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Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

Tag: Undergraduate Research

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

Agricultural education students awarded scholarships

By Deanna Reid, agricultural education and communication master’s student

K-State agricultural education students and faculty attended the annual Kansas Corn and the Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators symposiums in January.

The Kansas Corn Symposium celebrated the accomplishments of Kansas Corn and focused on topics including trade, ethanol, and research.

Katelyn Pinkston, Rachel Bellar, and Zachary Callaghan were awarded Kansas Corn Next Generation scholarships funded by the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Corn Commission to provide opportunities for college students of all majors to learn more about the corn industry, explore issues facing agriculture and embrace the ways they can influence the industry through career path choices. Students and faculty also participated in a poster session.

The symposium was on Jan. 23, 2019, at the K-State Alumni Center in Manhattan.

Agricultural education students also received scholarships at the Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators (KAAE) Symposium in Dodge City, Kansas, Jan. 24–26, 2019. In addition to new teacher and student intern meetings and tours of local agricultural businesses, Representative Roger Marshall spoke about the farm bill and status of agricultural trade. Seventeen K-State agricultural education students were awarded scholarships, as listed below.

Jim Patry Agricultural Education Scholarship

Katelyn Pinkston


Teach Ag

Zachary Callaghan

Trenton Smedley

 

Seitz Fundraising

Trent Johnson

Eric Koehlmoos

Matthew Schick

 

CHS FoundationThrough the Kansas FFA Foundation

Rachel Bellar

Nikole Cain

Hannah Fry

Christina Hoffman

Trent Johnson

Ashley Lauinger

 

Steven R. Harbstreit/Howard R. Bradley Teacher Education ScholarshipThrough the Kansas State University Foundation

Allyson Dorrell

 

Hofbaurer Scholarship

Eric Koehlmoos

 

Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators ScholarshipSponsored by KAAE

Sydney Cullison

Allison Dix

Tim Kennedy

Caitlyn Thompson
Mackenzie Tynon

 

KAAE, the Kansas FFA Foundation, the Kansas State University Foundation and Seitz Fruit sponsored scholarships for agricultural education students.

Graduate Students win in Birmingham

By Deanna Reid, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Kelsey Tully, Mariah Bausch, Dr. Lauri M. Baker, and Anissa Zagonel presented research at the 2019 NACS Conference.

 

Agricultural education and communication graduate students attended the 2019 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) in Birmingham, Alabama, February 3–4, 2019. Students Anissa Zagonel, Mariah Bausch, and Kelsey Tully along with faculty sponsor Lauri Baker presented papers and posters focused on current research and professional development. Bausch and Baker’s poster titled “Student perspectives of agricultural communications research” won second place in the poster competition. The paper by Rumble, Wu, Tully, Ruth, Ellis, and Lamm titled “A mixed-methods comparison of self-reported and conversational trust in science” placed second among academic paper presentations.

Papers presented included:

Beyond the post: Equine operators’ communication processes for conservation practices

Anissa Zagonel, Lauri Baker, Shelly Ingram, Jon Ulmer, and Joann Kouba, Kansas State University

Student perspectives of agricultural communications undergraduate research

Mariah Bausch and Lauri Baker, Kansas State University

A mixed-methods comparison of self-reported and conversational trust in science

Joy Rumble, Yu Lun Wu, The Ohio State University; Kelsey Tully, Kansas State University; Taylor Ruth, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jason Ellis, Kansas State University; and Alexa Lamm, University of Georgia

How consumers contrast and assimilate information about agricultural biotechnology

Taylor Ruth, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Joy Rumble, The Ohio State University; Alexa Lamm, University of Georgia; Jason Ellis, Kansas State University

Coauthor network analysis of Journal of Applied Communications articles from 2008 to 2017

Audrey King ’13, ’16 and Quisto Settle, Kansas State University

 

Professional Development Session presentations included:

What are reviewers looking for?

Quisto Settle, Oklahoma State University; Lauri Baker, Kansas State University

Posters presented included:

Scholarship in action: Student perspectives of undergraduate research in agricultural communications

Mariah Bausch and Lauri Baker, Kansas State University

Communicating through chaos: A quantitative content analysis investigating the prepared responses of articles about zoonotic disease on the CDC and USDA websites

Topanga McBride, Lauri Baker, and Mariah Bausch, Kansas State University; Angela Lindsey, University of Florida

Dr. Lauri M. Baker and Mariah Bausch with their winning research poster.

 

Agricultural Education students and faculty present at conferences, receive honors

By Linda Gilmore, editor, publishing unit

Undergraduate students and faculty in agricultural education were in Fargo, North Dakota, October 6–8 to participate in the North Central American Association for Agricultural Education conference.

Zachary Callaghan and Caitlin Dreher, both juniors in agricultural education, represented K-State extremely well at the conference. They competed against professors and graduate students in several areas. The two undergraduates received the following awards:

* First Runner-Up Research Presentation — Zachary Callaghan and Gaea Hock ’03, ’08, associate professor of agricultural education

* Outstanding Research Poster — Caitlin Dreher and Gaea Hock

* Outstanding Innovative Idea Poster — Zachary Callaghan, Gaea Hock and Brandie Disberger ’01,’03, agricultural education instructor.

