425 Awardee Talk: does your classroom have 4 walls?

Abstract

Abstract For many university students the question is when will I need to know this information, or how does learning this concept apply to what I will do in my chosen career? When one considers how extension plays a roll in educating the agricultural community it can also be a method to demonstrate how classroom learning is applied in real terms. Using extension situations or scenarios to explain how the concepts are used and the impact they can have on livestock production makes things come to life. Often when you use those industry situations it can spark questions that aid in learning. While technology can reduce the confinements of the classroom it does not always provide the information on application in a meaningful way. When one poses questions from an extension situation and asking the students to use what they have learned to answer the question demonstrates the application of the classroom material. It can also show how information from a different livestock production system can have application to an area they are studying. It is bringing experiences from outside the classroom into the classroom shows the students that there is reason to learn the material and then be prepared to adapt it to a real time use. Sometimes the adaptation is not exactly as described in class but the adaptation works. Bring those experiences from outside the classroom into the classroom in many different ways makes the four walls not as restrictive and the materials taught real.