In spite of the descriptive merit of traditional von Thunen model for agricultural land use patterns, the model's sole emphasis on the production side of the economy has not provided a realistic picture of land use and agricultural markets. By reexamining the production-oriented model, it can be shown that parameters in the model are not independent of each other. In order to incorporate the economic mechanism of agricultural markets, a closed version of the von Thunen model is proposed for a three-activity, two-dimensional economy, and equilibrium solutions are generated for prices, land areas, and outputs. The comparison of the two versions of the von Thunen model illustrates an over prediction of land use change in the production-oriented model. The closed model further includes environmental factors for an integrative perspective in agricultural location theory. This approach is extended to consider farmers' decision-making under environmental uncertainty. Farmers' decision-making, reflecting contrasting attitudes towards environmental uncertainty, is developed in three different models, both on the production side and in a closed economy. These are the maximum-expected return model, the guaranteed return model, and the behavioral model. With respect to the production side of the economy, land use is highly subject to climatic variability and crop competition, whereas price variability and stable land use result from the closed economy.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture magazine, Arizona Land & People, by evaluating it for reader satisfaction and interest, usefulness of information and reader demographics. The study used a mailed questionnaire, sent to a random sample of Arizona residents on the subscriber list. Findings indicate that the majority of the recipients are satisfied with the magazine in its present form, although they prefer that it be published more often. The readers represent a wide range of occupations, many related to agriculture. The magazine is valued for the quality of its technical information, which a majority of the readers use for work-related purposes. Findings also suggest that Arizona Land & People is a valuable reference tool in schools and libraries.

The purpose of this study was to develop a list of agricultural occupations from the government agencies that employ people on the Navajo Reservation. In addition, a list of agricultural competencies was developed to aid Reservation agricultural education programs to train students for the agricultural jobs that are available through government agencies. The results showed 71 different occupations in agriculture available in government agencies on the Navajo Reservation. The major competencies that are needed for employment are in the area of Basic Agriculture.

The University of Arizona's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has a long history of serving the agricultural community throughout the state. Located within Arizona's boundaries are twenty-one Indian reservations whose agriculture and natural resources are of significant import to tribal communities culturally, spiritually, and economically. Declining enrollment of Native American students has prompted this study of the perceptions of faculty regarding agricultural and natural resource issues on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Responses show a disturbing lack of awareness regarding issues important to the two reservations. There are cultural differences between the University and the tribes that are believed to have an influence on recruitment and retention rates. Thus, heightening the awareness of faculty to agricultural and natural resource concerns of the Navajo and Hopi peoples could reverse the downward trend of recruitment and retention rates of Native American students.

<p> The number of colleges and universities with campus agriculture projects in the US has grown from an estimated 23 in 1992 to 300 today with possibly increased numbers predicted. The profile emerging from campus agriculture projects looks a lot different from the traditional land grant colleges of agriculture. In spite of this emergent trend and staunch advocacy for campus agriculture projects, limited empirical research on agriculture-based learning in higher education exists outside agriculture degrees and theoretical work of scholars such as Liberty Hyde Bailey and David Orr. The purpose of this exploratory research was two-fold. First, prevailing characteristics and pedagogical objectives of campus agriculture projects were explored through a survey of all known US campus agriculture project managers and educators. Second, interviews, photo-elicitation, field observations, and use of the Connectedness to Nature Scale and Inclusion of Nature Scale were conducted during the summer of 2013 at Yale Farm and the University of Montana's Program in Ecological Agriculture and Society Farm (P.E.A.S.). At these two farms, I studied whether and in what ways did academic courses connected to campus agriculture projects at US colleges impact participating students' perceptions of and connection to nature. </p><p> This mixed methods research illustrates a re-visioning of how higher education is interfacing with agriculture and agriculture-based education beyond traditional land grant colleges of agriculture through attention to sustainability initiatives and pedagogies. Agriculture-based education and campus agriculture projects can distinctively impact students' perceptions of connectedness to nature through experiencing agriculture's role in establishing a new worldview. Data offers empirical evidence that campus agriculture projects deepen connection to place, and offers substitutes to anthropocentric beliefs and behaviors. While experiences at the campus agriculture projects motivated pro-environmental and social behaviors specific to farming, food, and the more-than-human community at the farms, participating students did not report an increase in cognitive connectedness to nature or behaviors beyond food, farming, or the more-than-human community at the farms.</p>

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1928. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 310. Bibliography: p. 191-194. Also issued in print.

Thesis (PH. D.)--Columbia University, 1928. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 310. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: p. 191-194.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>Recent attention to socio-scientific issues such as sustainable agriculture, environmental responsibility and nutritional health has spurred a resurgence of public interest in gardening and cooking. Seen as contexts for fostering scientific literacy?the knowledge domains, methodological approaches, habits of mind and discourse practices that reflect one?s understanding of the role of science in society, gardening and cooking are under-examined fields in science education, in part, because they are under-utilized pedagogies in school settings. Although learning gardens were used historically to foster many aspects of scientific literacy (e.g., cognitive knowledge, norms and methods of science, attitudes toward science and discourse of science), analysis of contemporary studies suggests that science learning in gardens focuses mainly on science knowledge alone. Using multiple conceptions of scientific literacy, I analyzed qualitative data to demonstrate how exploration, talk and text fostered scientific literacy in a school garden. Exploration prompted students to engage in scientific practices such as making observations and constructing explanations from evidence. Talk and text provided background knowledge and accurate information about agricultural, environmental and nutritional topics under study. Using a similar qualitative approach, I present a case study of a third grade teacher who explicitly taught food literacy through culinary arts instruction. Drawing on numerous contextual resources, this teacher created a classroom community of food practice through hands-on cooking lessons, guest chef demonstrations, and school-wide tasting events. As a result, she promoted six different types of knowledge (conceptual, procedural, dispositional, sensory, social, and communal) through leveraging contextual resources.This case study highlights how food literacy is largely contingent on often-overlooked mediators of food literacy: the relationships between participants, the activity, and the type of knowledge invoked. Scientific literacy in food education continues to be a topic of interest in the fields of public health and of sustainable agriculture, as well as to proponents of the local food movement. This dissertation begins to map a more cohesive and comprehensive approach to gardening and cooking implementation and research in school settings.