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…

Raising livestock for food production is a unique cultural phenomenon. It has been well documented that showing livestock as part of 4-H contributes to practical skills, knowledge, and life skills. While it is common to view livestock production through skills-based or economic lenses, there are subtle nuances of the phenomenon, social, cultural,…

Likeness, also known as homophily, describes the tendency for individuals to seek out others who are socially similar to themselves. As a society, we are attracted to "like" behaviors, but subconsciously the value placed on likeness can lead to undesirable outcomes including segregation, reduced diversity in peer groups, and narrower…

Targeted teacher recruitment is suggested as a way to alleviate the teacher shortage in specific content areas such as agricultural mechanics. Learning experiences are linked to increased selfefficacy and increased interest in specific career pursuits. The Agricultural Mechanics Power & Design (AMP'D) Experience was developed as a learning…

The number of parents in the U.S. choosing to homeschool their children is steadily growing. With a strong demand for college graduates in food, agriculture and natural resources careers, there is an opportunity for homeschooled high school students to explore agricultural careers and develop entrepreneurship and leadership skills through…

Nationwide, agricultural education has experienced a shortage of qualified school-based agriculture teachers for over four decades. Students who seek careers as agriculture teachers are often those who participated in agricultural education and FFA in high school. The Ag Ed FITChoice® Model (Lawver 2009; Lawver & Torres, 2012) was used as the…

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…

Agricultural education is defined by a best practice three-component model of instruction that includes a classroom experience, leadership development and FFA involvement, and an experience-based activity through a Supervised Agricultural Experience program (SAE). Based on program of activities award criteria, each year state FFA associations…

The study sought to identify the benefits of FFA membership based on the fulfillment of three basic human needs: love and belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. The study focused on the fulfillment of FFA members' basic human needs as defined by Abraham Maslow. The three needs on which this study focused are: love and belonging,…

The focus of this study is the self-perceptions of leadership engagement of FFA members in two FFA chapters in Missouri. This multiple case study used documentation of student self-perceptions, researcher observations, and focus groups. The two cases included 24 high school students comprised of FFA officers and members, who provided their…

Organizational culture shapes how members of a group act. The culture has the power to exclude potential new members who do not fit into the culture of the organization. Research on urban school-based agriculture programs has indicated that urban agriculture students face barriers to their participation in the National FFA Organization (FFA).…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using an interest approach at the beginning of a lesson on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement in an agricultural science classroom. A total of four classes were randomly assigned and administered one lesson with an interest approach and one lesson without an interest approach.…

The purpose of this study was to describe the views student teachers in agricultural education at Oklahoma State University had regarding their 12-week student teaching internship. Using Q-methodology as a research approach, 28 interns rank-ordered a Q-set of 36 statements describing various aspects teacher responsibilities and performance. The…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to determine the value and expectations for student participation in supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs, as expressed by first-year, agricultural education teachers in Oklahoma who were alternatively certified. This study revealed that teachers in this study value the fact that…

As agriculture continues to evolve and become more complex, the demand for qualified college graduates to fill agricultural careers exceeds supply. This study focused on a summer enrichment program that strives to expose gifted and talented students to the diverse nature of agricultural careers through the integration of agriculture and science.…