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Although multiple agricultural literacy campaigns exist, studies have found many people struggle to grasp agriculture topics. In order to process and learn information, individuals use a limited pool of cognitive resources. When topics or media messages are complex, those resources can be overwhelmed, thus hindering the learning process. Visual aids can prevent this from occurring. The purpose of this research was to test the use of infographics to communicate the topic of genetically modified foods. One-hundred-thirty undergraduate students were exposed to one of two randomly assigned stimuli. Both stimuli contained the same information about genetically modified foods, but one was presented in the form of an infographic, while the other was a text-only narrative. After viewing, participants were tested in a variety of ways on their ability to recall information. Sixty-nine of these participants took part in a delayed survey a week after stimuli exposure to again test recall and retention of the information they viewed. No significant difference was found in retention and recall rates when using an infographic versus a narrative to communicate a complex topic. However, this study provides several implications for future research in the area of visual communications in agricultural literacy.

The agriculture and natural resources (ANR) sectors are facing many complex and controversial issues today, including animal health, biotechnology, climate change, food safety, food security, invasive species, marketing and trade, and water. Undergraduate students, as the future ANR workforce, must use critical thinking skills to find solutions to these issues. This study sought to determine if a course that integrated case studies, as opposed to a classroom with no case study integration, influenced students' critical thinking. A pretest/posttest, quasi-experimental research design was used to determine if undergraduate students' critical thinking styles changed as a result of the case study integration. Three undergraduate communication courses focused on issues education at three universities were the sample. Based on the results, students were more willing to seek out information and engage with their peers about the issues facing ANR after the course with the case studies integrated. Case studies should be integrated into the classroom to encourage critical thinking based on these findings. Future research should include investigating the effects of using case studies in other undergraduate courses not focused on issues, in graduate courses, and extension education programs that could determine the effect in a non-formal education setting.

Undergraduate students should be able to identify relationships between agricultural and natural resources (ANR) issues to be prepared for ANR sector jobs. The purpose of this study was to determine if communication courses focused on teaching about ANR issues influenced students' understanding of the relational nature of these issues. A pre/posttest research design was given to undergraduate students enrolled in communication courses at three universities that addressed communicating about nine ANR issues. After descriptive analysis, the data was visualized and density was calculated using social network analysis software. Prior to the course, the strongest perceived relationship was between food safety and food security, followed by water and animal health. After the course, the strongest perceived relationship was between water and food security, followed closely by water and conservation. Visually, water was central to the network of issues, followed by food security, and conservation. The density of the perceived interconnectedness of the issues indicated the respondents did perceive the nine ANR issues were more closely related after taking the course than before. In this case, courses focused on communicating about ANR issues assisted students in being able to convey how these issues are interdependent, preparing them for the workforce.

Secondary agricultural education has consistently faced a shortage of teachers for the past several decades. Because there are not enough newly qualified teachers certified annually to fill all the vacancies, attrition must be addressed. The purpose of this research was to develop and pilot test an attrition risk assessment instrument. Items were written and included in a preliminary instrument based on existing literature as well as a qualitative study we conducted previously. Principal components analysis resulted in a 25-question instrument, with 17 questions measuring attrition risk in four constructs including alternative career opportunities, expectations versus realities, passions, and people frustrations. Cronbach's alpha indicated overall instrument reliability was a = 0.76. Individual construct reliabilities ranged from a = 0.57 to a = 0.85. Recommendations include further development and refinement of constructs and questions. Additionally, longitudinal data should be collected in order to identify the threshold magnitude of each risk factor that results in actual exit of a teacher from the profession. Finally, implementation of the instrument could assist researchers and teacher educators in identifying the most prevalent risks contributing to teacher attrition in a population.

