Sustainable Agriculture Learning Modules for High School Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture Learning Modules for High School Agriculture

Summary

The conclusion of 2013 saw the completion of ten modules centered on area farms with sustainable practices and systems. All ten were posted on two different websites for teachers to access. Each video is accompanied by a short document including an overview of the operation, teaching objectives, and several questions to foster classroom discussion. These modules were presented at the state-wide convention for high school voc-ag instructors in June to spark awareness and interest. The full-length, in-depth videotaped interviews were further evaluated and an additional ten modules were created encompassing the concept of sustainability as defined by social, economic, environmental factors. These additional modules pull information from the different farmers to illustrate an overarching concept. It is our belief that creating modules exploring these three areas will increase appeal to educators outside of vocational agriculture departments. Business classes could easily incorporate the module on Niche Marketing or Biology classes the module on Soil Health. Discussion documents are being created for these new modules.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Plans for an in-depth evaluation of the effectiveness of the modules are being developed. With the materials accessible on both the Nebraska State Education Department Vocational Agriculture and Agronomy and Horticulture Department (UNL) eLibrary websites, we will obtain evaluations from instructors who incorporate the modules into their lesson plans. From this we can better measure how well our objectives are being met and consider/implement suggestions for improvement to create a more effective educational tool. By incentivizing completed evaluations, we hope to have a robust collection of responses from educators. A preliminary evaluation by a Norris High School classroom of a video module on Prairieland Dairy returned positive feedback on the value of bringing a local farm into the classroom. Over 75% of the class agreed that the “video proved useful to the learning process.” Students also made comments about what they liked most about the video. Several replied liking, “that I knew the people in it,” “that it was the actual operator giving the answers,” and “how they showed pictures of the cows on the farm and video footage of things happening on the dairy.”

Accomplishments/Milestones

A booth hosted at the statewide convention for high school voc-ag instructors in June introduced educators to the ten original video modules. These ten modules were successfully uploaded to both the chosen platforms mention earlier, and content is being added and refined to further enhance what is currently available. Norris High School agreed to evaluate one module and provided initial insight on the effectiveness of the video, suggestions for changes applicable to all the modules, and ideas for construction on subsequent surveys. Ten more video modules were created that have potential to spread concepts of sustainability in agriculture across different disciplines. A YouTube channel was also created to host the twenty video modules produced. Discussion documents are being completed for these new modules and plans for evaluation are being developed.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Our belief is that the true value of this tool lies in its locality. Resources for sustainable agriculture curricula are readily accessible with a quick Internet search, but few offer the added benefit of being directly applicable to the classroom’s region. These videos bring the farmer from the field into the classroom to enhance a segment of valuable, already packed class time with ease. The videos can be revisited and further evaluated by the student via both platforms, and provide instructors with the ability to connect course concepts to a real, regional farmer. The goal is not to substitute school to farm visits, but to facilitate an easier, less time-intensive alternative to readily supplement daily course material. Discussion documents that compliment each video provide contact information for the farmers to open up the possibility for taking the process a step further and bringing the classroom to the farm. A deeper discussion may ensue following an introductory discussion based upon the provided video segments. Further, promotion of the cross-disciplinary potential of the videos will broaden the audience of students being exposed to alternative systems of agriculture and illustrate the relatedness of agriculture across curricula.

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