Urban Agricultural Education Research Articles

Involvement of urban agricultural education students in FFA activities and opportunities

Students in large cities across the United States can better understand agriculture through their involvement in School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE). Since the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917, Agricultural Education has been a pathway that encourages students to continue schooling and connect with future careers. We conducted a descriptive study to explore the involvement of 2021-2022 high school Agricultural Education students in the National FFA Organization. Involvement was calculated through self-reported participation in chapter activities, officer positions, FFA degrees, and contests or events. Additionally, the study evaluated students’ curiosity toward stretching or embracing as well as their overall adaptability in different situations. The study occurred in the fall of 2021 with 543 respondents from 18 urban SBAE programs in 12 states completing the online survey. Respondents reported self-perceived moderate curiosity, very strong adaptability, and light involvement in FFA. For urban SBAE students, involvement in FFA was not affected by demographics other than those in the 12th grade were more involved. This could imply study respondents who see the value in the organization’s leadership training or college and career readiness are the most curious and adaptable toward being involved in the organization.

친환경 도시농업교육이 지속가능한 도시의 생태환경 인식에 미치는 영향

In addition this study suggests the necessity of environment-friendly urban agricultural education and of environmental education to diffuse through urban agriculture containing plural value.
 This study leaded to the conclusion as follows. First, The object mostly used the chemicals for pest control. Some of the object didn’t use the chemicals because they considered safe foods and environmental matters. Second, The most preferred urban agricultural educations were pest control, environment-friendly agricultural method, and plant culture method in order. Third, as for the severity of environmental problem, those who completed the education pointed out climate change and those who didn't complete the education pointed out atmosphere pollution. Fourth, As for manure used for environment-friendly agricultural cultivation, a part of the group who completed the education uses manure produced by themselves. Most of the group who didn't complete the education use the products produced already. Fifth, As for manure quantity, the group who completed the education uses less quantity than the group who didn’t complete the education. Sixth, As for how much the object can solve the environmental problem in urban area, the group who completed the education perceives in the possibility of solution on the higher level than the group who didn’t complete the education.

Design Model and Management Plan of a Rice–Fish Mixed Farming Paddy for Urban Agriculture and Ecological Education

Imparting knowledge on agriculture and ecology is important for the preservation of nature. This study suggested the design of a rice–fish mixed farming (RFMF) paddy for urban agriculture and ecological education in Korea. This RFMF paddy supports the growth of rice as well as freshwater fish. ANOVA statistical analysis was conducted, and an RFMF paddy was necessary for urban agriculture/education and confirmed that biodiversity was high. To this aim, the design of a 10 m × 10 m RFMF paddy was suggested. Vegetation, insects, and aquatic invertebrates of the RFMF paddy constituted approximately 40 species more than a conventional paddy. The quality of an actual farm’s soil and water was assessed, and techniques for the co-cultivation of rice and fish are proposed. The soil must comply with the standards of Korean paddy soil, and the water must be in the temperature range of 15 to 35 °C. In the proposed design, approximately 44.0 kg rice can be produced, and catfish can grow up to 30 cm. The study suggested many experiences using rice and freshwater fish. On the basis of our study design, a virtual model of an RFMF paddy was developed in consideration of the accessible space. The development of RFMF paddies in educational institutions can promote biodiversity in cities while providing ecological education regarding aquatic plants and insects.

Food Security Interventions among Refugees around the Globe: A Scoping Review.

