Improved instructional practices improve student success on Certified Crop Adviser exams

Abstract

AbstractIn spring 2016, a course at Ohio State University (OSU) was introduced to teach advanced agronomic concepts and included the option to prepare students for the Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) exams offered by the American Society of Agronomy. From 2019 to 2021, revisions in instructional methods were implemented that introduced the use of pretests (in addition to posttests given at the end of instructional periods) and focused problem‐solving within a teaching unit towards the end of the semester. Improvement in course exam performance for each period was measured, and student performance (SP) on the CCA exams relative to the general population was determined. Student course exam scores increased marginally (3%) from 2019–2021 compared to 2016–2018, though gains were not significant (p > 0.5). SP from 2016 to 2018 (n = 27) was 1%–5% greater than the general population for the international CCA exam (n = 3978) but was equal to or 1.5% below the general population for the local CCA exam (n = 784). SP from 2019 to 2021 (n = 21) was 7.8%–16.4% greater for all categories for both the international (n = 2330) and local (n = 419) exam general populations. Student passing rates on the international exam went from 25.3% to 52.8% greater than the general population from 2016–2018 to 2019–2021, respectively, and student passing rate for the local exam increased from 55.7% less than the general population in 2016–2018 to 26.7% greater than the general population in 2019–2021. These results suggest the modification of course instruction coincided with SP gains and may have contributed to improved performance of the student population compared to the general population.