A serious issue facing the agricultural education profession is a lack of qualified teachers. The profession recognizes there is a need to recruit new teachers and retain existing teachers. With these goals in mind, the National Teach Ag Campaign was established as an effort to encourage students to pursue a career in agricultural education and to support existing instructors. Each year, the campaign celebrates National Teach Ag Day to highlight this campaign and encourage others to help reach the initiative's goals. The purpose of this study is to explore how the National Teach Ag organization used Facebook for its annual "Teach Ag Day" campaign. Guided by the conceptual framework of communicative functions, a census of all posts on the National Teach Ag Facebook page for a three-week period was selected for this quantitative content analysis to evaluate general Facebook page attributes, post characteristics, engagement indicators, and communicative functions. The majority of posts contained text, graphics, hashtags, and links. Community Building was the most prevalent communicative function. The campaign demonstrated many best practices to engage audiences on Facebook, but future efforts should incorporate more videos and respond to comments. Future research should explore the reach and sentiment of shared Teach Ag Day posts.

Writing skills are one of the most important skills college graduates need to possess; however, college graduates struggle to complete written communications proficiently in the workforce. Previous researchers have explained that college instructors must understand the students' fears with writing in order to create effective writing curriculum. Writing apprehension has been described as one of the main factors hindering students' motivation to write and confidence to complete writing responsibilities. In the college setting, negative views toward writing cause low motivation to enroll in writing courses or take the course seriously; ultimately, writing apprehension causes students to not make writing a priority. Using the theoretical framework of self-efficacy, this paper sought to explore how a writing intensive course changed a student's confidence or belief in their writing skills, and in turn, how the intensive writing course improved their writing apprehension. A two-phase, convergent parallel design mixed methods study was used to determine what change, if any, occurred during the writing intensive course. The findings showed writing apprehension, or avoidance-like attitudes, may be diminished in undergraduate students throughout the duration of a writing intensive course. Recommendations for practitioners and future research are also provided.

Purpose: The objective was to investigate the role of traditional leaders in the implementation of food security projects in South Africa. Design/Methodology: A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used as a research design. A purposive sample of seven individuals was selected representing the community, extension agents, and researchers. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data triangulation was used to establish trustworthiness by using multiple sources of information. Findings: Four main themes with a series of sub-themes emerged in this study (chief/chiefdom; community reality; chief approval; chief´s support). Practical Implications: Chiefs play a pivotal role in the success of food security interventions. Extension agents and researchers aiming to work in rural South Africa must follow a sequential process to gain the favor of the chief and their support in their interventions. By building trust, upholding protocol, and involving the community, extension agents and researchers can gain and maintain the chief's approval and support. This leads to the complete support of the community and, consequently, the success of the intervention. Theoretical Implications: This study is based on UNICEF's conceptual framework of malnutrition. The model is widely used to address malnutrition and recognizes sociocultural practices as a basic cause of malnutrition. Authors were able to find that traditional leaders may positively or negatively impact food security outcomes and project success in rural South Africa. Originality/Value: Limited information is available regarding the implications of traditional leadership structures within the context of food security.

Employers have identified oral and written communications skills to be the most important skills graduates should possess when entering the workforce. In order for faculty to better understand their students' oral and written communications skills, they should understand what apprehension the students have toward oral and written communications. Specifically, no studies have been found that explore communication apprehension (CA) or writing apprehension (WA) in agricultural communications students. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore agricultural communications students' perceptions of CA and WA. Participants believe agricultural communications instructors set up an environment that is conducive to changing behavior. However, students realized and identified areas of improvement that could help them lower their CA and WA. Recommendations for practice are provided in order to help alleviate CA and WA in agricultural communications students.

There exists in our profession a persistent shortage of quality teachers in our high school agricultural education classrooms. A multitude of studies have identified challenges faced by agriculture teachers, however, few, if any, have investigated reasons for attrition by directly asking leavers why they left. This study sought to identify reasons for leaving the profession as perceived by former high school agriculture teachers. Nine former secondary agriculture teachers were interviewed. Themes emerging from this qualitative case study include 1) passions for the profession, 2) alternative opportunities, 3) expectations, 4) burdens, retrospectively and 5) people. Teachers were passionate about their students, their content area and competition inherent in agricultural education. All of the participants had chosen to accept alternative employment opportunities. Former teachers recalled having high expectations for themselves and their career, and perceiving others to have high expectations as well. The teachers recalled the burdens of their job retrospectively, and people played an integral role in their career as well as their decision to leave the profession. Former teachers were satisfied while teaching, but found greater benefit in alternative opportunities. Recommendations include encouraging realistic expectations, developing mentor programs for novice teachers, and strengthening the benefits of remaining in the profession.

