Emerging Themes in Integrating Mathematics into Agricultural Education: A Qualitative Study of Star Teachers in Virginia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze outstanding agricultural education teachers' attitudes towards mathematics integration. An investigation into the collaboration efforts being made between the agricultural education and mathematics departments was also included. The objective of this study was to identify the primary themes to integration of mathematics that emerged through interviews with the five agricultural education instructors who were identified as having high self-reported levels of mathematics integration in their courses. This study used qualitative methods were used to collect, interpret and analyze the data. Interviews were used by the researcher to collect in-depth information regarding mathematics integration into the agricultural education curriculum. Based on the interviews of the five outstanding agricultural education teachers, four major themes emerged from each of the interviews. Those themes include mathematics as a component of agricultural education, teacher collaboration, role of STATE Standards of Learning, and perceived needs of the teachers.

Conceptualizing Integrative Agricultural Education: Introductory Framework for Integrating Mathematics in Agricultural Curriculum

“…For nearly two decades, researchers have investigated the effectiveness of academic integration in CTE and agricultural education (Shinn et al, 2003;Stone et al, 2008;Young et al, 2008;Parr, Edwards & Leising, 2009;Anderson & Anderson, 2012;Stubbs & Myers, 2015). Curriculums have been developed to integrate math, science, and STEM area content with the intention of infusing agriculture curriculum with only the academic content that is naturally occurring.…”

“…Student Centered Learning in Agricultural Education. Anderson and Anderson (2012) suggest nearly every high school student enrolls in at least one CTE course during their high school career. That brings a wide variety of students, experiences, and ability levels to CTE and agriculture courses in particular.…”

Inget klöver utan matematik : En studie av matematik i yrkesutbildning och yrkesliv

“…Haynes & Stripling, 2014), och vidare till hur elevers matematikinlärning påverkas av att arbeta med realistiska problem i lantbrukskontextualiserade lärmiljöer (t.ex. Anderson & Anderson, 2012;Young, Edwards & Laising, 2008). Resultaten från flera av de studier som har gjorts tyder på att olika former av integrering mellan matematik och lantbruksyrket kan förbättra elevers prestationer inom matematik.…”

Biology in the Agriculture Classroom: A Descriptive Comparative Study

“…As the agriculture industry becomes more diverse, the industry requires a broader education than does any other vocation or profession (Maguire, Starobin, Laanan, & Friedel, 2012;Warnick & Straquadine, 2005). Nolan (as cited in Warnick, 1998) claimed that the merging of agriculture and science in secondary education has been a topic that has been discussed and debated prior to the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 (Anderson & Anderson, 2012), hence the 1996 decision (Utah State Office of Education, 2012; Warnick, 1998;) was perhaps overdue.…”