Source: Eastern New Mexico University submitted to
INCREASING COLLEGE ACCESS TO UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS THROUGH DUAL ENROLLMENT
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1004221
Grant No.
2014-70003-22367
Project No.
NM.W-2014-04542
Proposal No.
2014-04542
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
ER
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2014
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2018
Grant Year
2014
Project Director
Swafford, M.
Recipient Organization
Eastern New Mexico University
1500 S Ave K
Portales,NM 88130
Performing Department
Education and Technology
Non Technical Summary
The goal of this project is to increase the quality and number of qualified students who enter and graduate with degrees in agriculture. To accomplish this goal, this project seeks to improve the existing agriculture dual enrollment program by adding courses and refining the existing courses using a hybrid online/face to face delivery model. All courses will be evaluated using the Quality Matters program model by a team of qualified course reviewers. Courses will be reviewed and modified biannually to increase quality of course offerings. Teacher training workshops will be held duringschool visits and annual teacher meetings to facilitate positive interactions among state education agencies, leading to training of over 40 teachers across the state. This will increase the quality of dual enrollment course offerings in agriculture across the state of New Mexico. These trainings will also focus on integrating and teaching of STEM concepts within the dual agriculture courses and the increase in student diversity.Undergraduate students will be hired to facilitate program recruitment and retention of primarily minority students who take dual enrollment courses and ultimately enter college towards a degree in agriculture. This will help to ensure a seamless transition from high school to college for these underrepresented students. The students hired under this project will be better prepared for career success by having taken part as "career community" leaders. The project will be evaluated by an external evaluator and advised by an educational advisory committee made up of state agriculture education leaders and university faculty. The undergraduate leaders will assist in data collection and dissemination of results at the university undergraduate research conference and through presentation of publications at regional or national research conferences.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360993020100%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
Objectives:1. Develop new online dual enrollment course offerings (two new courses) and refine the current course offerings (three courses)to increase quality of agriculture dual enrollment courses.2. Effectively prepare secondary teachers to successfully deliver dual enrollment agriculture courses through the hybrid course model.3. Increase overall enrollment in the ENMU agriculture dual enrollment program, specifically for underrepresented students.The goal of this project is to increase the quality and number of qualified students who enter and graduate with degrees in agriculture. To accomplish this goal, this project seeks to improve the existing agriculture dual enrollment program by adding courses and refining the existing courses using a hybrid online/face to face delivery model. All courses will be evaluated using the Quality Matters program model by a team of qualified course reviewers. Courses will be reviewed and modified biannually to increase quality of course offerings. Teacher training workshops will be given at school visits and annual teacher meetings to facilitate positive interactions among state education agencies, leading to training of over 50 teachers across the state. This will increase the quality of dual enrollment course offerings in agriculture across the state of New Mexico. These trainings will also focus on integration and teaching of STEM concepts within the dual agriculture courses.Threeundergraduate students will be hired to facilitate program recruitment and retention of primarily minority students who take dual enrollment courses and ultimately enter college towards a degree in agriculture. This will helpensure a seamless transition from high school to college for these underrepresented students. The students hired under this project will be better prepared for career success by having taken part as "career community" leaders. The project will be evaluated by an external evaluator and advised by an educational advisory committee made up of state agriculture education leaders and university faculty.
