Agricultural Courses Research Articles

Sustainable Management of Agrifood Systems: Interdisciplinary Workshop as a Learning Tool in Bioresource Technology in secondary and technical education in Agriculture at ECIT Riachão do Poço, Paraiba, Brazil

This article addresses the project of an Interdisciplinary Workshop, AGROTEC, and the implementation of the sensory garden at ECIT Riachão do Poço, in Paraíba, as an interdisciplinary learning tool for high school and technical students in agriculture, including the topics of bioresource technology. The municipality of Riachão do Poço, located in the state of Paraíba, with a semi-arid tropical climate, is rich in agricultural practices. The objective of the Technical Course in Agriculture at the school seeks to promote a comprehensive and contextualized education. The workshop aimed to integrate knowledge from the disciplines of plant health, agricultural soils, horticulture, olericulture and bioresource technology, providing students with practical and meaningful experiences for their training. The methodology used included holding an interactive workshop, where students could apply theories in a practical environment, encouraging collaboration and active learning. At the end, students also had a class on media content management, disseminating the work carried out in the workshop. The results demonstrated an increase in student motivation, resulting in greater learning, obtaining higher grades than at the beginning of the subjects, in addition to a greater awareness of sustainability and agroecological practices. The project not only enriched the students' education, but also strengthened the school community, demonstrating the success of the interdisciplinary approach in technical education. The experience reaffirms the importance of pedagogical innovations in the training of critical professionals prepared for the challenges of the agricultural sector, especially in the areas of bioresource technology.

Comparing Students’ Multicultural Awareness Development in Online vs. Face-to-Face Diversity Courses Before, During, and After COVID-19

Creating a global workforce is a driving need for our time. Higher education institutions are prioritizing helping students develop an awareness of their own and other cultures, as they are expected to participate in a diverse workforce. This study examines a large data set of learning assessment data for undergraduate students from an agriculture course focused on diversity and social justice, using the Beliefs, Events and Values Inventory (BEVI) instrument to assess the multicultural awareness development of the students. The study compared the impact of the medium of instruction (face-to-face versus online) in helping students develop multicultural awareness. The results revealed that students did not differ much in multicultural awareness across the medium of instruction. Moreover, to understand the multicultural awareness of the students in the pre-COVID period, during COVID and in the post-COVID period, the pre-test BEVI scores of the students were compared using ANOVA. The goal of this analysis was to capture the change in worldview of the students from the pre-COVID period to during COVID and post-COVID periods. The results revealed that pre-test BEVI scores for the pre-COVID period showed a lower degree of multicultural awareness than students during the COVID and post-COVID times. Also, there was no significant difference in the pre-test BEVI scores for the students in the COVID and post-COVID periods. Overall, the study makes important contributions to higher education literature as it reveals that (1) medium has negligible impact on the multicultural awareness of the students, and that (2) student worldviews have shifted significantly since the height of the global pandemic.

Critical reflections of emerging farmers’ individual perspective towards assessments in recognition of prior learning for unit standards credit of agricultural courses

Interventions to redress the apartheid education’s negative impact on the education and training systems of the previously disadvantaged groups in South Africa include the implementation of recognition of prior learning (RPL). The paper attempts to qualitatively assess emerging farmers’ individual perspectives by analysing their cognitive and non-cognitive characteristics during RPL credit assessment sessions. A total of 200 Free State province emerging farmers participated in an RPL credit assessment session of the unit standards to be recognised for two agricultural qualifications. The RPL unit standards credit assessment sessions for two agricultural courses were conducted in a classroom for 3 months. The data generated from text, video, and voice recordings was processed and analysed using critical discourse analysis. What emerged from the discussions was that emerging farmers were appreciative of the opportunity to embrace spontaneity during training. The study found that embracing adult learning principles had a positive effect on the cognitive and non-cognitive characteristics of emerging farmers during training. The findings of this paper will help strengthen the understanding of how RPL is implemented in the context of emerging farmers and further development of what needs to be done to further improve RPL procedure.

AGRONOMIC ASSISTANCE OF VLADIMIR ZEMSTVO TO THE POPULATION DURING THE YEARS OF STOLYPIN’S AGRARIAN REFORM

This article, devoted to clarifying the role of zemstvo institutions in the implementation of agrarian reform by Pyotr Stolypin, lies in the mainstream of regional history and is based on materials from one of the central Russian provinces – Vladimir. Based on the analysis of a wide range of sources, including archival ones, the author shows that numerous councilors of zemstvo as well of those serving there for hire did not immediately support government initiatives; however, in the beginning of the second stage of the reform, they were involved in its implementation and made an invaluable contribution to organising land management work and providing agronomic assistance to both individual peasant households and community members. The agricultural courses, readings and conversations conducted by the agronomic services were of utmost importance. Zemstvo agronomic services played an extremely important role in achieving the agrarian reform success, though incomplete; and they contributed to transferring the Russian agriculture to a new technological level.

