Four-Year Turfgrass Management Programs in the United States: II. Organization and Content of Introductory Turfgrass Management Courses

Abstract

Introductory turfgrass management courses are offered at many land-grant institutions. The objective of this study was to determine format, topical content, and teaching methods in these courses. A questionnaire with 44 questions was sent to 32 land-grant institutions with an active 4-yr turfgrass management teaching program. Ninety-four percent of introductory turfgrass management courses had prerequisities. Usually a basic soils class, a course in biology or botany, or both were required. Lecture content of almost all the courses included; turfgrass growth characteristics, establishment, mowing, and fertilization. Less than half of the courses covered pesticide laws and regulations. Median time allotted to topics on turfgrass and the environment, pesticide safety and handling, and pesticide laws and regulations was 50 min each. Eighty-four percent of the courses had a laboratory. The primary topics in the laboratory included identification of cool-season turfgrasses, weed identification, and sprayer/spreader calibration. Other laboratory topics mentioned by some respondents included: use and interpretation of stimpmeters, turfgrass-landscape math, and sod production practices. There was much commonality among introductory turfgrass management courses taught at land-grant institutions. However, each institution maintains a uniqueness by having slight differences in course content and emphasis placed on specific lecture and/or laboratory topics. I turfgrass management courses are taught at many land-grant institutions. Often these courses serve as a cornerstone to various options or specializations in turfgrass or landscape management. With this in mind, it would be valuable to new teachers as well as to current teachers to have information about structure or organization, content, and teaching methods used at various 4oyr institutions that offer an introductory turfgrass management course as part of their undergraduate turf program. Questionnaires have been used as an effective method for evaluating agronomy courses and programs. For example, Sims (1974) used a questionnaire to elicit agriculture student attitudes toward various aspects of agronomy instruction in the USA. Likewise, Fessenden and Armson (1975) surveyed soil science education and related areas in the USA and Canada. Karnok and Connors (1986) and Connors and Karnok (1986) surveyed crop science courses in the USA. They reported on orK.J. Karnok, Agronomy Dep., 3111 Miller Plant Sciences Building, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602; R.J. Hull, Plant Sciences Dep., Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881; and D.B. White, Dep. of Horticultural Science, Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108. Contribution of the Georgia Agric. Exp. Stn., Athens. Received 18 Feb. 1992. *Corresponding author. Published in J. Nat. Resour. Life Sci. Educ. 22:91-94 (1993). ganization, course content, and teaching methods used for both the lecture and laboratory segments of these courses. More recently, Dudeck and Peacock (1991) and Peacock and Dudeck (1991) surveyed both 2and 4-yr turfgrass teaching programs in the USA. Their survey focused on enrollment, job opportunities, starting salaries, and general comparisons of program organization and content. We conducted a survey of those land-grant institutions that currently offer a specialized 4-yr program of study in turfgrass management. Our purpose was to gather basic information regarding number of students, core curriculum requirements, number and type of turf courses offered, internship requirements, student recruitment efforts, and teacher attitudes and perceptions. In additoin, questions concerning the first turfgrass management course for students specializing in turfgrass management were included. Questions regarding overall program structure and teacher attitudes were discussed in our first paper of this two-paper series (Karnock et al., 1993). This paper will discuss those questions specifically related to the first turfgrass management course taken by students specializing in turfgrass management.