Sustaining Agronomy Outcomes Assessment Michelle D. Cook Graduate Research Assistant May 18, 2004

Opening Go-Round  Please tell us your name, area of specialty, and one personal or professional goal you have for the summer

Workshop Overview  Learning Outcomes  Participants will  Be aware of planned changes within courses based on TEACH Grant activities  Be able to identify three changes that need to made in the undergraduate curriculum as a result of the Alumni, Employer, and Faculty Survey Report  Be aware of how and where Agronomy learner outcomes are embedded in the curriculum  Understand their role in the proposed plan for systematic and continuous student outcomes assessment

Workshop Overview  Workshop Activities  TEACH Grant  Alumni, Employer, and Faculty Survey  Curriculum Map  Proposed plan for systematic and continuous student outcomes assessment

TEACH Grant Overview  Purpose  Activities  Planned course changes  Course  Assignment or experience  Enhancement  Feedback from colleagues

TEACH Grant Reflection  What assignment or experience would I like to enhance in one of my classes?  What resources would I need in order to improve an assignment or experience for my students?

Alumni, Employer, and Faculty Survey Report  Purposes  Methods  Samples: Alumni, Employers, and Faculty  Measures: Agronomy Alumni Survey, Agronomy Employer Survey, and Undergraduate Teaching Faculty Survey  Analysis  Your perspective…

Which Learner Outcomes Have Higher Alumni Performance?  Access and use electronic mail  Prepare a resume  Communicate effective using electronic media  Organize, manage, and communicate information using computer tools (three outcomes combined)  Work effectively in a team situation as a participant  Understand and use terminology appropriate to your profession  Perform mathematical calculations appropriate to your profession  Understand the soil as a resource upon which ecosystems, agriculture, and other land uses depend

Which Learner Outcomes Have Lower Alumni Performance?  Understand basic strategies for efficient and abundant production, harvest, and storage of high-quality forage and pasture crops (three outcomes combined)  Understand basic technical principles and methods relating to crop marketing methods and strategies  Construct an enterprise budget  Understand agronomic practices used in other parts of the world in their political, cultural, and economic contexts  Calculate and interpret a simple ANOVA, linear regression, and correlation  Understand basic technical principles and methods relating to crop storage  Access and use electronic bulletin boards  Value the humanities, arts, and recreation as meaningful activities that enrich our culture

Which Learner Outcomes Have Higher Importance?  Understand and use terminology appropriate to your field of expertise  Demonstrate high standards of achievement  Work effectively in a team situation as a participant  Demonstrate effective time management  Perform mathematical calculations appropriate to your profession  Manage, organize, and interpret information using computer tools (three outcomes combined)  Identify resources needed to solve a problem  Answer oral questions extemporaneously and understandably

Which Learner Outcomes Have Lower Importance?  Understand basic strategies for efficient and abundant production, harvest, and storage of high-quality forage and pasture crops (three outcomes combined)  Understand basic technical principles and methods relating to crop marketing methods and strategies  Construct an enterprise budget  Understand agronomic practices used in other parts of the world in their political, cultural, and economic contexts  Calculate and interpret a simple ANOVA, linear regression, and correlation  Understand basic technical principles and methods relating to crop storage  Access and use electronic bulletin boards  Value the humanities, arts, and recreation as meaningful activities that enrich our culture

Which Learner Outcomes Are Important and Alumni Performance Is High?  Access and use electronic mail  Communicate effectively using electronic media  Organize, manage, interpret, and communicate information using computer tools (four outcomes combined)  Access and use databases  Understand basic soil principles  Present an effective oral report  Perform mathematical calculations appropriate to your profession

Which Learner Outcomes Are Important and Alumni Performance Is Lagging?  Recognize a conflict of interest involving oneself and one’s client or employer  Propose and evaluate alternative solutions to a problem based on the resources of the client  Identify resources needed to solve a problem  Assess and evaluate the credibility and biases of different sources of information  Debate issues in a professional manner  Answer oral questions extemporaneously and understandably  Work effectively in a team situation as a leader  Define a problem  Demonstrate high standards of achievement  Analyze and interpret simple research data

