engaging k 12 teachers in agriscience ed
Engaging Urban K-12 Agriculture-Science
Education by Training the Trainers
Stephany Alvarez-Ventura, Mahadev Bhat, and Krish Jayachandran
Florida International University
Introduction
Methodology
The Problem: In the urban setting, many teachers find
Workshop Agenda:
themselves unequipped to integrate agriculture into
classroom curriculum. Research has shown that there is a
lack of basic understanding of agri-food systems in our
society and a lack of developmental planning in
integrating agri-food systems education in the school
curricula (Trexler et al. 2000; Leising and Zilbert 1994).
Day 1-2
• Lectures on:
• Agroecology principles/concepts
• Management, challenges
• Agri-science experiential learning
• Open discussion
The Solution: As such, the Agroecology Program at
•Day 3-5
Florida International University (FIU), a minority –serving,
urban university, has designed a week-long workshop to
train K-12 urban school teachers in food and agriculture
sciences, and to help them integrate relevant concepts
into their school curricula. The workshop has been
conducted for three alternating summers (2006, 2008,
and 2010).
• Field Trips to local resources
• Local USDA facilities
• Community gardens
• Local farming community
After completing the workshop, participants filled out a
survey to evaluate the workshop’s effectiveness at
meeting its goals. A long term survey was conducted in
March 2011 to evaluate whether or not participants
integrated agroecology concepts learned.
The Goal : To help build agri-science education in K-12
schools by fostering a relationship between school
teachers, post secondary professors, and relevant local
government and non-profit institutions.
Evaluation of Workshop
How: By addressing agri-science and sustainability issues
• Quantitative and Qualitative Impacts
• Improved understanding of agri-science concepts and educational
resources
• Measurement of satisfaction toward various aspects of the
workshop
• Content
• Presentation quality
• Logistics
• Strategies for workshop improvement
• Relevance of sessions
from multiple angles: farm, environmental and ecological
aspects, local food systems and availability, local and
national policies, and social issues.
Purpose of study:
(1) To measure the effectiveness and long-term
educational and curricular impact of the workshop.
(2) Identify strategies for workshop improvement.
Assessment of Long term Impact
Figure 1: After participating
in 2010 workshop, Cathy
Bellinghieri educated her 2nd
grade class at Gulfstream
Elementary about gardening
and local food systems
• Quantitative and Qualitative Impacts
• Improved understanding of agri-science concepts and educational
resources
• Level of integration of agroecology concepts and its effectiveness
• Measurement of satisfaction toward the workshop
Photo credit: Cathy Bellinghieri
Percentage of "Excellent" rating on workshop
Presentation Quality
Workshop evaluation results
Presentation quality categories
• 95% strongly agreed the workshop increased their
understanding of food and agriculture issues.
• 99% of all the responses were either excellent or very
good
Overall workshop objectives met
Speakers responded to questions
Speakers covered materials fully
2010
2008
Speakers were knowledgeable
2006
Useful visual aids/handouts
0%
Fieldtrips/demonstrations
Breadth of topics covered
Level of vigor
2010
Topics well organized
2008
2006
Relevant to my teaching
Covered useful material
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Percentage of Agreeing Respondents
120%
20%
40%
60%
80% 100% 120%
Percentage of agreeing respondents
Percentage of "Excellent" rating on workshop
Logistics
Workshop Logistics categories
Workshop Content Categories
Percentage of "Excellent" rating on workshop
Content
Chance to interact with other
participants
Overall workshop experience
Food/refreshments
Field visits-relevance
2010
Workshop space
2008
2006
Pre-workshop…
0%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Percentage of agreeing respondents
Assessment of long-term impacts results
Survey results included 40% (n=14) of all participants
- 71% were 2010 participants
Survey response to the most
beneficial part of the workshop
Lectures
•
86% strongly agreed the workshop greatly
increased their understanding of food and agriculture
issues.
•
71% strongly agreed the workshop greatly
increased their knowledge on food and agriculture
education opportunity for k-12 students
•50% indicated they wanted the program to stay
engaged with the schools to ensure proper agroscience integration
Breadth of topics covered
Field trips/demonstrations
visual aids and handouts
interact with other participants
Other
None
14% 15%
71%
Conclusions
These results demonstrate that workshops to train urban school
teachers can make a significant impact in promoting food and
agriculture education in K-12 schools. Over time the workshop
has improved in content, presentation quality, and logistics.
Most teachers considered fieldtrips /demonstrations to be the
most beneficial aspect of the workshop. The long term impact
survey demonstrates that teachers are integrating agroecology
concepts into their school curricula with positive student
feedback, primarily from agri-related lab experiments and
school gardens. While most teachers incorporated agroecology
concepts into their lesson plans, hands-on activities were most
successful in both the workshop and with school-level
curricular incorporation. This approach is obviously a better
method of improving student positive attitude toward agriscience, which is a key factor in improving long term
understanding of agri-food systems and sustainability (Johnson
1997). By training non-agri-science teachers on agroecology
concepts, urban students can receive proper training in food
and agri-sciences.
