Science Credit for Agriculture: Perceived Support, Preferred Implementation Methods and Teacher Science Course Work

Abstract

Arkansas agriculture teachers (N=259) were surveyed to obtain information needed by a planning committee studying the issue of science credit for agriculture. Objectives were to determine: (a) the level of support for granting science credit for agriculture; (b) teachers' support for methods of granting science credit for agriculture for agriculture; (c) teachers' support for methods of certifying teachers to offer science credit; (d) the extent to which science objectives were being taught in agriculture; and, (e) teachers' undergraduate preparation in science. A majority (88.8%) of respondents supported granting science credit for agriculture. The respondents also perceived that parents (87.4%), administrators (76%), guidance counselors (75%) and science teachers (64.5%) in their school districts would support granting science credit for agriculture. The largest percentage of teachers (65.6%) supported granting science credit for a limited number of existing agriculture courses, with changes made to enhance the science content of the courses. The two methods of certifying teachers to teach agriculture for science credit receiving the most support were: (a) granting a blanket endorsement to all certified agriculture teachers (71.5%) and (b) granting an endorsement to only certified agriculture teachers completing an in-service workshop (56.6%). The respondents reported teaching a majority (55.1%) of the state science objectives studied. As a group, the respondents reported earning the undergraduate credits and grades required for science certification.

Integrating Science in the Agriculture Curriculum: Agriculture Teacher Perceptions of the Opportunities, Barriers, and Impact on Student Enrollment

“…Teacher perceptions of the impact of integration on support from science teachers, school administrators, guidance counselors, parents and other teachers was also positive and consistent with previous findings (Johnson, 1996;Johnson & Newman, 1993). This suggests a school climate that increasingly sees the importance of standardized student assessment.…”

“…The A Nation at Risk report of 1983 (National Commission on Excellence in Education), the 1990 Amendments to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act, and the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act (Phipps, Osborne, Dyer, & Ball, 2008) all called for the curricular integration of academic and career and technical education. In fact, since the early 1990's, a plethora of research (Balschweid, 2002;Balschweid & Thompson, 2002;Edwards, Leising, & Parr, 2002;Johnson, 1996;Johnson & Newman, 1993;Osborne & Dyer, 1998;Thompson, 1998) has examined the potential for such integration specifically in agricultural education.…”

“…However, several statespecific studies have examined various stakeholder perceptions related to the concept of integrating science in the agriculture curriculum. These studies have suggested in their respective states that: teachers felt prepared to teach an integrated curriculum (Johnson, 1996;Thompson & Balschweid, 1999), teachers believed integrating science into the agriculture curriculum benefits students (Enderlin & Osborne, 1992, Newman & Johnson, 1993Thompson, 1998), agriculture teachers believe students should earn science credit for agriculture courses (Johnson, 1996), science teachers and administrators believe agriculture teachers are qualified to teach science (Johnson & Newman, 1993), and science teachers are uncertain about agriculture teacher qualifications to teach science (Osborne & Dyer, 1998).…”

A Cross-Case Comparison of the Academic Integration Human Capital Pre-service Agricultural Educators Retain Prior to Their Teaching Internship

“…The study results imply it is important to have support from administrators, core academic teachers, parents, and community stakeholders. Similar to findings by Johnson (1996), barriers to content integration were time, resources, and a lack of administrative support.…”

The Influence Of Enrollment In Agriscience Courses On The Science Achievement Of High School Students

“…Johnson (1996b) reports that Arkansas agriculture teachers are very much in favor of granting science credit for agriculture courses. In a separate study Johnson (1996a) also identified that the parents of students support granting science credit for agriculture courses.…”