Students’ Perceptions of Intersemiotically Cohesive Teaching Materials Designed for English for Agriculture

Multimodal materials have become ubiquitous in language teaching classes. However, growing evidence suggests that misalignments between multimodal elements can mislead or even confuse students. To explore such concerns, this paper focuses on the design and pedagogical application of intersemiotically cohesive multimodal materials in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context. Specifically, utilizing a classroom-based intervention with two groups of Thai undergraduates (N = 41) enrolled on an English for agriculture course, we employed think-aloud protocols and video recordings to capture their interactions with multimodal materials we designed. The video recordings were then used for video-stimulated focus group interviews with six representatives from each group. This allowed us to explore how these students perceived and interacted with our designed materials and enabled us to investigate how a congruence between written text, visuals, hyperlinks to translations and audio, and consciousness-raising questions affected their learning experience. The findings revealed that well-integrated multimodal resources supported vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. However, students reported challenges with the abstraction of text and usability of hyperlinks, suggesting areas for further material refinement. Based on our results, we make recommendations for multimodal material design and underscore the critical need for cohesive educational resources to ensure learning effectiveness and accessibility.

Impacts of the use of WhatsApp for the development of oral production in English as L2

This study aimed to investigate the possible impact of the use of the WhatsApp application on the development of the oral production of learners in English Language (L2), in terms of fluency. To this end, forty-six volunteer students from the Informatics, Agroindustry and Agriculture courses of the Agricultural School of Jundiaí/UFRN participated in the research. The data were generated through the application of pre and post-tests, which were tabulated and subsequently submitted to tests of the statistical program RStudio, to analyze the development of the learners' oral production in relation to fluency. The results indicate that the use of WhatsApp as a tool to practice oral skills can have a positive impact on students' oral production, considering their fluency. We believe that this study is relevant, since the use of the WhatsApp tool is widely disseminated in the school community and guarantees democratic access to digital technologies, contributing to a more egalitarian society.

The application of curriculum recommendation algorithm in the driving mechanism of industry–teaching integration in colleges and universities under the background of education reform

Abstract At present, there is a poor connection between theory and practice in the driving mechanism of industry–teaching integration in colleges and universities. And with the increasing courses, the recommendation accuracy of the recommendation algorithm has also decreased. Therefore, the research built a teaching platform of the Internet of Things (IoT) based on the integration of industry and education and improved its internal online education course recommendation algorithm. Meanwhile, experiments verified its performance. The experimental results show that the response time of several important interfaces is maintained between 0 and 300 ms. In the verification experiment of the improved algorithm for building the rule engine, when the rules are 50, the traditional Rete algorithm takes the most time. In terms of total time consumption, the traditional Rete algorithm takes more time than the improved Rete algorithm. The mean absolute error of the User-Characteristics and Interest Clustering (CCIC) algorithm is 0.8116, the root mean square error is 0.9455, the accuracy is 0.3043, and the recall is 0.1475, which are better than the comparison algorithms. In the recommendation of actual agricultural courses, the overall satisfaction of the User-CCIC algorithm is more than 70%, with good prediction accuracy. In general, the IoT education platform based on the combination of industry and education established by this research has better application prospects, and the User-CCIC algorithm recommended by this research has a good practical effect in actual course recommendation.

Serving to Learn: Increasing Agriculture Students Self-Efficacy Through Service-Learning

Service learning is a form of experiential learning that helps students be able to both apply concepts and provide a benefit to an organization, individual, or group other than the learner. The lack of efficacy of our students with the complex skills learned in many agriculture courses brings about a sense of fear and trepidation in students that can cause them to either not engage with the material/skill or do so in an ineffective manner. Service learning was used in a course that has had low levels of efficacy associated to help motivate students to learn and practice the skills being taught. Students in an agricultural mechanics course engaging in activities with Habitat for Humanity progressed through Bandura’s four types of learning experiences integral to the efficacious establishment of a behavior in two directions. Using Constant Comparative method to analyze the reflections of the students it was determined that they progressed through the activity from the perspective of students, moving from the least to most efficacious. They then, with no prompting, reflected backwards from the perspective of most to least efficacious as they began to reflect on how they would facilitate communicating or teaching these same concepts to novices.

