Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 45 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-32).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> The purpose of this grounded theory study was to conceptualize the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of experienced agriculture teachers in the plant sciences. The overarching theme that emerged during data collection and analysis was the influence of beliefs on participants&rsquo; PCK. This finding guided subsequent data collection and analysis that focused on what was shaping the participants&rsquo; PCK in plant sciences. Three major themes that shaped the participants&rsquo; PCK were: integrated belief systems, experiences prior to and during in-service, and the context of the participants. The integrated beliefs system was the driving force in shaping the participants&rsquo; PCK. A substantive level theory was developed that illustrated the relationships between the three themes on participants&rsquo; PCK. These findings support further examination into what is shaping agriculture teachers&rsquo; PCK, including investigation in other agriculture content areas such as animal sciences and further examination into views about the purpose of agricultural education.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Chronic health conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes are on the rise in Canada, and particularly in Nova Scotia. Lifestyle-related factors including stress level, exercise, and a healthy diet are crucial to preventing such illnesses. Research shows that access to greenspace can greatly effect physical and mental health in terms of stress-reduction, social cohesion and exercise promotion. Importantly, food-producing greenspace provides further mental and physical benefits; highlighting the importance of a healthy diet and a connection to the earth. Despite these findings, productive greenspace in our cities as a viable source of wellness is not optimized. This project, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, examines how productive greenspace can be integrated with interactive learning spaces to encourage a preventative approach to lifestyle-based illnesses.

This research focuses on the academic programs at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm (the Farm). The Farm is a centre for sustainability learning and research, providing a working model of sustainable food systems with which to engage students, faculty and community. The Farm is situated within the global context of a dominant industrial food paradigm that is demonstrated to be a major contributor to the social and ecological crises the world now faces. The Farm is further situated within the context of a dominant education paradigm that provides most students with knowledge that is disconnected from social and ecological realities, leading to the misuse of knowledge and to the exacerbation of global crises. The purpose of this research is to explore the contributions that the Farm’s academic programs provide toward advancing sustainability learning from the perspective of program participants, including myself. The research methodology was guided by participatory approaches to research. Qualitative methods were employed, focusing primarily on surveys and semi-structured interviews with program participants. I have also been an involved participant in a diversity of programs at the Farm from April 2004 – December 2008. The results of the research suggest that program participants value the ability to engage with their subject matter, not only on an abstract/theoretical level, but also on practical and affective levels. Participants feel that UBC is lacking in programs that allow students to engage physically and emotionally with their learning. Students feel their knowledge will be better recalled and more likely to be useful if they care about what they are learning, if they can engage with it in a real world context, and if they have some ownership and responsibility for what they are learning. Further, program participants feel that the Farm’s academic programs would benefit from providing more theoretical context and connection to their other academic work, from additions and improvements to Farm infrastructure and resources, and from additional human resources support. This research project was site specific. Nevertheless, it connects with and complements work being done at dozens of universities, colleges and student farms around the world.

The purpose of this study was to determine important elements and placement practices of student teaching as perceived by teacher educators and how well each student teacher perceived his/her quality of experience based on these criteria. Data were collected using mail questionnaires following procedures by Dillman (2000). Three different mail questionnaires were used to gather information from 50 different head teacher educators (35 responding), 77 teacher educators (45 responding), and 204 student teachers from the 2001-2002 academic school year (140 responding). Head teacher educator respondents indicated that the number one placement practice for placing student teachers was that of the cooperating teacher having at least three years teaching experience (mean=4.61) Teacher educator respondents indicated that a cooperating center having access to the World Wide Web (mean=4.79) was the most important element of a cooperating center. Additionally, teacher educators indicated that a cooperating teacher who supports other school activities was the most important cooperating teacher element (mean=4.28). As a whole, student teachers indicated that they learned a great deal from their student teaching experience (mean=4.65) and that the student teaching component of their teacher education program was the most valuable component (mean=4.54). Statistically siginificant relationships between student teacher perceptions of their cooperating center elements and the quality of their student teaching experience existed. The elements with a positive correlation and statistical significance included cooperating center facilities (r=.447) and cooperating teacher and student teacher relationships (r=.853). The correlation coefficient (r=.389) between the level of importance of student teaching placement methods and the quality of the student teacher experience indicated a low positive relationship (Davis, 1971, but was not significant at the .05 alpha level. This indicated that the more time and effort teacher educators spend on placing student teachers may increase the student teacher's quality of experience.

