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As short-term study abroad tours seek to develop globally competent leaders within the agricultural industry, the rich diversity present within the United States has led to the inception of short-term domestic study tours. To improve how global leadership competencies are developed among adolescent participants, understanding competencies gained during short-term international and domestic cultural immersion trips is vital. This case study analysis sought to explore state FFA officer perceptions of leadership competencies developed through participation in the National FFA Organization’s International Leadership Seminar for State Officers (ILSSO) which pivoted to a domestic study tour for 2022. The findings indicate participants perceived agricultural exposure and networking with peers as the development of leadership competencies. Participants also expressed perspective shifts around agricultural production methods and varied cultural experiences in the state of California. Recommendations include designing leadership curriculum for both short-term abroad and domestic tours with a framework grounded in leadership theory and replicating this study to compare findings in various contexts. Similar studies should also be conducted to assess outcomes of leadership development programs designed by the National FFA Organization.

With this study, we sought to fill a gap regarding preservice teachers’ self-evaluation during the student teaching experience. An instrument was created and validated for use as a weekly self-evaluation tool for preservice teachers during the student teaching internship. This instrument encourages preservice teachers to self-assess and use self-regulated learning strategies during their student teaching experience. The finalized instrument should be used in conjunction with other activities of the student teaching portfolio to meet the phases of self-regulated learning (forethought, performance, and self-reflection). The purpose of this study was to examine the change in preservice teachers’ perceived performance over time during the 14-week student teaching internship. The objectives of this study were to describe preservice teachers’ performance scores and examine the variance in preservice teachers’ self-reported performance scores over the student teaching internship. Means and standard deviations for each of the five constructs during the 14-week period are reported. The self-evaluation scores of all five constructs of the validated instrument show an upward trend over the 14-week student teaching internship, with peaks and valleys scattered throughout. Research should continue with the goal of identifying the reasons for the peaks and valleys in weekly self-evaluation data.

The student teaching experience is one of the most impactful capstone experiences for the preparation of preservice teachers. The supervisor, either a cooperating teacher or university supervisor, plays a critically important role in the student teaching experience. The purpose of this study was to explore preservice teachers' perceived motivation and independence throughout their student teaching experience. It is recommended that early in the student teaching experience, a directive supervision style should be utilized. Then, as motivation starts to decline in the middle of the student teaching experience, the focus of supervision should shift to providing moral support and encouraging commitment to the profession of teaching. Recommendations for future research include replication of this study with future cohorts of student teachers across multiple institutions so data trends can be analyzed longitudinally. Additionally, it is recommended that future iterations of this study should administer a post-then version of the quantitative plotting instrument to control response shift bias.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to address how preservice teachers’ preferred learning style influences their philosophy of teaching agricultural education. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously, analyzed separately, and then merged for combined analysis. In this study, we identified 17 preservice teachers’ learning style and then assessed how their learning style influenced their philosophy statement. We found 59% of the teaching philosophy statements were similar to the preservice teachers’ learning style, 18% were different, and 23% were deemed inconclusive. It appears the preferred learning style of preservice teachers does carry through into their teaching philosophy. The percentage of inconclusive statements show that teachers will incorporate multiple learning styles to meet the diverse learning needs of their students. When the various learning styles of a class are met, it is suggested that the learning experience will be more effective and beneficial for the learners. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend implementing professional development sessions to help teachers blend their preferred learning style with the needs of their learners. Additionally, further research is needed to compare teachers’ actual practice with their teaching philosophies.