Optimism bias as a barrier to accessing mental health support amongst tertiary students

ABSTRACT Student wellbeing is a key concern for those delivering tertiary education. Tertiary providers such as universities use a range of techniques to support student wellbeing through times of stress. This article reports on one finding from a mixed methods study at two New Zealand universities that explored how students enrolled in agricultural courses saw and managed their wellbeing. The findings demonstrated that students reflected an optimism bias regarding managing their own stress believing most stressful situations would resolve without the need to involve support services. Their intent was that university support services were only to be used in times of mental health crisis. Consequently, students reported that they would not engage with support and education around managing their wellbeing but did find value in learning about how to support others through times of crisis. These findings contribute to knowledge about tertiary students’ attitudes to stress and support services. They have implications for those delivering wellbeing services at tertiary institutions in terms of how best to tailor and deliver services for students experiencing stress.

Towards the Preparation of Modified HyFlex Learning Scheme: The Case of University Agriculture Courses in the Philippines

Towards the Preparation of Modified HyFlex Learning Scheme: The Case of University Agriculture Courses in the Philippines

Higher Education Institutions in Italy and Europe Offering Education and Training Programs in Social Agriculture

Over the past few decades, social agriculture, a component of multifunctional agriculture, has grown in popularity due to its numerous benefits for a variety of people, including those with learning and intellectual disabilities. A survey was conducted to assess social agricultural courses or modules offered by tertiary institutions. The study found that Italy and The Netherlands have the highest number of education and training programs that offer a full curriculum and/or individual social agriculture courses. In Norway, continuing and further education courses are frequently used to teach social agriculture. The Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom also have prominent social agriculture degree programs. The findings of this survey reveal a disconnect between the agricultural and therapeutic aspects of social agriculture educational programs. Most programs have well-tailored agriculture modules, while others have excellent therapeutic modules to the detriment of the other. Thus, social agriculture programs that focus on all aspects must be developed. Additionally, accreditation bodies are also needed.

Zoology and Zoologists at the Golitsyn Higher Women’s Agricultural Courses

Zoology and Zoologists at the Golitsyn Higher Women’s Agricultural Courses

Nordic Pioneers of Biodynamic and Organic Agriculture

Fifty Nordic pioneers of biodynamic (BD) agriculture, and hence of organic agriculture, are identified. These individuals, from Norway (n = 23), Sweden (n = 12), Denmark (n = 10), and Finland (n = 5), joined the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners in the years 1924–1946. These pioneers comprised both men (n = 35) and women (n = 14), with one member of undetermined gender. The Experimental Circle was headquartered at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland. One of these pioneers (Anna Wager-Gunnarson) attended the foundational course of biodynamic and organic agriculture, presented by Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), in eight lectures at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce, Poland) in June 1924. The core element of the course was that agriculture was properly a biological rather than a chemical pursuit. The ‘Agriculture Course’ was subsequently issued (in German from 1926) as a subscriber-only published book to members (of the Anthroposophical Society) who joined the Experimental Circle. Each Circle member signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and committed to testing the ideas of the course. A milestone was the 1938 book by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, ‘Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening,’ which arguably released Experimental Circle members from their NDA. Nordic members joined progressively over the two decades following the Koberwitz course, with new memberships peaking in 1932 (n = 7), and continuing through the years of World War II (WWII). Biodynamic agriculture is still practiced in the Nordic countries of these pioneers, with Denmark presently accounting for 2,998 hectares, Sweden 873 ha, Norway 548 ha, and Finland 384 ha. The Nordic countries have developed strong organic sectors, with Sweden accounting for 610,543 ha of certified organic agriculture (which is 20.2% of its agricultural land), Finland 315,112 ha (14.4%), Denmark 299,998 (11.4%), and Norway 45,181 ha (4.6%). Iceland has no identified BD pioneers, presently no BD hectares, and 6,440 ha of organic agriculture (0.4% of total agriculture land). The identification of the 50 Nordic pioneers of the present paper provides recognition as early-adopters and invites further research on their life, legacy, and role in founding BD and organic agriculture in the region.

