Eastern Oklahoma State
College
Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton, OK, received
a CSREES Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture
Education Challenge Grant in 2005 (agreement
number: 2005-38414-15783) to enhance student retention
by providing 2-year postsecondary teachers and students with
materials and service-learning techniques.
Many students majoring in agriculture enter as at-risk students
in several areas. Some are first generation college students
and academically deficient. Others enter higher education
with little agriculture experience. Retention of these students
is difficult without practical experiences to draw upon.
With the projected shortages of professionals in the field
of agriculture, strategies must be developed in higher education
to serve the student by addressing different learning styles,
providing practical experiences, mentoring, and encouraging
career development. To improve service learning practices,
this project will:
- exposed students to various learning styles through experiential
learning opportunities, shadowing experiences, and annual
career fairs to further develop future employment opportunities;
- advise and mentor agriculture majors in transferring
to a university to complete their degree;
- develop a new agronomy curriculum (crop production, crop
production lab, fundamentals of soil science and soil evaluation)
with input from the agriculture faculty, a student committee,
and other resources;
- promote a 2+2 component and a service-learning project
involving area high schools;
- develop educational material addressing multiple learning
styles;
- incorporate service learning methods into the curriculum,
and;
- summarize results and outcomes of this project by comparing
previous graduation rates to the performance of students
after the completion of this project.
Learn more about CSREES Secondary
and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge
Grants.
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