This study was conducted to understand how students’ cultural awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, and communication abilities combine to influence their development of cultural competence. Q methodology (Q) was used to capture the subjectivity and lived experiences of participants of an international experience (IE) and assess the impact of the program on their cultural competence development. When viewed through the lens of the Personal Cultural Competence Enhancement Framework (PCCEF), findings suggested students’ cultural competence development could be interpreted through three typologies: (a) Cultural Learners, (b) Cultural Engagers, and (c) Cultural Samplers. Cultural Leaner students demonstrated new awareness of their limited amounts of cultural knowledge and desired to learn more about other cultures through future travel, but were still apprehensive about engaging and communicating with people from other cultures. Cultural Engagers, on the other hand, expressed greater confidence in stepping out of their comfort zones and communicating in a different language. Lastly, Cultural Samplers demonstrated increased awareness of the benefits of experiencing other cultures and they comforts they have back home, and they expressed a desire to continue traveling abroad in the future. These findings support the use of short-term IE programs as supplemental activities to foster agricultural students’ progression toward cultural competence.

Abstract Parkinson’s disease is diagnosed upon the presentation of motor symptoms, resulting from substantial degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. Prior to diagnosis, there is a lengthy prodromal stage in which non-motor symptoms, including olfactory deficits (hyposmia), develop. There is limited information about non-motor impairments and there is a need for directed research into these early pathogenic cellular pathways that precede extensive dopaminergic death in the midbrain. The protein tau has been identified as a genetic risk factor in the development of sporadic PD. Tau knockout mice have been reported as an age-dependent model of PD, and this study has demonstrated that they develop motor deficits at 15-months-old. We have shown that at 7-month-old tau knockout mice present with an overt hyposmic phenotype. This olfactory deficit correlates with an accumulation of α-synuclein, as well as autophagic impairment, in the olfactory bulb. This pathological feature becomes apparent in the striatum and substantia nigra of 15-month-old tau knockout mice, suggesting the potential for a spread of disease. Initial primary cell culture experiments have demonstrated that ablation of tau results in the release of α-synuclein enriched exosomes, providing a potential mechanism for disease spread. These alterations in α-synuclein level as well as a marked autophagy impairment in the tau knockout primary cells recapitulate results seen in the animal model. These data implicate a pathological role for tau in early Parkinson’s disease.

Treatment of BRAF mutant melanoma with kinase inhibitors has been associated with rapid tumor regression; however, this clinical benefit is short-lived, and most patients relapse. A number of studies suggest that the extracellular environment promotes BRAF inhibitor resistance and tumor progression. Extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, are functional mediators in the extracellular environment. They are small vesicles known to carry a concentrated group of functional cargo and serve as intercellular communicators not only locally but also systemically. Increasingly, it is reported that extracellular vesicles facilitate the development of drug resistance in cancer; however, their role in BRAF inhibitor resistance in melanoma is unclear. Here we investigated if extracellular vesicles from BRAF inhibitor–resistant melanoma could influence drug sensitivity in recipient melanoma cells. We demonstrate that the resistance driver, PDGFRβ, can be transferred to recipient melanoma cells via extracellular vesicles, resulting in a dose-dependent activation of PI3K/AKT signaling and escape from MAPK pathway BRAF inhibition. These data suggest that the BRAF inhibitor–sensitive phenotype of metastatic melanoma can be altered by delivery of PDGFRβ by extracellular vesicles derived from neighboring drug-resistant melanoma cells.

Experiential learning is widely used at the post-secondary level, but it requires intentional curricular planning, and proper facilitation from the instructor. The effects of experiential learning in agricultural education settings at the higher education level have not been tested extensively. Therefore, additional examination is needed to inform the practice of college faculty, especially those who wish to implement effective experiential learning in their teaching. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reflection mode (peer verbal or written journal reflection) and transfer level (same, near, or far transfer) on students' post-course knowledge retention in an undergraduate, animal science, laboratory course. In total, 114 students were divided among six treatment groups using a quasi-experimental, two-way, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) design. There was no statistically significant interaction effect between reflection mode and transfer level on students' post course retention, nor were there statistically significant differences for theses main effects. While no treatment group was statistically significant, this does not mean that the mode of reflection or level of transfer were not effective practices. Rather, no reflection mode, transfer level, or combination thereof was more effective than the others. Practitioners of experiential education should seek to implement holistic models of experiential learning, which includes the facilitation of learner reflection and application, in order to foster an educative experience.