Yields of biodynamic agriculture of Immanuel Voegele (1897-1959): Experimental Circle data of Pilgramshain

A century ago the New Age philosopher Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) called for the development of a differentiated. agriculture, one focussed on biology rather than chemistry. At his Agriculture Course at Koberwitz (now Kobierzyce), in the summer of 1924, Steiner founded the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners. The Experimental Circle members each signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Their task was to test Steiner’s ideas, establish what worked, and to publish the results. That injunction was arguably satisfied by the publication of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s book ‘Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening’ in 1938. The results reported in the present paper are Experimental Circle results that were subject to the secrecy provisions of the NDA at that time (1936), and are now finally revealed. Immanuel Voegele (1897-1959) recorded yields for five crops under Biodynamic (BD) management in the years 1931-1933, comparing these results to yields in the pre-BD years 1920-1926. He reported yield increases for potatoes to 55%, rye up to 48%, oats to 31%, wheat to 14%, and barley to 9%. Voegele was well credentialed and grounded to report on Biodynamics. He had studied agriculture at Stuttgart, he attended the Agricultural Course of Rudolf Steiner at Koberwitz, and he was an inaugural member of the Experimental Circle. Voegele had served as a farm manager at the Koberwitz estate of Count Carl Keyserlingk (1869-1928) (until 1925). He subsequently worked at the Biodynamic farm of Ernst Stegemann (1882-1943) at Marienstein. The present paper reports longitudinal yield results for five crops at Voegele’s farm at Pilgramshain, Silesia, Germany, before and after the conversion to BD. These early BD yield data were shared amongst ‘the faithful’ at the time, and only now publicly. From the high point of his reported successes with BD, life and prospects for Voegele would rapidly deteriorate. The Nazi regime was hostile to Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy, and Anthroposophic ventures (of which Biodynamics was one). All books by Rudolf Steiner were banned by the Nazis in 1935 (including the Agriculture Course). Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and slaughtered millions of Polish civilians, before eventually in 1945 the Russian Army routed the Nazi army. The Russians marched on ‘Fortress Breslau’ and on to Berlin, sparking a mass westward exodus of Germans, including Immanuel Voegele. Territory, including Pilgramshain, was relinquished to Poland at the Potsdam Conference of 1945. Immanuel Voegele’s legacy of reported successes with Biodynamics at a time when secrecy prevailed is now shared.

A quasi-experimental evaluation of student academic performances in single sex secondary classrooms

Teacher beliefs and environmental conditions influence student performance outcomes. In this non-equivalent comparison quasi-experimental design study, students enrolled in ten secondary Principles of Agriculture courses assigned to a control or treatment group based upon their sexual identity. Teachers were asked periodically about their expectations of student performances. Over the course of the academic semester, students within the treatment group maintained higher grade point averages and better attendance. Boys from the treatment group maintained a higher percent of non-discipline referrals than boys from the control group. In addition, correlations are made between the teachers’ expectations, and student performance and career aspirations. The researchers recommend that secondary schools consider single-sex classrooms for entry-level agricultural courses and for additional research to be considered to further strengthen the preliminary findings.

Analysis of Vegetables Marketing Strategy at Center of Agriculture Course and Self-Subsistent Rural Areas (P4S) Wanua Lampoko

Analysis of Vegetables Marketing Strategy at Center of Agriculture Course and Self-Subsistent Rural Areas (P4S) Wanua Lampoko

Feeding the Future: Knowledge and Perceptions of the Filipino Youth Toward Agriculture

Cognizant of the critical role the youth could play to sustain, develop, and build a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agriculture industry, this study was conceptualized to establish a thorough understanding of the determinants of the Filipino youth’s intention to enroll in agricultural degree programs. This research assessed the younger generation’s agricultural learning experiences and explored their perception of the agriculture industry and evaluated how these different factors affected the shaping of their uptake of agricultural courses. The study utilized a case study approach in the local context of General Santos City, Philippines. The key findings reveal that while the youth report high exposure to agricultural information, these have not been translated into inherent knowhow; they attained only average scores in the assessment of their agricultural knowledge. They also have limited knowledge or familiarity with agricultural professions. In addition, the majority held positive economic, social, and personal perceptions toward the industry. However, they expressed reservations in considering if employment opportunities in the sector are profitable, if the society will hold them in high regard once they engage in the sector, and if they have the suitable skills and know-how to engage in the sector. Statistically, age, social participation, and personal perceptions were found positively significant (p<0.05), while economic perceptions were negatively significant (p<0.05) in determining the youth’s intention to enroll in agricultural programs and ultimately engage in agriculture. Thus, it is inferred that intervention programs, starting early in the curriculums of the youth, along with social programs that highlight capacity building, are necessary to pique their interest toward the industry and entice them to engage in its professions.

Diversity of vegetable landraces in the Pampa biome of Brazil and Uruguay: utilization and conservation strategies.