Concept
Established or expanded garden
projects on school
Incorporated sustainable
agriculture/garden concepts
into lesson plan
Initiated a community garden
Rain water harvesting
Hydroponics
Food-related business,
marketing & econ study
Field trip(s)
Agri-related lab experiments
Compost
Other
% of teachers % of teachers
that have
that received
incorporated great student
concept
response
64%
57%
86%
21%
7%
36%
7%
0%
14%
7%
21%
50%
0%
36%
64%
43%
21%
64%
7%
0%
Recommendations for
workshop improvement
After receiving the long term integration survey, we
were able to identify new strategies for improvement.
What agroecology concepts were truly learned? In order to
determine true understanding and integration of
agroecology concepts learned in the workshop, a one day
refresher workshop should be created where participants
would be quizzed on the subject matter. Another tool
would be to develop a monthly newsletter that would
highlight successful lab experiments, fieldtrips and provide
educational material. Combined with effective, long-term
strategies, this workshop can continue to bring urban
students better opportunities to learn about agri-food
systems by training their trainers on this major societal
issue.
The agroecology workshop was awesome at
FIU. I learned a lot of new information, met very
important contacts, and reinforced what I
already knew about agroecology.
Literature cited
Acknowledgments
Johnson, Donald M. Johnson; Wardlow, George W.; and Franklin, Timothy. 1997. Hands-on
activities versus worksheets in reinforcing physical science principals: Effects on student
achievement and attitude. Journal of Agricultural Education Vol. 38, No 3: 9-17.
Leising, J., and Zilbert, E. 1994. Validation of the California agriculture literacy framework.
Proceedings of the twenty-first National Agricultural Education Research Meeting, 112119.
McAleese, Jessica D. and Rankin, Linda L. 2007. Garden-based nutrition education affects fruit
and vegetable consumption in sixth-grade adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic
Association. April: 662-665
Trexler, Cary J.; Johnson, Thomas; and Heinze, Kirk. 2000. Elementary and Middle school
teacher ideas about the agri-food system and their evaluation of agri-system stakeholders’
suggestions for education. Journal of Agricultural Education Vol. 41 Issue 1:30-38.
I would like to thank all the workshop participants for their time in
applying the agroecology concepts learned and filling out the survey.
Funding for this project was provided by the USDA NIFA Hispanic
Serving Institutions Higher Education Grant #2008-38422-19209. If
interested in any of the FIU Agroecology Program’s scholarships or
internships, please contact Dr. MahadevBhat (bhatm@fiu.edu), or
Dr. Krish Jayachandran (jayachan@fiu.edu).
Education by Training the Trainers
Stephany Alvarez-Ventura, Mahadev Bhat, and Krish Jayachandran
Florida International University
Introduction
Methodology
The Problem: In the urban setting, many teachers find
Workshop Agenda:
themselves unequipped to integrate agriculture into
classroom curriculum. Research has shown that there is a
lack of basic understanding of agri-food systems in our
society and a lack of developmental planning in
integrating agri-food systems education in the school
curricula (Trexler et al. 2000; Leising and Zilbert 1994).
Day 1-2
• Lectures on:
• Agroecology principles/concepts
• Management, challenges
• Agri-science experiential learning
• Open discussion
The Solution: As such, the Agroecology Program at
•Day 3-5
Florida International University (FIU), a minority –serving,
urban university, has designed a week-long workshop to
train K-12 urban school teachers in food and agriculture
sciences, and to help them integrate relevant concepts
into their school curricula. The workshop has been
conducted for three alternating summers (2006, 2008,
and 2010).
• Field Trips to local resources
• Local USDA facilities
• Community gardens
• Local farming community
After completing the workshop, participants filled out a
survey to evaluate the workshop’s effectiveness at
meeting its goals. A long term survey was conducted in
March 2011 to evaluate whether or not participants
integrated agroecology concepts learned.
The Goal : To help build agri-science education in K-12
schools by fostering a relationship between school
teachers, post secondary professors, and relevant local
government and non-profit institutions.
Evaluation of Workshop
How: By addressing agri-science and sustainability issues
• Quantitative and Qualitative Impacts
• Improved understanding of agri-science concepts and educational
resources
• Measurement of satisfaction toward various aspects of the
workshop
• Content
• Presentation quality
• Logistics
• Strategies for workshop improvement
• Relevance of sessions
from multiple angles: farm, environmental and ecological
aspects, local food systems and availability, local and
national policies, and social issues.
Purpose of study:
(1) To measure the effectiveness and long-term
educational and curricular impact of the workshop.
(2) Identify strategies for workshop improvement.
Assessment of Long term Impact
Figure 1: After participating
in 2010 workshop, Cathy
Bellinghieri educated her 2nd
grade class at Gulfstream
Elementary about gardening
and local food systems
• Quantitative and Qualitative Impacts
• Improved understanding of agri-science concepts and educational
resources
• Level of integration of agroecology concepts and its effectiveness
• Measurement of satisfaction toward the workshop
Photo credit: Cathy Bellinghieri
Percentage of "Excellent" rating on workshop
Presentation Quality
Workshop evaluation results
Presentation quality categories
• 95% strongly agreed the workshop increased their
understanding of food and agriculture issues.
