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School-based agricultural education programs are recognized as contributors to teaching contextualized mathematics and supporting STEM education. This study examined the mathematics teaching efficacy and professional development needs of Tennessee school-based agricultural education teachers related to teaching contextualized mathematics. Tennessee agricultural education teachers were moderately efficacious in Personal Mathematics Teaching Efficacy and Mathematics Teaching Outcome Expectancy, and this may negatively impact the teaching of mathematical concepts found in Tennessee's agricultural education curricula. Also, similarities and differences were found in the teachers' professional development needs based upon mathematics teaching efficacy. Future research should seek to discover factors impacting the development of mathematics teaching efficacy among school-based agricultural education teachers. We also recommend professional development related to teaching contextualized mathematics be tailored to the different needs of teachers by states or regions.

A profound need currently exists in the United States for increased student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) -based careers. Our study focused on how students conceptualized their motivation to learn contextualized science via agricultural science while viewed through the lens of both social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 2001) and Azjen's theory of planned behavior (1991). Our non-experimental, descriptive study focused on students enrolled in either an undergraduate-level animal science or plant science course. The questionnaire used for this study was a modified version of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ II). The SMQ II has been found to have adequate content validity and criterion-related validity. The science motivation scales with the highest reported average mean scores were grade motivation, career motivation, and intrinsic motivation. The self-determination and self-efficacy scales received lower ratings from the students.

A pressing concern in all agricultural mechanics courses is safety. Lab activities have an inherent propensity to cause serious injury. The safety practices which are taught by teachers are largely dependent on the equipment in the laboratory and the resources available to the program. Various researchers have indicated that problems have existed in the safety instruction of agricultural mechanics for some time. This study sought to determine how safety is taught, what equipment instructors use and attitudes towards teaching safety of agricultural mechanics teachers. The majority of instructors were certified in first aid and felt confident to use that training in the event of an emergency. The average teacher was found to teach high enrollment labs and furnished at no cost to the student eye protection in the form of safety glasses with side shields. It was found that teachers agreed that safety instruction in the lab was important, especially involving power tools, electricity, and industrial quality eye protection. Agricultural programs should be evaluated regularly for inadequate conditions that may exist in facilities, equipment, and safety. Additional research is needed targeting what barriers potentially exist with teachers using recommended safety practices in the instruction of agricultural mechanics.

For students to be successful in the online learning environment, change from passive learners to active learners is essential. Students who successfully regulate and change their learning know where and how to acquire the knowledge necessary for success in the online environment. Introducing students early through dual enrollment programs can ensure students have the necessary skills for success. This project sought to determine the self-regulated learning level of students in an online agriculture course. Students were found to have the highest self-regulation within environmental structuring and goal setting. The lowest online learning self-regulation was in the area of task strategies. Females had a higher level of self-regulated online learning while there was found to be little difference by ethnicity. Low correlations were found between student experience with online courses and their perceived online self-regulated learning level. Students in an online agriculture dual enrolment course are encouraged to develop goals and at the conclusion complete a self-evaluation of their learning. Research should continue to help researchers understand and properly identify any personal, behavioral or environmental factors that influence secondary students' self-regulated learning in an online agriculture dual enrollment course.

Agricultural education has faced a national shortage of qualified teachers since 1965. Initiatives, such as NAAE's TeachAg Campaign, seek to alleviate this shortage through recruitment of new agriculture teachers. However, turnover in the teaching profession remains a problem, with attrition rates approaching 60% reported in some research studies. Factors such as teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and work-life balance have been reported to influence teachers' decision whether or not to remain in the profession. The purpose of this study was to describe Louisiana agriculture teachers' levels of teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and perception of work-life balance. Overall, teachers reported being efficacious in their chosen career and satisfied with their job. Additionally, these teachers reported being able to achieve balance in their career and that their family life did not interfere with work. These teachers were undecided as to whether work interfered with their family. It is recommended that further research be completed to understand why this and other studies reported teachers to be satisfied and efficacious, yet a high turnover of agriculture teachers exists. Teachers who excel at balancing teaching and their personal lives should be utilized as workshop presenters to assist other teachers in attaining balance.

This study explores the pathways to K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics instruction among Black/African American males in the Discovery Research Education for African American Men in STEM to Teach (DREAMS to Teach) program at Morehouse College, a Historically Black College and University located in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia. Many studies articulate the importance of cultural alignment between students and their instructors' influence on STEM participation and persistence. This study investigates the pathways of Black males who successfully overcome barriers and subsequently choose to persist (or not) in STEM and STEM K-12 instruction in particular. Findings suggest that although DRK-12 Dreams to Teach participants arrive at Morehouse less prepared to pursue STEM degrees than other Morehouse STEM students, they catch up and are retained in STEM and are on track to graduate at the same rate. This study improves our understanding of STEM persistence and K-12 instruction in the context of a federally funded, STEM-focused intervention targeting African American males.

There is an increased demand for motivated high school students to enter postsecondary STEM fields. Agriscience education is an innovative curriculum that can motivate students and spark interest in STEM. To recruit students to such programs, we must understand what motivates them. The purpose of this study was to determine how the secondary agriculture students conceptualized their motivation to learn agriscience. A descriptive-correlational research design was utilized with a modified version of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ II) used as the survey instrument. Overall, students were found to have moderate levels of motivation in agriscience courses. Grade motivation and self-efficacy were found to be the motivational constructs that meant the most to students. Students were least motivated by self-determination. Getting an A and the chance to receive higher grades in their agriculture science courses were found to be the highest motivators. Researchers found that there were no significant correlations between gender or grade level and motivation to learn science. Females generally had higher motivation within self-determination and grade motivation than males. Additional research is needed in this area to determine what factors may exist that are preventing highly efficacious females from choosing STEM careers.

