This study was conducted to understand how students’ cultural awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, and communication abilities combine to influence their development of cultural competence. Q methodology (Q) was used to capture the subjectivity and lived experiences of participants of an international experience (IE) and assess the impact of the program on their cultural competence development. When viewed through the lens of the Personal Cultural Competence Enhancement Framework (PCCEF), findings suggested students’ cultural competence development could be interpreted through three typologies: (a) Cultural Learners, (b) Cultural Engagers, and (c) Cultural Samplers. Cultural Leaner students demonstrated new awareness of their limited amounts of cultural knowledge and desired to learn more about other cultures through future travel, but were still apprehensive about engaging and communicating with people from other cultures. Cultural Engagers, on the other hand, expressed greater confidence in stepping out of their comfort zones and communicating in a different language. Lastly, Cultural Samplers demonstrated increased awareness of the benefits of experiencing other cultures and they comforts they have back home, and they expressed a desire to continue traveling abroad in the future. These findings support the use of short-term IE programs as supplemental activities to foster agricultural students’ progression toward cultural competence.
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to address how preservice teachers’ preferred learning style influences their philosophy of teaching agricultural education. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously, analyzed separately, and then merged for combined analysis. In this study, we identified 17 preservice teachers’ learning style and then assessed how their learning style influenced their philosophy statement. We found 59% of the teaching philosophy statements were similar to the preservice teachers’ learning style, 18% were different, and 23% were deemed inconclusive. It appears the preferred learning style of preservice teachers does carry through into their teaching philosophy. The percentage of inconclusive statements show that teachers will incorporate multiple learning styles to meet the diverse learning needs of their students. When the various learning styles of a class are met, it is suggested that the learning experience will be more effective and beneficial for the learners. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend implementing professional development sessions to help teachers blend their preferred learning style with the needs of their learners. Additionally, further research is needed to compare teachers’ actual practice with their teaching philosophies.
This study explores how different team configurations based on members’ experiential learning styles impacted group level variables including team learning behavior, stages of team development, potency, psychological safety, and satisfaction in an undergraduate class. Groups with homogeneous learning styles experienced higher levels of friendship and lower levels of conflict, which were associated with greater satisfaction and more rapid progress through the stages of group development. Most significantly, satisfaction was more strongly correlated to team learning behavior than psychological safety, suggesting that student groups in higher education settings may rely on other factors to progress through the stages of group development.
Background: Experiential learning is commonly used in postsecondary settings, especially in undergraduate, agricultural, and laboratory courses. However, a lack of attention has been paid by educators to critical components of experiential learning. Purpose: The effects of reflection mode (peer-verbal or written journal reflection) and transfer level (same, near, or far transfer) on students’ content knowledge were examined in a postsecondary, animal science, laboratory course. Methodology/Approach: A quasi-experimental, two-way, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was utilized. This 2 × 3 factorial design was utilized to test the main and interaction effects of two independent variables (reflection mode and transfer level) on one dependent variable (content knowledge). A pretest score was included as a covariate to control for students’ prior knowledge. Findings/Conclusions: There was a significant interaction effect between the independent variables of reflection mode and transfer level on the dependent variable of content knowledge. Written reflection (when coupled with near transfer), and same transfer (when coupled with peer-verbal reflection), were statistically significant. Implication: Multiple modes of reflection and application can be used during experiential learning in order to achieve effective content knowledge gains. When experiential learning is planned and developed with intentionality, learners receive a valuable, educative experience.
The student teaching experience is one of the most impactful capstone experiences for the preparation of preservice teachers. The supervisor, either a cooperating teacher or university supervisor, plays a critically important role in the student teaching experience. The purpose of this study was to explore preservice teachers' perceived motivation and independence throughout their student teaching experience. It is recommended that early in the student teaching experience, a directive supervision style should be utilized. Then, as motivation starts to decline in the middle of the student teaching experience, the focus of supervision should shift to providing moral support and encouraging commitment to the profession of teaching. Recommendations for future research include replication of this study with future cohorts of student teachers across multiple institutions so data trends can be analyzed longitudinally. Additionally, it is recommended that future iterations of this study should administer a post-then version of the quantitative plotting instrument to control response shift bias.
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