Project Methods
Course reviewers will be solicited from university faculty from a variety of specialties. These faculty members will be trained in the Quality Matterscourse evaluation system. Six to nine faculty will be involved in evaluating the existing and newly developed agriculture dual enrollment courses. To assist project leaders in meeting their goals and ensuring sustainability, an educational advisory board will be established. This board will consist of the university provost, state agriculture education leaders and higher education experts in distance education. This board would be tasked with ensuring the project is effectively accomplishing it's goals, addressing the diverse needs of stakeholders and provide advice as the project continues as well as developing plans for beyond project funding.Agriculture faculty and university administration will meet during the first year and determine the most appropriate two courses to add to the dual enrollment course offerings. The external evaluator will also assist in this endeavor.A workshop for secondary teachers who are serving as university resource faculty that will be held during summer one and two of the project. These training sessions will be held at the New Mexico State FFA convention in June and the New Mexico State agriculture teachers' conference in Late July. This would provide program leaders the opportunity to offer multiple trainings to a larger number of participants at pre-set meetings.Trainings would be offered to teachers focusing on how to effectively use university resources (Online course system, course grading and evaluation procedures, etc.) and the integration of STEM concepts in agriculture courses. These trainings would also help in the sharing of ideas for STEM integrated lab activities, the dissemination of course curriculum, and help in the establishment of a cohort of ENMU dual enrollment instructors. Both agriculture faculty and university administrators would assist in these trainings to establish strong linkages between multiple secondary institutions and the university. A secondary benefit of these meetings would be the ability to effective collect program data from project participants.The selection of university undergraduate students who will serve as career community leaders and mentors to the secondary agriculture students. The graduate and undergraduate CC leaders will assist in data collection and dissemination of results at the university undergraduate research conference held annually in April and through the presentation of publications at regional or national research conferences. This would help expose undergraduate students to research, furthering preparing them for advanced degrees and career success.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:A total of 15 onsite trainings were performed to train 17 teachers on the pedagogical model of the dual enrollment program and how to effectively deliver the in-class and online/hybrid course model. This improvement in course delivery will lead to better prepared students, especially with traditionally underrepresented minority students in agriculture. Three undergraduate agricultural education students attended the New Mexico State FFA Convention, reaching more than 50 teachers and 400 students, where information was provided to teachers and students about the dual enrollment program and pedagogical practices. The recruitment and training activities resulted in a maintenance of current dual enrollment students, including underrepresented student populations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development workshops were performed at the secondary campuses of 15 site visits throughout the state. As a result of the increased site visits over previous years, 3 new school districts committed to the program and enrolled in excess of 100 students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been distributed at the state agricultural education teachers' conference within the professional development meetings. Results were disseminated at regional and national conferences through presentations. Results were also published in academic journals as a source of dissemination. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Dual enrollment recruitment presentations will continue through on-site school visits at secondary campuses across the state. A total of 15 school site visits will be made during the next reporting period. Professional development opportunities, especially in agricultural mechanics will be offered to teachers to increase their content and teaching skill level. The four online courses currently offered will be continually reviewed through Quality Matters and revised to better meet the needs of the diverse student population. AG 231 - Metal Fabrication, will be modified from its current format and will be adapted into an online/hybrid course, to better meet the needs of a younger population of beginning teachers seeking to provide opportunities to students. As a result of findings from research conducted on students enrolled in the online/hybrid courses, opportunities to engage students in critical thinking and problem-solving activities will be included.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Upon an external Quality Matters evaluation, several changes were made and implemented in AG 221 - Principles of Horticulture. Within the course shell, videos were embedded to provide students with an opportunity to view how to navigate the course, complete assessments, and upload course assignments. The revisions made in this course will be implemented in the fall 2017 semester. These revisions assisted both students and course facilitators with course navigation. Decreased frustration by students and faculty were seen and course completion rates increased with a slight improvement in the average grade earned by each student. Furthermore, starting in the fall 2016 semester, students and teachers were able to choose the traditional 8-week format or a new 16-week format in the online/hybrid courses. The format change resulted in more student and teacher satisfaction as more time was provided to meet course objectives and complete assignments and assessments.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. & Waller, K. (2016). The relationship between motivation and online self-regulated learning. Presented at Western Region AAAE Research Conference, Tucson, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Waller, K., & Swafford, M. (2016). Resource needs of dual enrollment agricultural mechanics teachers. Presented at Western Region AAAE Research Conference, Tucson, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). The relationship between student motivation to learn and self- regulated learning. Presented at Presented at Association for Career and Technical Education Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). Resources needed for dual enrollment agricultural mechanics teachers. Presented at Presented at Association for Career and Technical Education Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). The relationship between metacognitive awareness and self-regulated learning. Presented at Association for Career and Technical Education Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Swafford, M., & Hagler, P. (2017). Metal fabrication knowledge needed by beginning agriculture education teachers. Western Region AAAE Research Conference, Fort Collins, CO.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Swafford, M., & Chumbley, S. (2017). Using pre-college experiences to increase college access and readiness of underrepresented students. Western Region AAAE Research Conference, Fort Collins, CO.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Swafford, M. (2017). A motivating force behind online self-regulated learning. National AAAE Research Conference, San Luis Obispo, CA.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Swafford, M., Hagler, P. (accepted, in press). Beginning SBAE teachers metal fabrication knowledge needs: Implications for teacher preparation. Journal of Agricultural Education.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Swafford, M. (accepted, in press). The relationship between motivation and online self-regulated learning. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Swafford, M., & Waller, K. (in press). Resources needed for dual enrollment agriculture mechanics adjunct faculty. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Journal.


Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Efforts to reachNew Mexico Agriculture Science Teacherswereaccomplished through professional development workshops that were performed at the secondary campuses of 26 site visitsthroughout the state.A brief workshop was conducted at the state agricultural education teachers' conference and was attended by over 60 teachers from around the state. A total of 26 onsite trainings were performed to train 30 teachers on the pedagogical model of the dual enrollment program and how to effectively deliver the in-class and online/hybrid course model. This improvement in course delivery will lead to better prepared students, especially with traditionally underrepresented minority students in agriculture. Three undergraduate agricultural education students attended the New Mexico State FFA Convention, reaching more than 50 teachers and 400 students, where information was provided to teachers and students about the dual enrollment program and pedagogical practices. The recruitment and training activities resulted in a maintenance of current dual enrollment students, including underrepresented student populations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development workshops were performed at the secondary campuses of 26 site visits throughout the state. A brief workshop was conducted at the state agricultural education teachers' conference and was attended by over 60 teachers from around the state. As a result of the increased site visits over previous years, six new school districts committed to the program and enrolled in excess of 100 students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been distributed at the state agricultural education teachers' conference within the professional development meetings. Results were disseminated at regional and national conferences through presentations. Results were also published in academic journals as a source of dissemination. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Dual enrollment recruitment presentations will continue through on-site school visits at secondary campuses across the state. A total of 15 school site visits will be made during the next reporting period. Professional development opportunities, especially in agricultural mechanics will be offered to teachers to increase their content and teaching skill level. The dual enrollment program will be promoted and teachers will also be provided development opportunities as the state agricultural education teachers' conference as well as the state CTE teachers' conference. To accomplish these goals, a student will be hired as an undergraduate research assistant. The four online courses currently offered will be continually reviewed through Quality Matters and revised to better meet the needs of the diverse student population. AG 231 - Metal Fabrication, will be modified from its current format and will be adapted into an online/hybrid course, to better meet the needs of a younger population of beginning teachers seeking to provide opportunities to students. As a result of findings from research conducted on students enrolled in the online/hybrid courses, opportunities to engage students in critical thinking and problem-solving activities will be included.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A new course (AG 203 - Crop Production) was developed and offered in the Spring 2015. Upon an internal Quality Matters evaluation, several changes were made and implemented for the Spring 2016 semester. AG 101 - Animal Science, AG 102 - Dairy Science, and AG 221 - Principles of Horticulture were also assessed through an internal Quality Matters evaluation and further refinements, to better meet the needs of the secondary students, will be made for the fall 2016 semester. The revisions and additions resulted in increased course rigor and student accountability. Additionally, to better meet the needs of the facilitators of online/hybrid courses and teachers, an additional format was developed and will be implemented in the Fall 2016 semester. Traditionally, online/hybrid courses were taught in an eight-week format. Starting in the Fall 2016 semester, teachers and students will be able to choose a 16-week format. This will provide teachers and students more time to adequately teach and learn the course content. During the spring 2016 semester, with the assistance of an undergraduate research assistant, a needs assessment of dual enrollment teachers and facilitators was conducted. Based on the findings of the study, changes have been and will be implemented in the dual enrollment courses to better meet the needs of the students and the teachers. Teachers facilitating online/hybrid courses are now provided curriculum prior to the beginning of the course. This improved course completion and increased student achievement and satisfaction. Additionally, communication with online/hybrid facilitators increased and as a result, teacher satisfaction with the program improved as well. Changes were also implemented in face-to-face courses (AG 231 - Metal Fabrication, AG 275 - Rural Buildings and Materials, and AG 280 - Agricultural Power and Machinery) also. More communication between university faculty and secondary teachers, along with revised objectives and curriculum increased program rigor and student and teacher satisfaction. A total of 26 onsite trainings were performed to train 30 teachers on the pedagogical model of the dual enrollment program and how to effectively deliver the in-class and online/hybrid course model. This improvement in course delivery will lead to better prepared students, especially with traditionally underrepresented minority students in agriculture. Three undergraduate agricultural education students attended the New Mexico State FFA Convention, reaching more than 50 teachers and 400 students, where information was provided to teachers and students about the dual enrollment program and pedagogical practices. The recruitment and training activities resulted in a maintenance of current dual enrollment students, including underrepresented student populations.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). The relationship between student motivation to learn and self-regulated learning. Association of Career and Technical Education Research National Conference Poster Session, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). Self-regulated learning in hybrid agricultural science courses. American Association for Agricultural Education National Conference Poster Session, Kansas City, MO.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). The relationship between motivation and online self-regulated learning. American Association for Agricultural Education Western Region Conference Poster Session, Tucson, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. & Waller, K. (2016). Resource needs of dual enrollment agricultural mechanics teachers. American Association for Agricultural Education Western Region Conference, Tucson, AZ.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Swafford, M. (2016). The relationship between metacognitive awareness and self-regulated learning. Association of Career and Technical Education Research National Conference Poster Session, Las Vegas, NV.


Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience: New Mexico Agriculture Science Teachers Efforts: Met with teachers during school visits (15) around the state to assist in development of their dual courses and recruit into the agriculture dual enrollment program. A training with (65) teacher from around the state was conducted at the state agriculture teachers conference to develop the agriculture dual enrollment curriculum and educate instructors on the use of our pedagogical model. Target Audience: Underrepresented high school agriculture students Efforts: Performing 15 high school visits across the state, we educated students on the cost of college, opportunities available and recruited secondary students participation in the agriculture dual enrollment program. The five undergraduate agriculture majors presented to approximentaly400 secondary students across the state. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development workshops were performed at the secondary campuses with 15 site visits and at the state agricultural science teachers meeting. At the state meeting the workshop was attended by 65 teachers from around the state. This project also provided the opportunity to reach teachers in other areas of career and technology education to possibly recruit students who were not previously aware of the benefits of a degree in agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been distributed at the state agriculture teachers conference within the professional development meetings and at national research conferences through conference presentations. The results were also distributed at the annual meeting with the program's outside evaluator and educational advisory committee. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Dual enrollment recruitment presentations will continue through on-site school visits at secondary campuses across the state. We hope to make a minimum of 15 school visits during the next reporting period. Professional development opportunities for instructors will be offered at the state FFA events throughout the year. This will include workshops at local livestock shows,state agriculture teachers conference, during secondary school visits, at state CTE teacher's conference and during state FFA convention. To accomplish this goal three students will be hired as undergraduate research assistants. The threeonline agriculture courses currently being offered willbe reevaluated and revised to better meet the needs of a diverse group of students. We will be pilot testing a new course, AG 231 Introduction to Metal Fabrication, to be offered in the online/in-class hybrid model. After pilot testing this course will be evaluated by ENMU university faculty and the outside evaluator using theQuality Matterscourse certification.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? One new course (AG 203 Crop Science) was developed and offered Spring 2015. Three current courses (AG 101 Animal Science, AG 102 Dairy Science & AG 221 Horticulture)integrated coursecurriculum andassessments into an online format. These courses werereviewed using the Quality Matters course certification by three faculty (two content experts and one secondary education faculty member)and revised to meet the needs of secondary agriculture students. Project directors have begun integrating the changes suggested by course reviewers. These effortsresulted inincreased program rigor and accountability. The online/in-class hybrid model allows students of rural area far from a university to participate in college dual enrollment courses.Workingwithin this model studentswork directly withfaculty they are comfortable with and who understand any cultural aspects that would normally keep these students from participating in such a program. Five new high schools were added to the dual enrollment program offering opportunities to a diverse group of studentsin agriculture coursesacross the state A total of fifteen onsite trainings were performed to train 19 teachers on the pedagogical model of the agriculture dual enrollment program and how to effectively deliver the in-class/online hybrid course model. This improvement in course delivery will lead to better prepared students, especially with traditionally underrepresented minority students in agriculture. Five undergraduate agriculture majors (one Caucasian male, one NativeAmerican male, two Hispanic females& one Causation female)assisted in 15 school visits andaworkshop at state FFA conventionreaching approximately 400 students across the state. These recruitment and training activities resulted in an enrollment increase of 10.3%. Within underrepresented student populations (Hispanic & Native American) there was an increase of 19.7%.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Chumbley, S.B., Baldock, K., Castro, D.K. & Lovett, A. (2015) Teachers Perceptions and Acceptance of a State Agriculture Dual Enrollment Program. American Association of Agriculture Educators National Conference, San Antonio, Tx Poster Session
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Chumbley, S.B., Haynes, J.C. & Hainline, M (2015) Self-Regulated Learning in an Online Agriculture Dual Enrollment Course. American Association of Agriculture Educators Western Region Conference. Corvallis, OR
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Chumbley, S.B. & Laurenz, J. (2015) Teachers Perceptions and Acceptance of an Agriculture Dual Enrollment Program American Association of Agriculture Educators National Conference. Corvallis, OR
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Chumbley, S.B & Schuster, G (2015) Career Interests of Students in an Agriculture Dual Enrollment Course. North American College Teachers of Agriculture National Conference. Atlanta, GA