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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.

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors impacting former National FFA Organization (FFA) members' decision to discontinue FFA membership after high school. Data were collected using focus groups. Data indicated areas of improvement for how to retain membership on the alumni level within colleges and other local FFA Alumni chapters. Participants noted a lack of advertising from the FFA during their high school experience, and this may partially explain why FFA loses a majority of its membership after high school. Additionally, advisors played an influential role in deciding not to continue with FFA, and participants expressed a need for career building opportunities for members as participants felt Collegiate FFA and the FFA Alumni lacked these opportunities. Other reasons participants' discontinued FFA involvement included lack of time, FFA burnout, and priority of FFA in their life. We recommend colleges and FFA consider implementing professional development to help advisors encourage participation in FFA beyond high school, increase advertising efforts about FFA opportunities, and publish tips, training, and information on how to start, manage, and maintain a successful alumni chapter. We also recommend local alumni chapters on college campuses consider increasing advertising and hosting career development opportunities. Moreover, as Collegiate FFA is no longer recognized as an official member type by the national organization, FFA should consider how to engage students who are involved at the collegiate level and are transitioning to FFA Alumni. Beyond the FFA, adult organizations should consider researching reasons for participation, since adults also seek learning opportunities, a sense of belonging, and achievement outside of the workplace.

Women comprise the minority in production agriculture leadership, and their leadership roles in agricultural industries are rarely explored. The purpose of this study was to explore the reflective journeys of five Australian women in production agriculture. The central research questions asked were "What lived experiences helped you obtain your leadership position and what leadership characteristics do you identify as essential in your success?" This study used a phenomenological approach, as reflecting upon the subjects' past cultural experiences was crucial in understanding their current positions in life and leadership. Five women in agriculture from Australia served as the participants for this study, and they were selected based upon their leadership presence in Australia. Specific themes were generated which included (a) childhood experiences, (b) current family dynamics, (c) hardship, and (d) perception of leadership style. The perception of leadership style is further divided into three sub-themes: (a) self-perception of leadership, (b) leading by example, and (c) outreach efforts for women in the industry. The five women whose personal journeys were explored are primarily concerned with improving the knowledge given to them and presenting new opportunities to other women when they can. Some recommendations for future research are "What are the reflective journey stories of women agriculturists in the United States?", "What are reflective journey stories of men engaged in agriculture industries?" and "What mentoring strategies are being utilized to recruit and retain women in agriculture industry fields?"

Tennessee Statute 54-5-134, Cutting Hay Along Controlled Access Highway Right-of-Way, provided agriculturalists the right to harvest hay along interstate highways' and other controlled access roads' medians and shoulders. Maintenance of these medians and shoulders are routinely contracted to private mowing companies and funded by Tennessee taxpayers. As a result of the Tennessee statute and lack of empirical information, a questionnaire was used to assess livestock producers' awareness, attitudes, and barriers concerning right-of-way hay harvesting. We found 7.2% of surveyed livestock producers were aware of their right to this resource, but none of the producers had applied for a permit. While livestock producers were highly innovative in terms of general agricultural practices, they were moderate in attitude towards right-of-way hay harvesting. Attributes leading to a more positive attitude toward right-of-way hay harvest were: (a) the ability to sell hay harvested from right-of-ways, (b) willing to pay someone else to cut hay from right-of-ways, and (c) currently purchasing hay. Alternatively, an attribute leading to a more negative attitude was currently feeding alfalfa mix hay. There is moderate interest among livestock producers to utilize hay from right-of-ways, but further research and education is needed to explore the practicality of this innovation.

Advisory councils are essential to successful, working relationships among school-based agricultural education programs and the surrounding community. The purpose of this study was to describe how school-based agricultural education programs implement and utilize advisory councils in Tennessee and to determine agricultural education teachers' perceptions of program advisory councils. We found 76.5% of program respondents had an active advisory council. Respondents perceived advisory councils positively; however, most teachers felt they could better utilize their advisory council. The belief that the agricultural education teacher is the leader of the program's advisory council was also implied. Future research is needed to further strengthen methods to enhance the use of an advisory council. In addition, professional development programs focused on how to best establish and utilize an advisory council is recommended.

Social media is known for having the ability to rapidly disseminate information and university students now receive the majority of information about agriculture through social media platforms rather than through first-hand experience. In order to understand the impact of social media on university students related to the beef industry, a study of 300 students at the University of Tennessee were selected to participate. The purpose of this study was to describe media usage and impacts on students at the University of Tennessee. Results showed students perceived social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, to be relatively trustworthy, agreed that the beef industry supplied safe products to consumers but they are very concerned with food safety and relatively concerned to very concerned with having access to information about the beef supply. One recommendation made was industry communicators should consider current industry representation on social media and identify ways to proactively supply information to university students.

