Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The following is a list of major activities related to the research objectives achieved in year two by the multistate research committee; results to date, and key impacts and accomplishments (changes in knowledge, action, or condition). During this second year research has focused on the continued development of instrumentation, surveys of the target population, database development and research related to the validation of the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes. In addition four of the W2006 members collaborated to draft the American Association for Agricultural Education - National Research Agenda for 2016-2020, Priority 1 (Public and Policy Maker Understanding of Agriculture and Natural Resources) http://aaaeonline.org/National-Research-Agenda. This agenda focuses the research in the area of agricultural literacy for the next five year. Along with this publication, W2006 members also collaborated on additional research publishing five papers, posters, or theses.  These 2016 publications are noted in a separate section of this report but can also be found on this website http://agliteracy.wikispaces.com/Multistate+Research.

Spielmaker (UT) updated the Agricultural Literacy Database, https://www.zotero.org/groups/agricultural_literacy/items, and updated the agricultural literacy wiki http://agliteracy.wikispaces.com/ navigation to work with efforts of the National Center for Agricultural Literacy which Spielmaker also chairs, http://agliteracy.org. These publically available resources for agricultural literacy research provide researchers and other professionals with access evaluation tools and categorizes important and relevant research related to W2006 Objective 1, 2, and 3. It is hoped that by linking these website domains traffic will to the site and database will increase. As the analytics are new this year a comparison will be made next year.

Instrumentation was developed further this year with the analysis of the year 1 data. This foundational work will result in common student metrics and common measures for evaluating agricultural literacy programs in year three.

Martin and Enns (CSU) work primarily on Objective 2 (to): Assess attitudes and perceptions and motivations concerning agriculture of diverse segments of the population. a) How are perceptions, attitudes and motivations developed? b) What decisions are made based upon assessed attitudes, perceptions and motivations?

The CSU team used instrumentation developed in year one to research the motivation and acquisition models for agricultural literacy. This research addressed the multistate outcome for baseline data on the general public’s perceptions, attitudes, and motivations for learning more about agriculture. The research focused on: Measuring and Comparing Student's Knowledge on Genetically Modified Organisms (objective 1); the conflicts of agriculture: exploring the agriculture values of university agricultural education students (objective 2); a survey on the Public Attitudes about Colorado Agriculture Survey (objective 2); and, an evaluation of starting school gardens in the Denver metro area (objective 3). Cory Forbs (the University of Nebraska-Lincoln) completed a research project exploring elementary students’ agricultural and scientific knowledge using evidence centered design.

During 2016 the W2006 met once in Tucson, Arizona, September 19, 2016. At this time the committee reviewed the accomplishments during the past year and discussed future research. In late 2015 the committee had submitted a proposal to develop a National research agenda prioritizing agricultural literacy research.  The proposal was submitted and accepted in January of 2016 as The American Association for Agricultural Education - National Research Agenda for 2016-2020. This Priority elevated the importance of agricultural literacy research related to public and policymaker understandings of agriculture and natural resources. This document is an influential publication as it adds significance to agricultural literacy research.

A new website, agliteracy.org, was developed to increase the reach or the National Center for Agricultural Literacy coordinated by Debra Spielmaker at Utah State University. This site was connected with the W2006 database/wiki and the National Agriculture in the Classroom website for further distribution of resources and to provide agricultural literacy researchers with a vetted porthole of agricultural literacy resources. The site had 243 hits in 2016 and it was suggested that more be done in 2017 to promote the site to agricultural teacher educators and researchers. The page with the largest number of hits (147) was the “Evaluation Tools” page that includes instrumentation for assessing agricultural literacy. W2006 members (Enns & Martin, CSU) contributed by adding questionnaire items on the subjects on agricultural values, animal care in agriculture, genetically modified organisms, and organic foods. The CSU team used instrumentation developed in year one to research the motivation and acquisition models for agricultural literacy. This research addressed the multistate outcome for baseline data on the general public’s perceptions, attitudes, and motivations for learning more about agriculture. The research focused on: Measuring and Comparing Student's Knowledge on Genetically Modified Organisms (objective 1); the conflicts of agriculture: exploring the agriculture values of university agricultural education students (objective 2); a survey on the Public Attitudes about Colorado Agriculture Survey (objective 2); and, an evaluation of starting school gardens in the Denver metro area (objective 3).

