Kansas State University

search

Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

Tag: Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

Agricultural Education video wins contest

by Linda Gilmore

K-State agricultural education students won the Collegiate Commercial Contest, sponsored by the National Association of Agricultural Educators. Zachary Callaghan, student in agricultural education, designed the video featuring many K-State Ag Ed students. The video competed against nine other university submissions and the winner was based on number of views. The K-State entry received more than 2,500 views. The video Zachary and other ag ed students created to highlight the program is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ9u4XWw7BQ

K-State Ag Ed attends AAAE Conference

by Brandie Disberger, agricultural education instructor

Faculty members Gaea Hock, Jon Ulmer and Brandie Disberger, along with Jason Hughes, graduate student, and undergraduate students Trenton Smedley and Zachary Callaghan attended the National Learner Centered Teaching and the North Central Region of the American Association for Agricultural Education joint conferences hosted October 10-12 in East Lansing, Michigan.

Hock managed the social media during the conference for the American Association for Agricultural Educators and for K-State Agricultural Education. The research portion of the conference was coordinated by Kansas State University, led by Ulmer. Hock served as chair of the Program Improvement Committee; Ulmer and Disberger served on the Member Services Committee. Smedley and Callaghan presented research and participated in the student experience portion of the conference, which included a tour of the Michigan State campus and research farms.

Attendees from Kansas State University presented the following research during the conference:

Paper Presentations:

Prescribed pedagogical outcomes versus real-world challenges: A content analysis of Kansas AFNR course competency profiles

Zachary Callaghan & Gaea Hock, recognized as distinguished abstract

 

Agricultural education teachers knowledge and perceptions of service-learning

Trenton Smedley & Jon Ulmer

 

Kansas ag teachers’ perceptions of diversity & inclusion in agricultural education

Laura E. Miller, Gaea Hock, Jon Ulmer & Jason Ellis

 

The contributions of George Washington Owens to the development of agricultural education opportunities for African Americans

Zachary Callaghan & Gaea Hock

 

Teacher perceptions of the impact and challenges of middle school agricultural education experiences in Kansas

Anna Williamson, Gaea Hock, Jon Ulmer & Lori Goodson

 

Poster Presentations:

Showcasing agricultural education programs with Book Creator.

Gaea Hock & Zachary Callaghan, recognized as distinguished innovative idea poster

 

Examining secondary talented and gifted and agricultural education experiences relative to college major and career choice.

Darcie Gallagher, Jonathan Ulmer, Gaea Hock & Jason Ellis, recognized as distinguished research poster

 

A districtwide look at agricultural educators perceptions of standards based grading.

Lauren Worley, Jonathan Ulmer, Katie Burke & Gaea Hock

l to r: back – Jason Hughes, Jon Ulmer, Trenton Smedley; front – Zachary Callaghan, Gaea Hock, Brandie Disberger
Jon Ulmer
Zachary Callaghan and Gaea Hock
Zachary Callaghan

ACT photo contest

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

 

K-State’s Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow chapter hosted a photo contest for students, faculty, staff and friends of the program to select the cover photo for the 2020 ACT calendar. The calendar serves as a fundraising opportunity for the ACT chapter. Wyatt Minihan, ACJ senior, had the winning photo, pictured below. Follow K-State ACT on Facebook (@kstate.act) to learn more about ordering a 2020 calendar to support K-State ACT.

Ulmer travels to Ethiopia

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Agricultural education professor Jon Ulmer traveled to Ethiopia to attend the All African Post Harvest Loss Congress and Expo in Addis Ababa. While in Ethiopia, Ulmer visited different regions and interviewed farmers for a grant project with USAID. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-harvest Loss is a strategic, applied, research and education program aimed at improving global food security by reducing post-harvest losses in stored product crops, such as grains, oilseeds, legumes, root crops and seeds.

Hock presents in Alaska

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Agricultural education professor Gaea Hock attended the 2019 American Association for Agricultural Education Western Region Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, September 17-19.  While in Anchorage, Hock took part in the Ag Literacy Multi-State meeting, a group of professors from across the nation working to research variables related to agricultural literacy.