This research focuses on the academic programs at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm (the Farm). The Farm is a centre for sustainability learning and research, providing a working model of sustainable food systems with which to engage students, faculty and community. The Farm is situated within the global context of a dominant industrial food paradigm that is demonstrated to be a major contributor to the social and ecological crises the world now faces. The Farm is further situated within the context of a dominant education paradigm that provides most students with knowledge that is disconnected from social and ecological realities, leading to the misuse of knowledge and to the exacerbation of global crises. The purpose of this research is to explore the contributions that the Farm’s academic programs provide toward advancing sustainability learning from the perspective of program participants, including myself. The research methodology was guided by participatory approaches to research. Qualitative methods were employed, focusing primarily on surveys and semi-structured interviews with program participants. I have also been an involved participant in a diversity of programs at the Farm from April 2004 – December 2008. The results of the research suggest that program participants value the ability to engage with their subject matter, not only on an abstract/theoretical level, but also on practical and affective levels. Participants feel that UBC is lacking in programs that allow students to engage physically and emotionally with their learning. Students feel their knowledge will be better recalled and more likely to be useful if they care about what they are learning, if they can engage with it in a real world context, and if they have some ownership and responsibility for what they are learning. Further, program participants feel that the Farm’s academic programs would benefit from providing more theoretical context and connection to their other academic work, from additions and improvements to Farm infrastructure and resources, and from additional human resources support. This research project was site specific. Nevertheless, it connects with and complements work being done at dozens of universities, colleges and student farms around the world.

Over the past 30 years, the population of Texas has continued to grow and become diverse. Undergraduate students at Texas universities preparing to enter the workforce will be faced with working more in diverse environments than those of their parents and grandparents. The purpose of this study was to determine overall student perceptions of diversity in a Multicultural Education course within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The research design used in this study was a one-group pretest-posttest design, with a follow-up retrospective post evaluation at the conclusion of the study to ascertain differences between the pretest and posttest administrative types. The target population consisted of all junior and senior classified students enrolled in ALED 422: Cultural Pluralism in Agriculture for the 2011 fall semester. A purposive convenience sample was taken for the study. During the study 47 students completed the pretest portion while 45 completed posttest and retrospective posttest portion of the study. Two of the participants were lost to attrition. Descriptive statistics were used for reporting the demographics of respondents. Mean scores and frequencies were used to assess students' perceptions of contributions in agriculture and diversity. The sample consisted of 70.20% males and 29.80% females. The ethnic breakdown of the sample was 74.50% White (non-Hispanic), 10.60% Hispanic, 8.50% African American (non-Hispanic), 4.30% Other, and 2.10% Native American. Based on grand mean pretest (M = 3.82, SD = .56) and posttest (M=4.29, SD =.55) findings, results confirm the implementation of a multicultural education course were effective in changing students' perceptions about contributions in agriculture and diversity perceptions. Ten of the fourteen (71.43%) statements were found to have statistically significant differences between pretest and posttest measurements. Based on grand means for the pretest (M = 3.84, SD = 1.04) and posttest (M=4.29, SD =1.15), results confirm the implementation of a multicultural education course to discuss contributions in agriculture were effective in changing students' perceptions about contributions in agriculture. No statistically significant differences were found in age, permanent residence, and size of graduating class related to students' perceptions of diversity. Also, no statistical significant difference was found in the administration of a pretest and posttest versus a retrospective posttest.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Kentucky, 2008. / Title from document title page (viewed on August 21, 2008). Document formatted into pages; contains: ix, 126 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-125).