There are 26 million refugees globally, with as many as 80% facing food insecurity irrespective of location. Food insecurity results in malnutrition beginning at an early age and disproportionately affects certain groups such as women. Food security is a complex issue and must consider gender, policies, social and cultural contexts that refugees face. Our aim is to assess what is known about food security interventions in refugees and identify existing gaps in knowledge. This scoping review followed the guidelines set out in the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. We included all articles that discussed food security interventions in refugees published between 2010 and 2020. A total of 57 articles were eligible for this study with most interventions providing cash, vouchers, or food transfers; urban agriculture, gardening, animal husbandry, or foraging; nutrition education; and infant and young child feeding. Urban agriculture and nutrition education were more prevalent in destination countries. While urban agriculture was a focus of the FAO and cash/voucher interventions were implemented by the WFP, the level of collaboration between UN agencies was unclear. Food security was directly measured in 39% of studies, half of which used the UN’s Food Consumption Score, and the remainder using a variety of methods. As substantiated in the literature, gender considerations are vital to the success of food security interventions, and although studies include this in the planning process, few see gender considerations through to implementation. Including host communities in food security interventions improves the refugee–host relationship. Collaboration should be encouraged among aid organizations. To assess intervention efficacy, food security should be measured with a consistent tool. With the number of refugees in the world continuing to rise, further efforts are required to transition from acute aid to sustainability through livelihood strategies.

University Students’ Opinion on Urban Agriculture Course: A Case Study

Urban agriculture is one of the most popular sustainable concepts in the world and Turkey recently. There are various programs and courses for urban agriculture education in universities around the world. However, urban agriculture education in Turkey is still developing. Therefore, Uşak University has recently started offering an urban agriculture course to undergraduate students. This course aims at increasing their awareness and knowledge of urban agriculture. It is the first urban agriculture course at the undergraduate level in Turkey. This study aims to determine the opinions of Usak University 3rd-grade students about urban agriculture courses and their attitudes towards urban agriculture after the course. An online questionnaire was conducted for 40 undergraduate students from different depart-ments who enrolled in an urban agriculture course. The questionnaire consisted of 19 questions includ-ing multiple-choice, yes/no, and fill-in-the-blank question types. In this study, descriptive statistical methods were used and answers were sought for sub-problems using the chi-square test. As a result of the research, it was concluded that the student's opinions of the course were positive, course content and materials were sufficient and the course was considered suitable for e-learning. In addition, it was observed that the awareness of urban agriculture increased at the end of the course.

Urban Agriculture Education and Youth Civic Engagement in the U.S.: A Scoping Review

Urban agriculture education is increasingly used to foster civic engagement among youth. To better understand empirical research on this topic, we analyzed peer-reviewed journal articles that focus on civic engagement among high-school-age students in urban agriculture education programs in the U.S. Using a scoping review approach, we identified 10 relevant research articles published between 2004 and 2018. These articles show that urban agriculture education programs prepare youth for future civic engagement, including by enhancing their understanding of social justice and community assets, and by building their leadership skills. In addition to promoting skills for future civic engagement, these programs engage youth in current civic actions in their neighborhoods, such as creating community gardens and donating food. Although the long-term effect of these programs on youth is still unclear, analyzed articles offer convincing evidence that urban agriculture education programs can be instrumental in helping youth become involved in addressing social and environmental issues in their communities.

A Study on the Activation of Urban Agricultural Education for the Students' Agricultural Literacy

A Study on the Activation of Urban Agricultural Education for the Students' Agricultural Literacy

Modeling the effectiveness of urban agriculture education courses

Urban agriculture can provide food security that is essential to sustainable development goals. Citizen education plays a vital role in urban agriculture formation. The present study examined the effectiveness of urban agriculture education courses in the three levels of the Kirkpatrick model and estimated a structural equation model to obtain the direct effects of the studied factors. This study consisted of citizens (N = 80) who participated in the urban agricultural education courses in flowering centers of the 2nd district of Tehran, Iran. According to the results, 55, 46.25 and 48.75% of the respondents evaluated the education courses as “good” in the reaction, learning, and behavior levels, respectively. In addition, 58% of participants believed these courses had a great impact on their understanding of urban agriculture. Attending education courses was well explained by the three levels of the Kirkpatrick model (P 0.05], RMSEA = 0.02, SRMR = 0.065, NFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.92, and GFI = 0.90) showed the model provided an excellent fit for the data. There is limited information about urban agriculture among the citizens. According to the results the training courses can increase the citizen’s knowledge on urban agriculture which improve food security and urban environmental management.

