User-Friendly Research

Two years ago I had the opportunity to work with the National Agricultural Education Research Conference (NAREC) in San Diego, California. The Agricultural Education and Studies Department at Iowa State University was hosting the event and I was hired as an undergraduate student to coordinate the project. By the completion of the conference I had become aware of the research being conducted in Agricultural Education and was constantly asking these questions, How can I as an Agriculture Instructor use this information? and Why hasn't my undergraduate course work in Agricultural Education introduced the topic of research? Universities engaged in preparing Agricultural Education teachers need to expose their students to research and the research process in their field of study. Instructors need to share the research that graduate students and professors are working on in their departments. Instructors should include research developed by other universities when it relates to the topics studied in lecture. Referring to research studies will give the undergraduate students a better perception of the professorship and graduate school in general. For students who are interested in continuing their education, this approach would be a great promotional tool for graduate programs. Since research in agricultural education is so broad-based, current issues in this field should be on the top of the list when deciding what type of research to conduct. With the increasing demand for new teachers in agricultural education I would like to see more research that looks for ways to recruit and support new teachers in agricultural education. A good example of this research is current work done by Dr. Richard Joerger at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul and Joel Larson with the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning. With early groundwork done by Joel Larson, Dr. Joerger has been using research to develop a training program and support structure in Minnesota for beginning teachers called the Induction Program. The program is designed to pair beginning teachers with experienced mentor teachers for one year. Throughout the year the new teachers gather to share their experiences and to share what they have learned with each other. Access to graduate level courses and on-going assessments with feedback are also part of the program. The data Dr. Joerger and his staff collect from the Teacher Induction Program will be used to provide support for all first year teachers in agriculture and to decrease the number of agriculture teachers leaving the teaching profession in Minnesota. Researchers in agricultural education need to share their research results with teachers, farmers and other stakeholders. …