ARTS 490: Agricultural Experimentation
ARTS 490: Agricultural Experimentation
Embedded Files
Course Description
Course Description
This course is designed to provide an introduction to critical thinking and statistical methods for conducting applied agricultural research. Emphasis throughout will be on the principles of design and inference, rather than the mechanics of statistical computations. The AGRI 490 is designed for students to develop and design an original agricultural research project. In the process, each student will review and analyze original, published research on your research topic.
This is a writing intensive course required for the B.S in Animal Science and the B.s. in Plant and Soil Science.
Course Modality & Design
Course Modality & Design
Course will be offered online in Fall 2021, but will be in-person thereafter.
Asynchronous lectures & weekly quizzes (i.e., students should use note guide and recorded lectures to prepare for weekly quizzes that will be done individually each week).
Synchronous discussions every Monday. Participation is required (i.e., contribution to discussions, Poll Everywhere questions, breakout room group activities, etc.
Weekly modules are organized to facilitate execution of the scientific method:
Scientific Method: Idea/Observe problem, literature review, hypothesis development, design experiment, collect data, analyze data, make conclusion, scientific publication
This course enables learning deeply about each step of the scientific method while simultaneously conducting an experiment on their own, alongside the material they are learning.
Weekly modules include: note guide, online/video lectures, an activity done during discussion, and an activity specifically for the research project.
Each step of the scientific method has its own objectives, which may be accomplished over the course of 2-4 weeks
Example: Students will practice developing pairs of hypotheses to be tested.
Sample Blackboard Design
Sample Blackboard Design
student engagement
student engagement
Course material: note guide, video lecture, discussion, quiz
Student-instructor interaction: synchronous discussion weekly, office hours
Interaction student-student: breakout room activities, group projects/assignments,
Group assignments and discussion activities
Welcome/introduction activities: video about me, padlet assignment, quick BO room small group get-to-know-you session
Think-pair-share, problem & project-based learning.
Assessment of Student Learning
Assessment of Student Learning
Technology & Tools
Technology & Tools
Blackboard Learn – The largest portion of the course is contained in BB (weekly lecture material, quizzes, weekly reading materials and links, etc.
Zoom – Zoom is used for weekly discussions and writing workshops
Padlet – is a low-stakes assignment used for the instructor and students to get to know each other better and to connect faces to names
Excel – Used for data entry, management, and analysis (i.e., statistical analysis)
Google suite (i.e., docs, sheets, slides) – used for anything that needs to be a “living” document. Slides are used for breakout room activities.
Poll Everywhere – used to engage students, determine level of understanding, and create community with class
Opportunities for Civic & Community Engagement
Opportunities for Civic & Community Engagement
Students will utilize peer-reviewed journal articles and real-life issues/problems to search for literature about.
Industry professionals will view final research papers to create a factsheet for their clientele.
Elements of Experiential Learning & Connections to the Professional Field
Elements of Experiential Learning & Connections to the Professional Field
Students will carry out an individual research project throughout the semester while working through the scientific method.
Project use active research and real-time data collection to analyze and publish.
Training in Course Design
Training in Course Design
Institute on Active and Experiential Learning
Individual Research Assignment Changes:
Redesign SLOs to include information literacy learning outcomes in the “Research as Inquiry” framework.
Used FOIL process to enhance the original assignment to have industry officials see the final product
Activity Changes
Created new assignment where students work in groups to answer technical questions and learn how to read a journal article.
Used information provided in the information literacy material to structure assignment.
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