Hock also presented an innovative poster titled: Connecting Research Stations to Area Agricultural Education Programs, co-authored by Dr. Jeremy Falk, University of Idaho & Dr. Marshall Baker, North Carolina State University.

2019 National Teach Ag Day

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Join us in celebrating the 2019 National Teach Ag Day Thursday, September 19. National Teach Ag Day is designed to encourage others to teach school-based agriculture and recognize the important role that agriculture teachers play in our schools and communities. To celebrate, some of K-State’s agricultural education students will be going “live” on Facebook from local schools on Thursday. Make sure to tune in by visiting and “liking” K-State Agricultural Education on Facebook.

Internship highlight – Zach Callaghan

by Zach Callaghan, agricultural education student

This summer, I worked as an Educational Program Assistant at the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan. In this role, I primarily spent my time teaching elementary and middle school students during weekly summer camps. Each week was centered around a different theme and focused on teaching the science of animals, nature, and environmental conservation. As a future high school agriculture teacher, this experience helped to build and improve my pedagogical skills by providing opportunities to write curriculum and manage my own classroom. I would definitely recommend this experienceto other Agricultural Education students as it is a great outlet to practice teaching and the curriculum can easily relate to agriculture. With only one semester left until I begin my student teaching experience, I am grateful to have had this opportunity to work with students and teach them a little bit about agriculture along the way!

 

Many wins for students at Ag Media Summit

by Katie Burke, assistant professor in agricultural communications and journalism

Eight students from the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) Kansas State chapter attended the Ag Media Summit in Minneapolis this July. In addition to gaining knowledge from conference sessions, students received numerous awards and recognitions from National ACT. The club won Chapter of the Year for the third year in a row, Janae McKinney (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) was one of the AAEA scholarship winners, and Katherine Wist (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) was elected to the National ACT Officer Team. The K-State club also came back with several Critique and Contest awards: the Kansas State Agriculturist magazine (Fall 2018 issue) won first place in the Publication Division; Katherine Wist won first place in the Infographic Division and placed in three additional divisions; and Mary Marsh (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) won first place in the Short Feature Writing Division. “Kansas State ACT was awarded NACT Chapter of the Year … for their excellence in leadership, education, community service, social activities, and fundraising,” says the NACT Facebook page.

K-State agricultural education earns national recognition

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

The National Association of Agricultural Educators recently recognized K-State’s agricultural education program as Region II’s Outstanding Post Secondary Agricultural Program. The agricultural education faculty includes Brandie Disberger, Gaea Hock and Jon Ulmer. Congratulations on this well-deserved award.

Internship highlight: Mary Marsh

by Mary Marsh, agricultural communication and journalism student

 

For my final summer of college, I decided to go home to California and get a job close to home. This summer, I am working as a field inspector for the California Crop Improvement Association. I am checking sunflower fields in my home county of Colusa. My role is to go to the sunflower fields around the county and make reports about what I see to make sure the crop is high quality, since these flowers are going to be harvested for seed.

I do three inspections throughout the growing season. My initial check is pre-bloom when the buds are just beginning to form. I look for different weeds in the field and for different varieties of sunflowers that may have grown in the field or within a mile to two-mile radius. Although it is not in the job description, I also keep an eye out for different pests causing problems in the sunflowers. During the two bloom checks, I walk out into the field and make sure there are no off-varieties that might affect the quality of seed. Being in the field is important to me, this job is all about getting in the thick of the sunflower action. I have about 90 fields to check around my county. Needless to say, I have been busy and have learned quite a bit about sunflower production!

Although my job is heavily focused on agronomy, I have found ways to keep my communication skills polished. I have brought my camera along with me and have made it my goal to document the various maturity stages in my fields. I also get to interact with agronomists and growers occasionally. So far, I have noticed a growing confidence in talking about field crops since taking this internship.

This job has allowed me to see more of my county and learn a whole new commodity. I will be a stronger communicator because of this hands-on experience in production agriculture.