The historical meeting between originally American people, European colonizers, and slaved peoples from Africa in the biome Pampa in South Brazil and Uruguay involved a cultural syncretism and a great genetic diversity of landraces of cultivated species. Genetic richness evolved by selection and cultural processes in response to different environments, cultural backgrounds, and needs. This review summarized the knowledge on vegetable and maize landraces in South Brazilian and Uruguayan Pampa biome, to design a strategy towards the rediscovery, conservation, and sustainable use. Landraces diversity maintained in situ and ex situ is described, specific case studies are presented, and the main problems and tools towards landraces re-valorization are discussed. We show that traditional family farming systems maintain diverse vegetable species, mainly squashes (Cucurbita spp.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), beans (Phaseolus spp.), onion (Allium cepa), peppers (Capsicum spp.), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), next to leafy vegetables and maize, among others. We propose the priority of systematic surveys as a basis for monitoring genetic erosion, increasing complementariness between in situ and ex situ conservation, and implementing sustainable conservation and utilization. The case studies highlight genetic diversity within each cultivated species, with different crop physiological responses; disease resistances, different quality traits and associated uses, from animal feeding in maize to a range of culinary uses linked to traditional culture in maize and vegetable species, and ornamental uses of specific Capsicum and Cucurbita. Some landraces were the basis for breeding, where improved cultivars allowed the competitiveness of landrace germplasm in the markets. Renewed industrialized products allowed the competitive and sustainable use of Capsicum landraces in Brazilian farmers communities. Strategies towards in situ conservation improvements and valorization are discussed; emphasizing the role played by agroecology, community seed banks and custodian farmers, participatory plant breeding, promotion of landraces specialties among consumers, and the need of research and capacity building, among others. Farmers' participation in the decisions is a key factor, along with the academia and the public sector. Landraces and associated knowledge are treasures to be used to benefit from farmers to consumers, directing the course of agriculture towards sustainable directions.

Trends in Selection of Agriculture Subject among Students in Secondary Schools in Bungoma and Kakamega Counties, Kenya

While agriculture is a major source of employment, it is notable that youths in developing countries are unemployed, yet the countries’ economies are dependent on it. Though there are immense prospects in the agricultural sector in Kenya, agriculture is taught in schools as an optional subject under the 8-4-4 syllabus so that it may stimulate youths’ participation in agriculture and improve productivity. In the current competency-based curriculum, agriculture is taught in upper primary and junior secondary to enhance competence through practical and experiential activities, thereby nurturing learners' potential. Despite the above facts, there is a limited selection of agriculture courses for career development among students in tertiary institutions. This is a cause for concern since Kenya requires human resources to drive the agricultural sector. The purpose of this study was to establish the existing trends in the selection of agriculture subjects among secondary students in different categories of schools. The specific objective was to establish the selection trends in agriculture subjects among students in secondary schools in Kakamega and Bungoma counties, Kenya, from 2016 to 2021. The study critically reviewed theories and literature to determine their gaps and sought to address the same, thereby making contributions both to the body of knowledge and practice. A descriptive design was employed. The sample size was determined from the Yamane tables of sample size (1967). One hundred and sixty-two (162) secondary schools were selected, out of 839 proportionately. A total of 249 secondary school students were sampled proportionately out of 7379 respondents. Key informants were selected purposefully. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using document content guides, questionnaires, and interview guides. Both descriptive and inferential techniques were employed to analyze the data, which was presented using frequency tables and graphs. Multiple comparison table results revealed the years that differed in agriculture selection for the 5 different categories of schools. A significant factor contributing to the variance in selection was the change in type of school. In general, analysis shows that private schools have the lowest mean of selection of agriculture students, causing a low combined mean in all the years of study. The combined mean of agriculture subject selection in the five categories of schools has shown a consistent increase from the year 2016 to 2021. It is necessary for the ministry of education to increase extra-county schools, county schools, and sub-county schools in order to realize significant selection means in agriculture, which ensures a basis for agriculture career development in Kenya.

Teaching reform and practice of English courses in agriculture under the background of “Internet+” based on big data analysis

Abstract This paper first studied the association rule algorithm model’s mining steps and algorithm features and improved the algorithm by quantifying attributes and frequent clustering. Then, the “Internet +” English teaching scheme for agricultural majors is proposed, the corresponding teaching system is designed, and a fresh approach to teaching English is developed. The impact of the teaching reform was evaluated using the indices of English efficiency, ability change, and learning status. The mean values of students’ learning attitude, interest, strategy and efficiency increased by 0.299, 0.844, 0.522 and 1.074, respectively, after using the “Internet + Classroom” teaching mode, which indicates that the new English teaching mode has significant teaching effects. This study provides new ideas and practical experience for reforming English courses in agriculture.