The cottage food industry has become a significant part of the food supply in Minnesota, most likely as a result of the growing consumer demand for locally produced, minimally processed and value-added foods. Using post-training evaluations, we characterized the cottage food producers in Minnesota and assessed the impact of our food safety course.…

Active teaching methods are believed to facilitate higher-order thinking skills and prepare allied health students for independent clinical decision-making. This quantitative, correlational study aimed to explain the relationships between student preferences for active over traditional methods and their beliefs, the frequency and positiveness of…

We present a unique and innovative course, Biostatistical Literacy, developed at the University of Minnesota. The course is aimed at public health graduate students and health sciences professionals. Its goal is to develop students' ability to read and interpret statistical results in the medical and public health literature. The content spans the…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine types and frequency of local food products purchased by schools as part of FTS programs and to identify whether differences in purchasing exist relative to school size (number of lunches served). Methods: A valid and reliable questionnaire was developed from qualitative interviews with…

This study involving superintendents from four states sought to identify the nature and quality of help provided by outgoing superintendents to their successors, and to capture data regarding differences in the helpfulness of that support, depending on whether the superintendent moved to a new superintendency, retired from the position, or was…

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers implement competition within their programs. A quantitative instrument was designed to carry out the four research objectives of the study. The instrument was distributed to a non-probability convenience sample of 72 SBAE instructors…

One goal of Extension is to provide practical information that makes a difference to producers. Cow Herd Appraisal Performance Software (CHAPS) has provided beef producers with production benchmarks for 30 years, creating a large historical data set. Many such large data sets contain useful information but are underutilized. Our goal was to create…

This paper presents a step-by-step process for the development and implementation of a professional selling specialization program in the marketing curriculum of a school of business at an AACSB accredited state university. The program is presented in detail along with the process followed in order to develop support for the program with three…

Farmers and agricultural professionals who are aware of species likely to invade agricultural landscapes can be active participants in efforts to detect invasive species. To reach this audience we created a short invasive species program and added it to the existing and required pesticide applicator recertification workshops. We highlighted four…

This study sought to assess student perceptions of soft skills and career decision self-efficacy attained through participation in different types of Supervised Agriculture Experience programs within School Based Agricultural Education. There was no significant difference found in career decision self-efficacy or perceived soft skill attainment…

A request for support (RFS) is a tool that is used to strengthen network capacity by prioritizing needs and optimizing learning opportunities. Within University of Minnesota Extension, we implemented an RFS process through an online survey designed to help leaders of food networks identify and rank learning and capacity-building needs and indicate…

The Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill) is a critical part of the economic safety net for U.S. crop and dairy producers through 2018. Passage of the Farm Bill marked a change in philosophy regarding producer and landowner decisions about program choices. The shift was away from nearly 20 years of fixed annual payments based on historical…

The Power of Produce (PoP) Club is a farmers' market incentive program for children aged 5-12. The purpose of the summative evaluation described in this article was to determine the impact of the PoP Club on improving family and child behavior at a Minnesota farmers' market as well as child fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption. Results from a…

University of Minnesota educators use an integrated pest management (IPM) survey conducted during private pesticide applicator training as an educational, needs assessment, and evaluation tool. By incorporating the IPM Assessment, as the survey is called, into a widely attended program and using TurningPoint audience response devices, Extension…

The Capstone Sales course is the final in a sequence of five required courses in a 15 credit Professional Selling program housed in the Marketing Department at St. Cloud State University. The course is heavily focused on experiential learning activities for senior-level sales students. In this paper details of the course design, instructor and…