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, self-esteem, and self-actualization. The study found a majority of FFA members' three basic human needs are met due to their involvement in career development events, leadership positions, and other FFA activities. Of all research questions, the highest concentration of members claimed to have a more enjoyable high school experience as a result of their membership in the FFA. Future research should focus on determining how the FFA improves the high school experience. This research could be helpful to other career and technical education organizations and future success within the FFA. Moreover, linking the relevance of meeting Maslow's basic human needs with active participation in student organizations could assist teachers and program advisors as they recruit and retain members.

Agricultural leadership education is an important component of agricultural education programs across the country; yet, a national study of the scope and types of programs offered has not been conducted since 2003. The purpose of the current study was to provide national and timely data regarding the scope and type of opportunities offered in agricultural leadership education. Of the 56 responding institutions, 41 indicated offering agricultural leadership education opportunities. The types of opportunities offered include leadership majors, minors, options, foci, industry programs, graduate student programs, undergraduate programs, and leadership courses. Leadership courses and minors were identified as the two agricultural leadership education opportunities with the highest student enrollment, serving an estimated 7,904 and 1,581 students respectively. Leadership minors were also found to serve the highest proportion of students outside of colleges of agriculture. Responding faculty members in agricultural leadership education perceived the continued growth of leadership opportunities within their institution. Additionally, the majority of responding faculty identified moderate to substantial support for their agricultural leadership education endeavors from their home department, university colleagues, and the agriculture industry.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors influencing FFA members to continue their FFA experience beyond high school. Two focus groups were conducted, one for collegiate FFA members and one for past/current state officers. Participants provided several areas of improvement for collegiate and alumni FFA membership. Participants noted a lack of advertising from the FFA during high school regarding opportunities for involvement after high school, stated their advisor played an influential role in deciding to continue with FFA, and expressed FFA needed to put forth greater efforts into career building opportunities for collegiate members. Also, participants noted factors such as the desire to give back, safe environment, opportunities to learn about agriculture, and the "FFA Family" as reasons for continuing involvement. State officer participants gave additional insights to why they continued with FFA, including helping members overcome barriers and wanting to serve others. To increase membership beyond high school, we recommend professional development to help advisors promote FFA, evaluation on advertising efforts and increasing advertisements, develop program guidelines outlining how collegiate chapters can accomplish their mission and host events aimed at personal development, and publish best practices on leading a successful alumni chapter.

STEM disciplines will continue to impact school-based agricultural education programs; thus, in order to produce secondary students proficient in science and mathematics, developing preservice agricultural education teachers who are competent in mathematics and teaching mathematics is essential. This study utilized data collected through a focus group of 10 preservice agricultural education teachers at the University of Tennessee in order to explore the disconnect between mathematics ability and mathematics efficacy of preservice agricultural education teachers. Five themes emerged, which help explain the disconnect between mathematics ability and mathematics efficacy: (a) review of mathematics, (b) misconceptions, (c) prior success, (d) use of guest lecturers/students, and (e) the importance of pedagogical knowledge. Based on the results of this study, we recommend the agricultural teacher education program at the University of Tennessee provide instruction on cross-referenced mathematics standards, methods of teaching contextualized mathematics, and the types of knowledge required for teaching contextualized mathematics. These efforts should better prepare preservice teachers for teaching contextualized mathematics and aid them in developing an accurate understanding of the mathematics found in the school-based curricula. Additionally, future research is warranted to determine the most effective means of providing instruction in the aforementioned areas.

The purpose of this study was to describe the mathematics ability of preservice agricultural education teachers related to each of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) content/process areas and their corresponding sub-standards that are cross-referenced with the National Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Career Cluster Content Standards. To that end, the preservice teachers were not completely proficient in any of the content/process areas and were below proficiency in all of the corresponding NCTM sub-standards for 4 of the 6 content/process areas. They were proficient in 3 of the 13 NCTM sub-standards, moderately proficient in 4 of the 13 NCTM sub-standards, and not proficient in 6 of the 13 NCTM substandards. The results of this study suggest current practices are not sufficient for developing the mathematics content knowledge required for teaching the NCTM sub-standards found within the agricultural education curricula. To prepare preservice teachers for teaching mathematical concepts within the agricultural education curricula, agricultural educators should integrate mathematics subject matter related to the cross-referenced NCTM sub-standards into teacher education coursework, with an emphasis on the 10 NCTM sub-standards in which the preservice teachers were below the proficient level.

