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My appreciation goes out to the following individuals who willingly gave their expertise and time to make this dissertation a success. Special thanks goes to my academic advisor and friend, Dr. Janet L. Henderson. She has generously given her support and advice. Thanks also goes to my committee members, Dr. Jo Jones and Dr. Nikki Conklin, for their assistance in making this study possible. The funding of this dissertation was made possible through the OSU Extension Department under their recommendations. Thanks also goes to Julie A. Miller for her support and editorial help in all stages of this dissertation. Finally, thanks goes to The Jordan University of Science and Technology for sponsoring me in the pursuit of my doctorate degree at OSU.

Consideration of herd characteristics and implementation of management practices associated with BTSCC could result in increased milk yield and production of milk with lower BTSCC.

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Science has always been a basic tenet of agricultural instruction in the United States (True, 1929). Agriculture by definition is an applied science that combines principles of the physical, chemical, and biological sciences in the process and production of food and fiber. As the curriculum of secondary agricultural education developed over the years, the content of the instruction emphasized more on the "how" of agricultural production practices, rather than the "why" (Williams, 1990). Changes in the content reflected changes in the technology of production agriculture, e.g., new, and more efficient ways of showing "how." The nature of the population involved directly in production agriculture in the United States changed drastically during the 20th century. By the mid-1980s, the percentage of the United States population who lived on farms was 2.2% (National Research Council, 1988). Enrollment in agricultural education in the United States has dropped steadily over the past 10 years, at a rate of 1% to 3% annually (National Research Council, 1988). In addition, the number of students from traditional farm backgrounds as a percentage of total agricultural education enrollment has dropped. Consequently, the need for the traditional production agriculture curriculum in agricultural education programs has been questioned recently. Advances in the field of biotechnology in agriculture, as well as the increasingly technical nature of agricultural careers have led many leaders in agricultural education to propose an emphasis on agriscience in high school agriculture programs.