agriculture Adoption: A quantitative study of secondary agriscience teachers in Alabama and Illinois finds that only half of participants currently incorporate precision agriculture concepts into their curricula despite recognizing its importance. GPS, soil sampling/land management, and genetic modification emerged as the most important topics, while funding, equipment access, and limited professional development were identified as key barriers to broader adoption.

Teacher Engagement and Reflective Practice

• Teacher Disengagement: An autoethnographic study offers a rare, candid account of teacher disengagement in a high-stakes post-secondary learning environment. Framed through Shame Resilience Theory, the researcher documents how deep immersion in research methodology created a growing disconnect from students, raising important questions about meaningful connection, authentic teaching, and the reciprocal nature of engagement between instructors and learners.

Problem-Solving as Pedagogy and Philosophy

• Reconceptualizing Problem-Solving: A philosophical investigation traces the historical foundations of problem-solving in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) from Dewey to Bransford, distilling three shared principles — identify problems, analyze information, and evaluate solutions. The authors propose the Integrated Problem-Solving Model for Agricultural Education, which embeds these principles across all three components of agricultural education's comprehensive model: classroom and laboratory, SAE, and FFA.

Career Development Events and Teacher Readiness

• Professional Development for First-Year Teachers: Using the Borich Needs Assessment Model, a quantitative pilot study identifies the career development event (CDE) professional development priorities of first-year SBAE teachers in Oklahoma. Livestock Evaluation, Veterinary Science, Meats Evaluation and Technology, Food Science and Technology, and Agricultural Sales ranked as the highest-priority areas, with teachers consistently rating their interest above their perceived competence across nearly all 27 CDEs examined.

Online Learning in Colleges of Agriculture

• Learning Management System Needs: A Delphi study investigates undergraduate agriculture students' instructional needs within online learning environments. Panelists prioritized ease-of-use design for faculty, authentic student-faculty discussion opportunities, mobile accessibility, formative assessment, and professional development for instructors. The findings underscore a persistent gap between current LMS capabilities and the expectations of the next generation of agricultural students.