• 99% of all the responses were either excellent or very
good
Overall workshop objectives met
Speakers responded to questions
Speakers covered materials fully
2010
2008
Speakers were knowledgeable
2006
Useful visual aids/handouts
0%
Fieldtrips/demonstrations
Breadth of topics covered
Level of vigor
2010
Topics well organized
2008
2006
Relevant to my teaching
Covered useful material
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Percentage of Agreeing Respondents
120%
20%
40%
60%
80% 100% 120%
Percentage of agreeing respondents
Percentage of "Excellent" rating on workshop
Logistics
Workshop Logistics categories
Workshop Content Categories
Percentage of "Excellent" rating on workshop
Content
Chance to interact with other
participants
Overall workshop experience
Food/refreshments
Field visits-relevance
2010
Workshop space
2008
2006
Pre-workshop…
0%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Percentage of agreeing respondents
Assessment of long-term impacts results
Survey results included 40% (n=14) of all participants
- 71% were 2010 participants
Survey response to the most
beneficial part of the workshop
Lectures
•
86% strongly agreed the workshop greatly
increased their understanding of food and agriculture
issues.
•
71% strongly agreed the workshop greatly
increased their knowledge on food and agriculture
education opportunity for k-12 students
•50% indicated they wanted the program to stay
engaged with the schools to ensure proper agroscience integration
Breadth of topics covered
Field trips/demonstrations
visual aids and handouts
interact with other participants
Other
None
14% 15%
71%
Conclusions
These results demonstrate that workshops to train urban school
teachers can make a significant impact in promoting food and
agriculture education in K-12 schools. Over time the workshop
has improved in content, presentation quality, and logistics.
Most teachers considered fieldtrips /demonstrations to be the
most beneficial aspect of the workshop. The long term impact
survey demonstrates that teachers are integrating agroecology
concepts into their school curricula with positive student
feedback, primarily from agri-related lab experiments and
school gardens. While most teachers incorporated agroecology
concepts into their lesson plans, hands-on activities were most
successful in both the workshop and with school-level
curricular incorporation. This approach is obviously a better
method of improving student positive attitude toward agriscience, which is a key factor in improving long term
understanding of agri-food systems and sustainability (Johnson
1997). By training non-agri-science teachers on agroecology
concepts, urban students can receive proper training in food
and agri-sciences.
Concept
Established or expanded garden
projects on school
Incorporated sustainable
agriculture/garden concepts
into lesson plan
Initiated a community garden
Rain water harvesting
Hydroponics
Food-related business,
marketing & econ study
Field trip(s)
Agri-related lab experiments
Compost
Other
% of teachers % of teachers
that have
that received
incorporated great student
concept
response
64%
57%
86%
21%
7%
36%
7%
0%
14%
7%
21%
50%
0%
36%
64%
43%
21%
64%
7%
0%
Recommendations for
workshop improvement
After receiving the long term integration survey, we
were able to identify new strategies for improvement.
What agroecology concepts were truly learned? In order to
determine true understanding and integration of
agroecology concepts learned in the workshop, a one day
refresher workshop should be created where participants
would be quizzed on the subject matter. Another tool
would be to develop a monthly newsletter that would
highlight successful lab experiments, fieldtrips and provide
educational material. Combined with effective, long-term
strategies, this workshop can continue to bring urban
students better opportunities to learn about agri-food
systems by training their trainers on this major societal
issue.
The agroecology workshop was awesome at
FIU. I learned a lot of new information, met very
important contacts, and reinforced what I
already knew about agroecology.
Literature cited
Acknowledgments
Johnson, Donald M. Johnson; Wardlow, George W.; and Franklin, Timothy. 1997. Hands-on
activities versus worksheets in reinforcing physical science principals: Effects on student
achievement and attitude. Journal of Agricultural Education Vol. 38, No 3: 9-17.
Leising, J., and Zilbert, E. 1994. Validation of the California agriculture literacy framework.
Proceedings of the twenty-first National Agricultural Education Research Meeting, 112119.
McAleese, Jessica D. and Rankin, Linda L. 2007. Garden-based nutrition education affects fruit
and vegetable consumption in sixth-grade adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic
Association. April: 662-665
Trexler, Cary J.; Johnson, Thomas; and Heinze, Kirk. 2000. Elementary and Middle school
teacher ideas about the agri-food system and their evaluation of agri-system stakeholders’
suggestions for education. Journal of Agricultural Education Vol. 41 Issue 1:30-38.
I would like to thank all the workshop participants for their time in
applying the agroecology concepts learned and filling out the survey.
Funding for this project was provided by the USDA NIFA Hispanic
Serving Institutions Higher Education Grant #2008-38422-19209. If
interested in any of the FIU Agroecology Program’s scholarships or
internships, please contact Dr. MahadevBhat (bhatm@fiu.edu), or
Dr. Krish Jayachandran (jayachan@fiu.edu).