There is a disproportionate ratio of men to women in leadership roles in higher education and agriculture. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lives of women deans in agriculture in an attempt to conceptualize the leadership styles they have developed as a result of their positions as deans in a predominantly male field. Six women deans of agriculture were interviewed and observed in an attempt to recognize the impact their personal journeys have had in developing their leadership styles and attaining their leadership role. The overarching conclusions for the women in this study was that their leadership role was not limited to their education and work experience, gender, peoples' perceptions of women, fairness, or power. In addition, each of the women deans in this study exhibited personality traits such as surgency, conscientiousness, agreeableness, adjustment, and intellectance, which are traits considered relevant for leadership effectiveness.

Over the past decade, Cooperative Extension and 4-H professionals have been faced with the decision of whether to adopt new communication technologies such as social media. Research on social media and Cooperative Extension has identified risks and barriers to adoption; however, many Cooperative Extension professionals believe that social media usage could be very beneficial for Cooperative Extension and/or 4-H usage. In order to increase the body of knowledge on this subject, a quantitative study was conducted to determine the diffusion of social media among country 4-H programs in Tennessee. The study was conducted via an online questionnaire distributed to all 4-H program leaders in Tennessee, and a 49% (n = 196) response rate was obtained. Eight-four percent of county 4-H program leaders utilized social media for their county program. A majority of program leaders had a positive view of social media usage and felt that it was an efficient and effective way to communicate information. Overall, the study determined that social media is gaining widespread usage throughout rural and urban county 4-H programs in Tennessee, and that increased efforts toward training and research in this area is warranted.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influences of American agricultural education student teachers on a rural community in New South Wales, Australia. The study analyzed interviews with eleven participants of the American student teacher program in a rural New South Wales community. Results of the study were formulated by two researchers. Both researchers were student teachers in the New South Wales community for ten weeks and taught agriculture in one of the community's two high schools. After one year, the researcher returned to the community and interviewed eleven individuals involved with the program. Interviewed participants were questioned based on a predetermined protocol. Interviews were transcribed, coded and categorized into themes by researcher two. Using participatory action research, the researchers were able to identify areas of influence suggested by participants. Participants identified nine areas of influence made by the American agricultural education student teachers within the school and community: cultural awareness, stereotypes, language, classroom distractions, teaching methods awareness, cultural changes in community members, student performance, community unification and impact of student teacher presence.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to discover the perceptions and barriers of four female agriculture educators across generations in a non-traditional field of agriculture. The United States Department of Labor (2006b) defined a non-traditional job as any occupation where one gender comprises 25% or less of the total employment. Four female agriculture teachers across three generations were interviewed with the open-ended question: "What have been your personal and professional experiences in teaching agricultural education?" The teachers selected were from three generations: early Baby Boomer (Vietnam Generation), late Baby Boomer (Me Generation), Generation Xer, and Millennial. The themes revealed in the study were: qualifications to teach agricultural education, challenges in teaching agricultural education, stress in teaching agricultural education, and stereotyping of agricultural education teachers. Females teaching high school agricultural education expressed they needed to prove they were qualified; prove women can perform agricultural education duties; overcome resentment from students; balance family and work; and break the stereotype of a high school agricultural education teacher.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to give three students teachers the freedom to choose their supervisory model and to explain their experiences as the result of doing so. Student teachers majoring in agricultural education from the University of Tennessee did select different avenues of supervision. One selected clinical supervision, one selected contextual supervision, and one selected cooperative professional development (an option from the differentiated supervision model). Based on student teacher selections, adjustments had to be made by the supervisor during the student teaching semester to accommodate student teachers. On the basis of the findings of this study, the three student teachers must be highly confident and competent in their teaching abilities to correctly select their type of supervision. In addition, the three student teachers must have a clear understanding of supervision and the cycle of the supervisory process. (Contains 1 figure.)

Grant (1994) and Holt (2001) deemed it necessary to provide international teaching experiences to assist in a teacher's preparation program with the overall goal of becoming globally educated. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to describe four student teachers' experiences related to completing an international student teaching internship in Australia. Student teachers returned to the United States more confident and independent. In addition, each student teacher was exposed to many global issues and became more globally aware while in Australia. Overall, each student teacher felt that the international student teaching experience was life changing. (Contains 1 figure.)

This chapter examines the scaffolding of leadership learning and development in student organizations from secondary to postsecondary institutions and explores ways that high school and collegiate advisors can better integrate efforts to help emerging student leaders make the transition from involvement and leadership development from one environment to the other.

The high number of U.S. youth exhibiting at-risk behavior points to a lack of life skills development. We determined the effects of participating in one state's 4-H sheep skillathon on youths' life skills development and the youths' reasons for participating. The target population was 2014 Tennessee 4-H Sheep Skillathon participants (N = 153), and we obtained a 90% response rate. Participants perceived that they had a moderate gain in their life skills development, and a majority identified nine reasons for participation. Recommendations include informing parents/guardians of the benefits of skillathon participation and ensuring that skillathon participants have an opportunity to process and generalize content knowledge and life skills acquired through skillathon participation.