The purpose of this cross-case comparison was to explore agricultural education pre-service teachers' perceptions in regards to integrating academics into agricultural education curriculum. This study included three agricultural education teacher certification programs in the United States. The pre-service teachers queried held similar perceptions regarding the integration of academic related concepts into an agricultural education curriculum. (a) Participants felt agriculture was a natural integration and emphasis vehicle for a range of academic subjects. (b) Participants felt it was important to emphasize the core subject matter inherent to agriculture, but care must be taken to not fundamentally alter the purpose of the agricultural education program. (c) A consensus was reached that lessons should be "hands-on" and relate to real world applications. It was recommended prior knowledge was important for successful integration of core content into an agriculture curriculum. An examination of how many credit hours of mathematics, science, and English pre-service agricultural education teachers are required to take to be effective at integration of core material should occur. Further, collaboration between university faculty of agricultural education and other departments outlining ways to achieve successful integration of academic content was needed.

School-based agricultural education programs provide contextualized learning environments for the teaching of core academic subject matter. This study sought to examine the mathematics efficacy and professional development needs of Wyoming agricultural education teachers related to teaching contextualized mathematics. Wyoming agricultural education teachers were moderately efficacious in personal mathematics teaching efficacy and mathematics teaching outcome expectancy. Professional development needs varied based upon the teachers' self-efficacy scores. With that in mind, integrating mathematics concepts from the ACT college readiness assessment was found in the top five responses of all mathematics efficacy groups reported, while modifying instruction for special needs students was found in the top five responses in 3 out of 4 of the mathematics efficacy groups. Based on the results of this study, professional development related to teaching contextualized mathematics would benefit Wyoming's school-based agricultural education teachers and students.

Agricultural Education provides an avenue to integrate and emphasize STEM-based concepts through a contextualized approach, which has been seen as a possible solution to increase student competence in STEM-based areas. The contextualized teaching and learning theory and the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) curriculum-learning model undergirds this research. Contextualized teaching and learning can be defined as applying received information to real-life situations and experiences in various contextual learning environments. With a new curriculum, adequate tools and equipment are vital in preparing students for the workforce. However, the issue of inadequate teaching materials has been prevalent within the entire educational system, and such inadequacies are detrimental to the ability of the students to become proficient in agricultural mechanics. The purpose of this Delphi study is to identify the perceptions of an "expert group" of educators on a list of equipment and supplies that would be included in an ideal Post-Secondary Applied STEM Learning Laboratory targeted at helping better prepare pre-service agriculture educators in content integration prior to entering the secondary education classroom. The data collected in the first round from the thirty-four participants who responded resulted in a 68% response rate. A total of 443 individual tools were identified within the 23 content areas listed in the CASE Agricultural Power and Technology (APT) curriculum. The overwhelming majority of tools the panel of experts identified would be what you would find in a standard agricultural mechanics laboratory. Therefore, the costs associated with transitioning from a traditional agricultural mechanics laboratory to a Post-Secondary Applied STEM Learning Laboratory should be minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic skills of today's teenagers are diminishing, and are a cause for concern. One of the academic areas in need of improvement is science. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to determine the effect that a science-enhanced, curriculum would have on students' achievement in science. The population for this study consisted of students in secondary agricultural education programs whose instructors held a science credential in Oklahoma during the 2009-2010 school year and were selected by state staff in the Agricultural Education Division of the Oklahoma Career and Technology Education Department to teach the science-enhanced, curriculum. In addition, 10 equally credentialed instructors formed a purposeful comparison group and were selected according to specific variables (e.g., similarity of students' SES status) for equivalency purposes. The findings of this study revealed that a statistically significant difference in students' science achievement did not exist as a result of the treatment. However, small practical differences were detected between the groups, as student performance in the treatment group was more than two and one-half points higher than the means of students' performance scores in the comparison group. Recommendations point to the need for replication of the study over an entire school year. (Contains 4 tables.)

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 the SAE program: (a) prepares students for future, possible careers by developing their skills for college and life beyond high school; (b) allows students to build relationships and make connections with community industry representatives; and (c) enables teachers to build personal relationships with students by making home visits. Teachers in this study expect students to own and manage their own SAE program, keep accurate data (i.e., record books) of their SAE programs, and compete at a high level with their SAE. Additionally, these teachers expect the SAE program to teach students responsibility, accountability, and work ethic. Finally, these teachers believe that students should have a variety of SAE programs. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Equal representation within higher education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the STEM workforce in the United States across demographically diverse populations is a long-standing challenge. This study uses two-to-one nearest-neighbor matched-comparison group design to examine academic achievement, pursuit of graduate science degree, and classification of graduate institution attended by students participating in the Hopps Scholars Program (Hopps) at Morehouse College. Hopps is a highly structured enrichment program aimed at increasing participation of black males in STEM fields. Morehouse institutional records, Hopps Program records, and National Student Clearinghouse data were used to examine differences between Hopps and non-Hopps STEM graduates of Morehouse. Two-way sample t tests and chi-square tests revealed significant differences in academic achievement, likelihood of STEM degree pursuit, and the classification of graduate institutions attended by Hopps versus non-Hopps students. Hopps Scholars were significantly more likely than non-Hopps STEM graduates both to pursue STEM doctoral degrees and to attend doctoral-granting institutions with higher research activity. The Hopps Program's approach to training black male students for scientific careers is a model of success for other programs committed to increasing the number of black males pursuing advanced degrees in STEM.