Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL)

 By Dr. Ben Casteel --  “Do It Well.  Make It Fun.” were the words etched into our January in-service schedule at Virginia Highlands Community College where I teach Horticulture & Agriculture courses.  Local author Ron Culberson was sharing his philosophy (and book title) on how to achieve excellence in the workplace through entertaining motivational mechanisms.  I couldn’t help but to ponder how I might make some of the more banal moments in my classroom more enjoyable for students.  Later that evening, while having a throwback family dinner in front of the television set, the epiphany occurred.  We would often play along with Jeopardy over dinner—and in that very moment—I realized this could be a way I could make exam review time more fun and engaging for my students. That Spring, I trialed using a Powerpoint template of the Jeopardy game show as our midterm and final exam review.  It was a smashing success for the outgoing extroverted students—and they were the clear winners

By Dr. Heather Lindberg --  Internships are a great opportunity for students to bridge the gap between classrooms—which emphasize theory with minimal practice and application—and industry, which focuses on applying theory and solving problems in real time with real consequences. Internships can help to address this gap. Research indicates that internships can help to ease this transition for students—from the classroom to the workforce—by providing dedicated mentorship, training, and experience within the industry setting (Veenstra, 2014) . Roanoke Valley, VA and surrounding areas are encouraging innovation related to agriculture, life sciences, and the biotechnology industry. Programs, such as Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program (RAMP) , a regional business accelerator, help to support STEM-related startup companies.  Some of these startups will turn into companies, increasing employment opportunities in the region.  With these developments, there will be more opportunities t

by Adam O'Neal, MBA --  Durable skills are in high demand by employers, but teaching these skills to students in an academic environment can prove challenging. Teaching classes focused primarily on durable skills can lead to students compartmentalizing the content into the context of a leadership class, for example, and failing to transfer the skills to practical applications in their field. In classes focused on content, group projects present opportunities to teach skills like teamwork, leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving. Executing this effectively in a way that explicitly conveys the skills being learned—without distracting from the content—can be difficult. I discussed concepts of durable skills—teamwork, communication, leadership, problem-solving and critical thinking—but I had no effective way to assess the process of executing the project. One possible solution is to create a structured instrument that addresses the durable skills being featured. Students

by Jama S. Coartney and Eric K. Kaufman --  The Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Model for Continuous Improvement  has been around in one form or another since the 1930s. In the early days, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an educator and engineer, called it either the  Shewhart's cycle or a cycle for learning and improvement . Have you ever heard of PDCA or Plan Do Check Act? In the 1950s, the business world derived PDCA from Deming's lectures and work. In fact, Moen and Norman (2009) note that PDSA was the basis for the Total Quality Management (TQM) framework, still used in business today. Deming, however, preferred that it be called the PDSA Model for Improvement; and so, people in the know tend to use the term PDSA.   Why use a PDSA approach in education? Today’s culture calls for data-driven disciplined inquiry; we see examples of this through the introduction of new terms, such as data analytics. As noted by the Deming institute, PDSA can provide a useful tool in the education proces

  By Jama S. Coartney and Eric K. Kaufman --  Many have identified the need for more durable skills as students transition from school to the workforce. But, what exactly are durable skills? And why are they so important? Durable, employability, and soft skills have pretty much the same meaning. For example, the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities defines employability skills as the “nontechnical skills used every day in the workforce to ensure the smooth operation of projects and offices.” America Succeeds and Training Industry also provide lists of competencies related to durable, employability, and soft skills. Examples of these types of skills can range from empathy to decision-making to adaptability. While these studies highlight the importance of—and need for—teaching these skills to current and future generations of workers, they do not provide much clarity on how to go about doing so. Luckily, Dr. Theo Dawson and team have developed teaching and learning app

 by Megan Seibel & Curt Friedel --  As educators, it is thrilling to witness a student’s AHA! , the proverbial “light bulb” moment. We see it when ideas are generated, connected, developed, executed, and shared. Some are on point, some seem tangential, but all are valuable.   The way in which our course content is designed and delivered has a direct impact on our students’ engagement and learning.   In developing assignments, establishing expectations for success in those assignments, and creating opportunities for input, feedback and growth, it is important to consider how we engage in these activities. Many of us may not stop to think about our own preferences in how these are structured when we develop them, and whether or not that is in alignment with our students’ needs and preferences.   Adaption-Innovation Continuum of Creative Style  As human beings, we are each hardwired in the WAY in which we prefer to generate ideas, utilize structure to implement those ideas, and respo

  By Donna Westfall-Rudd and Jama S. Coartney --    One option might be to take a more student-centered learning approach to your online courses. While teaching in-person has advantages when it comes to making connections, you can still create a classroom atmosphere with engagement and interaction, by focusing on the needs, interests, and inquiries of your students. In a recent publication, Teaching in the University , Rachel Mack offers guidance on exactly how to go about making these additions to the curriculum in the chapter entitled, “4. Teaching Practices for Student-Centered Learning Online.”  Recently published as an open textbook, this resource offers suggestions on how to engage students in an online environment.  It also offers tips and things to consider when working with students to increase the opportunity for them to build relationships with others in the course and feel engaged with the course content. For example, one action you can take is to tell students at the begi

By Megan Seibel  --  Did you know that the full proverb is actually " Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back? "  I didn't.  Of course, I had heard and been told the front portion many a time over my decades of life. To say I am a "curious" person is an understatement. Learner and Input are part of my  Clifton StrengthsFinder  profile. My college roommate and I decided that by the time we were parents our goal was to know at least a little bit about everything (yes, we thought that was normal as 19 year-olds)! As I became an adult, however, I remember others aligning negative connotations to this old proverb. As far as I was concerned, it didn't matter to me if curiosity killed the cat; cats have nine lives, after all.  It is my nature to ask questions. Lots of questions . And I did. In certain settings, though, I started to notice that the practice of asking questions didn't always seem the "popular" thing to

By  Celeste Carmichael --  What is the equation of experiences that helps us to identify as learners, leaders, and enthusiasts?  For most that equation goes beyond the classroom and into out of school time activities, recreation, jobs, and relationships.  What if we, as formal educators, intentionally recognize the value of those experiences and point to similar opportunities for enrichment?  The Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington and the LIFE Center— a research collaboration between the University of Washington, Stanford University, and SRI International, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)—established a panel to study this question and develop a set of principles that could help us to weave together learning across contexts and help students succeed. The panel poses that if educators make use of the informal learning that occurs in the homes, communities, and co-curricular activities of students, the achievement gap can be reduced. Whil