One Seed at a Time: Prosocial Youth Development in an Urban Agriculture Program

The Growing Recruits for Urban Business (GRUB) is an urban agricultural education program in Lubbock, Texas with a focus on youth development. The mission of the program is to provide at-risk youth with the opportunity to learn technical agricultural skills and leadership skills through the management of a 5.5-acre farm. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the program fosters prosocial decision-making in at-risk youth participants. Using grounded theory, a model was created to illustrate the transition youth experience when developing prosocial behaviors through participation in the program. The model that emerged identifies four main antisocial constructs youth exhibited when they began the program and four prosocial constructs they developed during their participation in the program. The results yielded information regarding participants’ individual prosocial behavioral development as well as examples of the long-term benefits experienced at the individual and societal levels as a result of prosocial decision-making. Implications for the role of agricultural education and agricultural educators in transforming marginalized communities are discussed.

Designing urban agriculture education for social justice: Radical innovation through Farm School NYC

Abstract This article examines one example of radical innovation and everyday design through a case study of Farm School NYC, an adult education programme in New York City that uses critical pedagogy and popular education to train adult students in urban farming, social justice advocacy and teaching skills. Drawing primarily from research conducted between 2013 and 2014 for a study on urban agriculture and social justice activism, the article illustrates how a network of urban agriculture practitioners, educators and activists created a community-based training programme that takes steps towards a broad vision of a socially just urban food system and that this represents a case of everyday design by radical innovation. It argues that understanding ways in which projects like Farm School NYC infuse radical visions of social change into their day-to-day educational activities is useful for those interested in supporting such transformative work through teaching, farming and gardening and design.

The Graduate Extension Scholars: Communicating Science to the Youth

The Graduate Extension Scholars: Communicating Science to the Youth

Paxton Revisited: The Essence of the Lived Experiences of Urban Agricultural Education Students

The rapidly growing world population and need for more food and agricultural knowledge has inspired city dwellers to explore urban cultivation practices such as vertical farming and community gardening. Ultra-modern approaches to growing crops and livestock in urban highrise buildings has sparked the imagination of scientists, agriculturists, and engineers as well as rural and urban citizens in recent years. With this new piqued interest for urban agriculture, secondary urban Agricultural Education programs are in a prime position for growth. However, more research is needed to inform the profession regarding quality Agricultural Education growth in American cities. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenology was to discover the essence of the shared experiences of urban students who were persistently enrolled in Agricultural Education. The findings, conclusions, implications, and recommendations associated with the study are reported as five interpretive themes of meaning including: (a) disorienting experience, (b) critical assessment, (c) shared experiences, (d) thoughtful planning, and (e) projected transformation. The essence of the shared lived experiences of Thomas High School Agricultural Education students was discovered through the lens of the Transformational Learning Theory and can be described best as a Journey Toward Transformation.

Sidewalks and City Streets: A Model for Vibrant Agricultural Education in Urban American Communities

In 2005, The National Council for Agricultural Education (NCAE) unveiled The Long Range Goal for Agricultural Education also known as 10 x 15. According to NCAE, the primary goal of 10 x 15 was to create 10,000 new agricultural education programs by 2015 that focused on an integrated model of classroom and laboratory instruction, experiential learning, leadership, and personal skill development. In an effort to meet this goal, NCAE identified a need to design programs that focused on specific customers and communities. Urban programing was one area of emphasis cited in the report. In light of the call for several thousand new agricultural education programs nationwide and the dearth of literature to support direction for creating new programs, this instrumental case study resulted in a deeper understanding of the process that led one urban school district to create a new, communityfocused agricultural education program. Five themes emerged that informed a model for originating future urban agricultural education programs: 1) reasoned motivation, 2) hourglass advocacy, 3) intentional innovation, 4) community rejuvenation, and 5) program regeneration. Each theme is presented in the sequence in which it unfolded and, subsequently, resulted in the creation of an urban agricultural education program.

