Vol. 71 No. 01 (2021)

The manuscripts in Volume 71, Issue 1 (2021) of the Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research (JSAER) address improving teacher preparation, expanding agricultural programs, supporting rural community wellbeing through Extension, and preparing undergraduate students for the workforce.

Teacher Preparation and Instructional Quality

• Student Teaching Format and Lesson Plan Quality: A quasi-experimental study at Oklahoma State University comparing two student teaching formats finds that a longer internship produces statistically significant improvements in lesson plan quality, recommending that agricultural education teacher preparation programs carefully evaluate their student teaching structure and course progression to maximize preservice teacher development.
• Program Expansion of Secondary Agricultural Education: A qualitative case study using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation model identifies four key themes for successfully launching new secondary agricultural education programs — stakeholder identification, communication, education, and funding — recommending that prospective program developers create informational materials, build community relationships, and host webinars to share best practices.

Undergraduate Education and Workforce Preparation

• Internal Branding of an AECL Department: A quantitative survey of 207 students at Oklahoma State University finds that students are most familiar with and positive about their own chosen major, with agricultural communications viewed most favorably across all majors, agricultural leadership seen as most inclusive, and agricultural education considered most important to the industry, recommending a multidisciplinary freshman orientation and a communications assessment to support recruitment and retention.
• Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Undergraduates: A quantitative study of undergraduate students enrolled in agricultural leadership and communication courses finds that courtesy and altruism are the strongest organizational citizenship behavior characteristics, while conscientiousness scores are the lowest, suggesting that OCB education offers a promising entry point for developing workforce-ready soft skills alongside technical agricultural knowledge.

Extension Education and Rural Community Wellbeing

• Community Gardens and Wellbeing: A mixed-methods evaluation of a CDC-funded Extension community garden project in a food desert county with Georgia's highest obesity rate finds that participation enhanced wellbeing through increased physical activity, stress reduction, social cohesion, and access to fresh produce, recommending community gardens as a replicable intervention for Extension agents addressing health disparities in rural areas.
• Georgia Extension Agents and Rural Stress: A quantitative survey of 281 Georgia Extension agents finds that perceptions of rural stress and mental health needs vary significantly by location within the state, cautioning against one-size-fits-all Extension programming and recommending geographically targeted approaches to address mental health disparities in farming communities.

Agricultural Communication and Environmental Literacy

• Electronic Field Trips and Climate Change Empathy: A quantitative pre/post study of 64 classrooms in the United States and Trinidad and Tobago finds that participation in a university-hosted electronic field trip featuring bat researchers produced significant improvements in student engagement, cognitive maturity, innovation, and overall critical thinking disposition toward wildlife and climate change, demonstrating that universities and Extension can effectively use virtual formats to connect youth with scientists and expand environmental literacy.