Which Learner Outcomes Are Unimportant and Alumni Performance High?  Be able to use the metric system of weights and measures  Access and use electronic bulletin boards  Acknowledge differences in political, cultural, religious, and ethic beliefs and practices  Appreciate the family as an interdependent and supportive unit  Value the humanities, arts, and recreation as meaningful activities that enrich our culture  Appreciate that our cultural diversity adds richness to our lives  Apply fundamental concepts of economics and the social sciences to human interaction and organization  Understand, in modern perspective, the basic principles important to sustained production and land use  Understand agronomic practices used in other parts of the world in their political, cultural, and economic contexts  Recognize the interdependence of economies, cultures, and politics at all scales from local to international

Which Learner Outcomes Are Unimportant and Alumni Performance Is Lagging?  Understand basic technical principles and methods relating to crop marketing methods and strategies  Interpret laws and regulations as they related to agriculture and the environment  Understand the structure and process of governments as they influence agricultural policy  Recognize the potential effects of amelioration of stresses on plants at various stages of crop development  Recognize options for amelioration of stresses with minimal disturbance to the environment  Interpret a financial statement  Construct an enterprise budget  Recognize common biotic stresses  Adopt a professional code of ethics such as A Federation of Certifying Boards in Agriculture, Biology, Earth, and Environmental Sciences (ARCPACS) Code of Ethics  Calculate and interpret a simple ANOVA, linear regression, and correlation

Critical Learner Outcomes in the Future?  Both Alumni and Employers: Communication Skills, Technical Skills, Problem Solving, Basic Agronomic Knowledge, Business Skills, Motivation, Understanding how government policies and forces affect farmer actions, Ability react to real-world situations  Employers: Computer Skills  Alumni: General Professional Issues, Practical Technical Knowledge, and “Hot Topics”

Knowledge Foundation, Career Advancement, and Adapt to Change  Alumni rated their ability to adapt to change significantly higher than did employers  Both alumni and employers rated alumni knowledge foundation as somewhat to mostly strong  Alumni rated their aptitude for career advancement as mostly strong while employers rated the same areas as somewhat strong (not statistically significant)

Alumni Degrees, Certifications, and Professional Development  Pursuing or have completed:  Graduate education (26%)  Certified Crop Advisor certification (26%)  Pesticide Applicator certificate (8%)  Participation in professional development (42%)  Professional organization membership and/or meeting attendance, workshops and training, continuing education, sales training, and field days

Employer Professional Development Expectations  Continuing Education  Workshops and training  Skill development  Sales training  Keep current with changes and new concepts  Extension meetings and field days  Read literature  Professional organization membership and/or meeting attendance  Self-directed

Faculty Perceptions  Percentage of graduates comfortable hiring  Range of 10% to 90%  M = 61.75%  Reasons for hiring  Technical competence, strong work ethic, initiative, communication skills, leadership skills, critical thinking/problem solving, and time management  Reasons for not hiring  Poor work ethic, poor communication skills, marginal technical knowledge/skills, lack of professional/personal ethics, shallow depth of understanding, lack of critical thinking skills, and attitude

AEF Survey Report Reflection  List three changes that will need to be made in the curriculum as a result of this report

Agronomy Curriculum Map  Description  Group assignment  Assign roles: facilitator, recorder, reporter/ timekeeper  Review assigned learner outcomes  Technical Knowledge  Professional Skills  Perspective, Ethics/Values, and Diversity  As a group, review and answer questions  Be prepared to report back to the larger group

Discussion  Report by group  Based on this discussion  What changes should be made in the curriculum?  What changes should be made in the learner outcomes?  As the undergraduate teaching faculty  What four outcomes would you like to focus on over the next academic year?  What embedded measures could be used to assess student achievement of the outcomes?  What additional resources or support are necessary for achieving these outcomes?

Personal Reflection  As an individual faculty member  What outcomes would you like to focus on in one or more in your classes?  What embedded measures could be used to assess student achievement of the outcome?  What additional resources or support are necessary for assessing these outcomes?

Systematic And Continuous OutcomesAssessment Develop measures to assess student’s achievement of the outcomes Collectdepartmental- and course-level data Annually, share results summary with appropriateaudiences Identify and document changes to curriculum, learner outcomes, and measures based on assessment results Calendar

Organizational Chart

Closing Reflection  How will you use the information presented today in your courses?  What aspect of sustaining Agronomy outcomes assessment do you need to know more about?