도시농업 교육 프로그램 평가에 관한 연구 -경기도농업기술원 도시농업지도자 과정을 중심으로-

This study examined importance and performance of urban agriculture education program of the trainees who attended urban agriculture education, and suggested reformation of urban agriculture instructor course of Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services by IPA models. The investigation was done on October 7, 2011. The subject was 40 trainees of urban agriculture instructor course of Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services. The study suggested reformation of urban agriculture education program based on the findings as follow: Firstly, the instructors should teach trainees not theoretically but practically to let the trainees make use of learning at urban agriculture. Secondly, teaching material that is not theoretically but practical enough to apply it to actual urban agriculture should be supplied. Thirdly, urban agriculture education should be done not theoretically but practically considering its characteristics. Theoretical contents have been already included in teaching material, and practice oriented education should be done to let trainees put theory into practice on-the-spot. Practice oriented education should be supported in the planning future education. In addition future urban agriculture education program should consider importance as well as practice of educational contents, lecturers, operations and facilities.

도시농업활동 프로그램 개발을 위한 요구 분석

【The purpose of the study was to identify the needs assessment for urban agricultural program. The findings were as follows; Citizens at urban cities said that educational program of 'shortage of farming technology education' should be developed, and wanted to be given 'farming technology' of urban agriculture education area more than other education areas. The citizens asked for urban agricultural program with both theories and practice education than existing urban agricultural program that relied upon basic theory education. And, they wanted urban agricultural program that was based on 'farming technology' to consist of practice education and theory education at the ratio of 80 and 20 and to be professional and differentiated. The citizens preferred 3 to 6 months of education period the most, and more than 95 percent of them wanted to join the program when it is developed.】

Factors Influencing Postsecondary Education Enrollment Behaviors of Urban Agricultural Education Students

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influenced the postsecondary education enrollment behaviors of students who graduated from an urban agricultural education program. Students indicated that parents and/or guardians had the most influence on their decisions to enroll in a postsecondary education program of agriculture. However, they indicated that their mothers or female guardians had slightly more influence than their fathers or male guardians. Students also reported an interest in agriculture, personal factors, and job opportunities as the events and experiences that most influenced their decisions to enroll. Students who did not choose to enroll cited a lack of interest and personal factors as the primary reasons. Discriminant analysis revealed that high school grade point average and mother’s or female guardian’s level of influence were the most important factors for predicting if students would or would not enroll in a postsecondary education program of agriculture.

Factors Influencing Career Choice Of Urban Agricultural Education Students

The purpose of the study was to identify factors influencing the career choice behaviors of students who graduated from an urban agricultural education program. A secondary purpose was to identify factors that discriminated between individuals who choose careers in agriculture and those who do not. Former students in the study indicated their parents and friends as the individuals most influencing their choice of a career. The events and experiences reported by former students who chose a career in agriculture focused around several themes which included career opportunities, high school educational experiences, and work experiences. Of the former students who did not choose a career in agriculture, events and experiences cited included having other career interests, a lack of interest in agriculture, and a lack of career opportunities. A discriminant analysis procedure was used to identify factors that discriminated between individuals who chose careers in agriculture and those who did not. Findings indicated that a discriminant model consisting of selected factors could not discriminate between former students who chose or did not choose a career in agriculture after they completed a secondary agricultural program.

Factors Influencing Enrollment in an Urban Agricultural Education Program

The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing students to enroll in an urban agricultural education program. Former students' in the study indicated parents and/or guardians as the individuals most influencing their decision to enroll in an urban agricultural education program. However, former students' indicated their mother or female guardian as having more influence than the father or male guardian. Former students also indicated events and experiences focused around several themes influencing their decision to enroll in an urban agricultural education program. However, recruitment activities, interest in animals, agricultural career aspirations, and parents accounted for more than 50% of the events and experiences. Thus, for the participants in this study, it was concluded that there were several factors influencing their decision to enroll in an urban agricultural education program.