 

Gaea Hock and Zachary Callaghan attended the International Conference on Educational Innovation in Agrarian Topics in Lima, Peru, Oct. 16–23. They presented the following posters:

  1. Meyers, C. Hock, G. & Redwine, T. Student perceptions of receiving video feedback on assignments.
  2. Hock, G., Disberger, B., & Ulmer, J. Lessons Learned from Corn-Focused High Impact Learning Opportunities (HILOs).
  3. Callaghan, Z. & Hock, G. (October 2018). Assessing a Water-Focused Youth Education Training Program.

 

Two undergraduates in the department were selected to the Quest Freshmen Honorary, a student organization that works to develop freshmen into leaders by exposing them to leaders, mentors, and opportunities across campus and the community.

  • Garrett Craig, agricultural education from Clay Center;
  • Noah Ochsner, agricultural communications and journalism from Tribune.

https://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/2018-10/quest10918.html

Lauri Baker presents at annual KSPA fall conference

By Allison Wakefield, agricultural communications and journalism junior

“Research isn’t just lab coats and chemicals,” said Lauri Baker, as she spoke at the annual Kansas Scholastic Press Association (KSPA) fall conference in the Kansas State University Student Union. 

Baker, associate professor of agricultural communications and journalism, explained to high school students the needs and benefits of conducting and distributing research. She introduced the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement (CREE) and its research mission to help people conduct their businesses, especially in rural areas. Baker is a co-founder of the center.

Students received data from two research projects CREE conducted with K-State undergraduate students. Baker detailed the step-by-step process to conduct a quantitative content analysis looking at e-commerce sales in the horticulture industry, which included reading literature about online sales in advertising and related to e-commerce and developing a codebook that was reliable to gather data.

Baker presented the research gathered from the quantitative analysis. The students were amazed at the horticulture websites’ lack of accessibility. Of 498 horticulture businesses, only 19.2 percent were selling online and half of those companies did not have fully functional shopping cart systems for customer purchases.

During her presentation, Baker asked the students what they would want from an online plant-buying experience and compared it to the data collected from the focus groups, known as qualitative research. The groups ask potential consumers what they want from an online plant-buying experience, such as 360-degree video imaging and the use of more pictures.

The students listened to the challenges these businesses were facing and the improvements they could make from the research conducted.

Baker discussed how the millennial generation – those born between 1981 and 1997 – did not love the ideas that were created. She described how their findings helped business owners understand that potential customers wanted many resources when looking to purchase and care for a plant. She also mentioned the pitfalls of not having an engaging, high-quality 360-degree video for the focus groups to view the plants.

Focus group research confirmed that millennials prefer going into a business to purchase plants instead of buying online. It helped researchers understand and communicate to the businesses that they needed more deal pricing to get customers in the door.

The presentation concluded with Baker reiterating the importance of research and how it can help companies boost revenue. Several students said they were inspired by her presentation and asked Baker how to conduct their own research.

Agricultural Education Faculty and Students Attend Conferences

By Linda Gilmore, Editor, Publishing Unit

Gaea Hock attended the Western Region American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE) Conference in Boise, Idaho, Sept. 17–19. She presented a poster “Show and Tell: Using Videos to Provide Assignment Feedback” with co-authors from Texas Tech and Texas A&M universities. It was voted “Most Innovative Poster.”

Gaea, along with Jon Ulmer, Brandie Disberger ’01, ’03, and students Caitlin Dreher and Zachary Callaghan (juniors in agricultural education) also attended the North Central Region AAAE Conference in Fargo, North Dakota, Oct. 4–6. Callaghan and Hock presented their paper: “Benefits, Barriers, and Impact of the Kansas FFA Affiliate Fee Program.

Faculty and students also presented five posters:

Hock, G. “Making the Most Out of a Study Abroad Pre-Departure Class.”

Disberger, B., Hock, G., Ulmer, J. “Enhancing the Pre-Service CASE Training Experience with Visiting Professionals.”

Callaghan, Z., Hock, G., & Disberger, B. “TASKed with Recruiting Agriculture Teachers.”

Dreher, C. & Hock, G. “The Awareness and Implementation of the SAE for All Framework in Kansas.”

Hock, G., Callaghan, Z., Bohnenblust, K. “Assessing the Longitudinal Impact of a Specialized Youth Training Program.”

Small town girl hits the big city

Story by McKayla Brubaker, senior (ACJ)

McKayla Brubaker
McKayla Brubaker, senior (ACJ), poses with the research poster she created and presented.

 

As a small-town girl, my trip to the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) Conference in Atlanta was quite an adventure. Despite my shy and nervous nature, seeing the city and learning about research conducted by graduate students and faculty across the region was a great experience. I shared a poster about my undergraduate research findings from my work with Dr. Baker.

Continue reading “Small town girl hits the big city”