This study explores lived experiences of southeastern American women craft brew professionals with regards to anger and emotional labour within the craft beer industry. Informed by feminist epistemology, semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the emotional labour of female craft beer professionals resulting in a dynamic and innovative arts-based analysis. Participants discussed their love of the industry and provided insights into unforeseen issues of motherhood, safety, and sexual violence. The motivations behind the leisure pursuits of brewing were complex, which lead to actively engaging in both outward anger and coping strategies resulting in three overarching stanzas, (1) anger as a catalyst, (2) the bridge, and (3) coping mechanisms. Highlighting and giving a platform for women in the craft beer industry to share their narratives, this study creates a dialogue around the complexities and struggles women endure by shedding light on the emotional labour experiences and their ongoing struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding one's personal journey provides for effective learning, growth, and development (Madsen, 2010). Reflection on the influences and experiences of successful women leaders is essential to understanding the factors that have enabled them to obtain and sustain leadership positions in nontraditional career fields. The purpose of this qualitative study was to conceptualize and describe the personal journeys of women who became deans of agriculture. The central research question was, "Describe your personal journey to becoming a dean of agriculture?" Six women deans of agriculture were interviewed and observed in an attempt to recognize the impact their personal journeys have had in developing their leadership styles and sustaining their leadership role. Conclusions were (a) they were first born children, (b) influenced by parental qualities and spousal support, and (c) mentors recognized their gifts and talents and encouraged them to pursue advanced degrees and leadership positions. (Contains 2 tables.)

Women are a traditionally underrepresented demographic in the turfgrass industry. As the industry faces labor shortages, increased recruitment and retention of women to the field may reduce labor issues. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the lived experiences of 13 female leaders in the turfgrass industry representing diverse job titles, years of experience, and geographic locations. The objective of this research was to promote change within the turfgrass industry and subsequently increase female recruitment efforts by identifying barriers faced uniquely by women and influences on female leadership success. To discover this information, participants engaged in 30-to-90-minute semi-structured interviews with the central research question, "What lived experiences have shaped your career in the turfgrass industry?" Transcriptions of interviews were open-coded and used to develop six main themes: (a) career paths, (b) mentorship involvement, (c) leadership styles, (d) challenges, (e) opportunities for personal growth, and (f) opportunities for industry growth. Interviewed women proved to be vibrant leaders in the industry and faced similar challenges in their journeys to leadership including inappropriate peer conduct, difficulty building a family, and overcoming stereotypes. Women sustained career success by engaging in self-efficacy through educational development, mentorship, and personal growth. These findings can be used by both women and men in the turfgrass industry to improve current culture for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the number of women entering agricultural careers is slightly increasing in the United States and internationally, women who enter male dominated professions, such as agriculture, may be perceived as inherently unsuited for such work (Doss et al., 2011). The purpose of this study was to highlight and discuss the backgrounds and success of women in agricultural leadership roles. The central research question was how have women in agriculture attained their leadership role in a male dominated field? Specific criteria was set for selecting participants, and the criteria included their background experiences, uniqueness to the agriculture field, the impact they are currently making to agriculture, and their specialty in agriculture. This study selected 14 women leaders in agriculture from various locations in the United States. The researchers spent one to three days with each participant in their environment and utilized semi-structured, open-ended interviews that lasted one to four hours. The researchers transcribed the interviews and then coded and categorized the data. The researchers decided the data was best represented as individual case studies rather than themes. The researchers found 11 overall conclusions about the data. Three significant conclusions include (a) family, including parents, spouse, and children, impacted each woman's decisions for her education, lifestyle, and career choices; (b) fathers are a huge influence on their daughters; and (c) each participant discovered how to integrate work and their personal lives to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter examines the scaffolding of leadership learning and development in student organizations from secondary to postsecondary institutions and explores ways that high school and collegiate advisors can better integrate efforts to help emerging student leaders make the transition from involvement and leadership development from one environment to the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advisory councils are essential to successful, working relationships among school-based agricultural education programs and the surrounding community. The purpose of this study was to describe how school-based agricultural education programs implement and utilize advisory councils in Tennessee and to determine agricultural education teachers' perceptions of program advisory councils. We found 76.5% of program respondents had an active advisory council. Respondents perceived advisory councils positively; however, most teachers felt they could better utilize their advisory council. The belief that the agricultural education teacher is the leader of the program's advisory council was also implied. Future research is needed to further strengthen methods to enhance the use of an advisory council. In addition, professional development programs focused on how to best establish and utilize an advisory council is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]