An increase in consumer concern surrounding food ingredients has triggered a rise in label claims as an attempt to communicate salient product attributes to influence a purchase decision. Previous research has established the use of food label claims as heuristic cues, facilitating quick decisions without the need for complicated cognitive processing. Design of a label claim becomes an important concern as research has indicated distinct design elements promote further processing. This study sought to understand the role of visual and textual elements of a label claim toward dual processing routes through the use of eye tracking measures. The results indicated label claims that included both visual and textual elements elicited the highest visual attention allocation from consumers, and suggested that label claims are processed systematically in addition to heuristically as previously specified. Future label claims should include both visual and textual elements to promote further cognitive processing among all consumers. The findings from this study provide an avenue for greater understanding of dual processing modes within the context of food label claims and other agriculturally-relevant concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership educators are encouraged to identify and apply new ways to teach leadership. This paper provides the qualitative results of post-secondary students' reflections of learning leadership concepts after watching several episodes of the television show, "The Office." Students used reflective journaling to record their reactions and evaluation of the episodes. Analysis of the journals indicated that students were able to connect the leadership scenarios shown in the episodes to those they may experience in their real life. (Contains 1 table.)

Several land-grant institutions have adopted a name to encompass the teaching, research, and Extension components of the university, creating a brand identity for those public services. But, in the mind of stakeholders, has the connection between the tripartite mission and the brand name been made? The study reported here sought to determine agricultural producers' and community leaders' awareness and perceptions of the mission of a land-grant institution. Both groups were informed and held positive views about the research, education, and Extension activities of the university, but, unaided, did not connect these activities with the brand name. (Contains 5 tables.)

Agriculture is a vital part of the Australian economy. With an industry poised for growth, and a growing disconnect between consumers and agriculture, additional communication efforts are needed. The purpose of this study was to complete a curriculum visioning process to inform agricultural communications curriculum development in Australia. This study used a qualitative research design consisting of face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with individuals from 14 agricultural organizations and two universities. The results indicated the industry is addressing many challenges, but also has opportunities that would benefit from strategic communication efforts. Participants provided suggestions regarding the specific communication skills and agriculture knowledge future employees should possess. Recognizing these competencies informed the curriculum visioning process for agricultural communications as an academic discipline within Australian higher education. Recommendations for both practice and future research are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western District of Washington recently developed an educational video to reduce jurors' implicit biases. Little is known regarding the effectiveness of this proposed remedy to address a range of implicit biases. This study tested whether this educational video reduces pretrial publicity (PTP) bias. A total of 330 undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to read PTP or unrelated articles. An average of 9 days later, they were randomly assigned to watch the educational video prior to viewing a murder trial. Those exposed to PTP were more likely to convict and found the defendant more culpable and less credible. The educational video did not reduce PTP bias. A more tailored debiasing strategy may be needed to overcome the biasing effects of PTP. Differences in legal decisions also emerged depending on whether participants completed the second phase in-person or online, which has implications for future data collection modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers have varying levels of trust in agricultural production practices, which can influence attitudes, shift opinions, and change behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine what agricultural messages are considered the most trustworthy among consumers and what differences exist among five dimensions of trustworthiness. With a pro-agriculture video as the stimulus, this study used continuous response measurement (CRM) to collect data from 151 post-secondary students who were randomly assigned to evaluate one of five trustworthiness dimensions (trust, honest, sincere, dependable, reliable). Participants used handheld dials to continuously rate their evaluation of the messages in the video then completed a questionnaire to provide additional insights. Overall, participants trusted agricultural messages, although some specific phrases were rated more positively than others. Participants had more trust in messages that portray agriculture as a family endeavor and create connection between producers and consumers. Participants indicated skepticism in messages revolving around farmer/rancher motivation in agriculture. The results support the importance of strategically tailoring and crafting effective messages. Recommendations for future practice and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]