Spielmaker added questionnaire items for elementary and secondary preservice teacher training workshops. These questions were correlated with the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (2014) and shared with the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization in the fall of 2016 and will be part of their professional development program in 2017. In addition, data was collected by Spielmaker and Stewardson in 2016 using these instruments. The results will be submitted as a research poster in 2017. Cory Forbs (the University of Nebraska-Lincoln) completed a research project exploring elementary students’ agricultural and scientific knowledge using evidence centered design and the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs, 2014). A webinar for using this instrument was broadcast to five sites and recorded. The webinar can be viewed by others who will be developing research with the NALOs (two such projects are underway for 2017).

The Zotero database, part of the agricultural literacy wiki initiated in year 1, was updated with 20 new citations in five categories. This resource is publicly accessible, https://www.zotero.org/groups/agricultural_literacy/items.  In addition, W2006 members worked together to produces several publication in 2016. The following is a summary of the accomplishments and impacts by research objective (these can all be viewed online at http://agliteracy.wikispaces.com/Multistate+Research).

Publications related to Research Objective 1

Brandt, M. R. (2016). Exploring elementary students’ agricultural and scientific knowledge using evidence centered design (Master’s thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natresdiss/131/. (Major Professor, Cory Forbs, W2006)

Edwards, E. B. (2016). Dig into learning: A program evaluation of an agricultural literacy innovation (Doctoral dissertation, GARDNER-WEBB UNIVERSITY). Retrieved from http://gradworks.umi.com/10/11/10118994.html. (Committee Member, Debra Spielmaker, W2006)

Enns, K., Martin, M., & Spielmaker, D. M. (2016). Research Priority 1: Public and Policy Maker Understanding of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Roberts, T. G., Harder, A., & Brashears, M. T. (Eds). American Association for Agricultural Education national research agenda: 2016-2020. Gainesville, FL: Department of Agricultural Education and Communication. Retrieved from http://aaaeonline.org/National-Research-Agenda

Keeton, E., Hock, G., Enns, Martin, M., Spielmaker, D. M., & Stewardson, D. M. (2016, September). Simplifying the process: Agricultural literacy publications search framework. Poster session presented at the Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Tucson, AZ. Retrieved from http://aaaeonline.org/resources/Documents/Western%20Region/2016%20WRAAE%20CONFERENCE%20PROCEEDINGS.pdf

Spielmaker, D. M. (2016, September). Developing agricultural literacy outcomes: A synthesis of research-based expectations. Poster presented at the Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Tucson, AZ. Retrieved from http://aaaeonline.org/resources/Documents/Western%20Region/2016%20WRAAE%20CONFERENCE%20PROCEEDINGS.pdf

Publications related to Research Objective 2

Chriestenson, C., Martin M. J., Thilmany, D., Sullins, M., & Jablonksi, B. (2017). Public attitudes about agriculture in Colorado. A study by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/2016%20Public%20Attitudes%20Report%20Final.pdf

Martin, M. J. (2016). The polarization of agriculture: The evolving context of Extension work. Journal of Extension, 54(2). Retrieved from http://www.joe.org/joe/2016april/comm1.php

Martin, M. J., & Enns, K. J. (2017). The conflicts of agriculture: Exploring the agriculture values of university agricultural education students. Journal of Agricultural Education, 58(1), 210-255. Retrieved from https://doi:10.5032/jae.2017.01210

Martin, M. J., & Wight, R. A. (2016). The need for a critical pedagogy of agriculture. NACTA Journal, 60(4), 448.

Stofer, K. A., & Newberry, III, M. G. (2017). When defining agriculture and science, explicit is not a bad word. Journal of Agricultural Education, 58(1), 131-150. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2017.01131

Publications related to Research Objective 3

Martin, M. J., Hill, R. L., van Sandt, A., & Thilmany, D. D. (2016). Colorado residents trusted Sources of agricultural, biotechnology and food information. AgBioForum, 19(1), 1-10. Retrieved from http://agbioforum.org/v19n1/v19n1a04-martin.htm

Other Products

Databases - The Zotero database initiated in year 1 was updated with 20 new citations in five categories. This resource is public is publicly accessible, https://www.zotero.org/groups/agricultural_literacy/items. This database was also linked to a new website for the National Center for Agricultural Literacy, agliteracy.org.

Evaluation Instruments - The evaluation tool developed in year 1 was finalized and shared with two state Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) programs for out-of-state pilot testing (the initial pilot was conducted with Utah teachers. The Utah results are being analyzed, and will become part of a one-year follow-up study. This tool will also become part of a national AITC Common Measure Toolbox. State Agriculture in the Classroom leaders will receive inservice on the new tool in 2017.

Other - A new website, agliteracy.org, was developed to increase the reach or the National Center for Agricultural Literacy coordinated by Debra Spielmaker at Utah State University. This site now links with the W2006 database/wiki and the National Agriculture in the Classroom website for further distribution of resources.