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Agriculture is a complicated and often misunderstood subject. Children and adults alike generally do not know where their foods and fibers originate or all of the steps taken to deliver finished products to retailers. Consumers are often unaware of the importance agriculture plays in society as well as the rest of the world.
In order to adequately convey these messages, lessons and activities were designed as authentically as possible to give students realistic and relevant learning experiences that make large-scale global connections between agriculture and people and encourage students to learn on their own, from others, and through inquiry to become responsible consumers throughout their lifetimes. Also, curriculum materials that identify the environmental and ecosystem impact involved in agricultural production can draw students’ attention to their own carbon footprints and utilization of natural resources. Consequently, the following design principles were selected to provide rich and experiential lifelong lessons.
The meta-principle, “Embed Learning in Complex, Realistic, and Relevant Environments” (Driscoll, 2005), was used to encourage students to seek answers and transfer newly acquired knowledge to situations outside the classroom. Activities can promote inquiry and discussion outside the classroom and can put learning in perspective.
Design principles contained within Honey and Kanter’s (2013) book, Design, Make, Play, were utilized to focus on competency and literacy in STEM fields and prompted students to investigate the way scientists do. Encouraging students to “tinker” with their own thoughtfully crafted designs and bring them to life made learning more fun, tangible, and concrete. The “design” portion allowed students to experience the iterative process to create products, systems, or tools intended to solve problems of any kind. The “make” portion permitted students to build objects or by-products for the sheer joy of figuring things out. Finally, “play” encouraged students to participate in fun and engaging challenges that involved using their imaginations and being innovative.
Another design principle, “Make Thinking Visible” (Linn & Hsi, 2000), was used to both make abstract concepts visible to students and encourage students to make their own learning visible to teachers and fellow group members. Such experiences not only brought learning to life, but also “Promoted Autonomous Life Long Learning” (Linn & Hsi, 2000). Activities involving “real” technologies that are used by scientists to visualize experimental data and information can reinforce understanding and inspire students to pursue more investigation using those technologies in the future.
Providing novel experiences and having students create authentic representations and models nurtured curiosity and stimulated motivation (Keller, 1983). Introducing the concepts and tools early in students’ educations could have positive impacts on their personal health, STEM interest, and environmental conscientiousness for years to come.
The meta-principle, “Help Students Learn from Each Other” (Linn & Hsi, 2000), allowed students to learn cooperatively and may prepare them for real world challenges. In most occupations where collaboration and critical thinking skills are necessary, employees work together to solve complicated problems.
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