Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences

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Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences is one of the nation’s best for agricultural research Instructors found creative ways to keep students engaged during the pandemic

The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences traces its roots to 1855 and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s top institutions for agricultural research and education programs. It’s no surprise, then, that the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences would also be a leader when it came to finding new and improved ways of engaging with students. The AG Science Magazine recently highlighted how some of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences instructors responded to the challenges that the pandemic presented. Julian Avery, an assistant research professor of wildlife ecology and conservation for Penn State, knew that he couldn’t just transition to lecturing on Zoom to the students in his Amphibians and Reptiles course—it was designed to be taught in person and in the field. “We typically spend the whole time outside looking at animals and their habitats,” Avery told AG Science Magazine. “I had no idea how I was going do that remotely.” Continued on Page 26The Progression of Change in Adult and Continuing Education • The Progression of Change in Adult and Continuing Education Since he couldn’t take the students into the field, Avery decided to do his best to bring the field to the students. He went out to the sites on his own, filmed and photographed habitats and animals, and used the images to create interactive lessons. Ultimately, he said, he was pleased with the outcome, but it didn’t compare to the real deal. “It was really hard for the students,” Avery explained. “Many of them look forward to taking this class as seniors with the expectation that it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think they were disappointed because it was their last chance to do something big like this at Penn State.” Instructors across the Penn State campus shared Avery’s frustration, and they set out to find creative ways to deliver content to students. “Our faculty and staff moved to remote instruction with less than a week’s notice, and last fall many of them had to create ‘mixed-mode’ courses,” said Tracy Hoover, associate dean for undergraduate education in the college. “That required a high level of creativity, work, and planning from an instructional and assessment perspective.” Bradley Jakubowski, an instructor in the Department of Photo courtesy Cardoni/ AG Science Magazine Julian Avery’s field work never stops. Even in the dead of winter during a pandemic, Avery is in the wilds scouting animal habitat in preparation for the spring semester.

Photo courtesy Cardoni/ AG Science Magazine

Without access to lab and field equipment, Bradley Jakubowski built an irrigation system and a home studio for remote teaching from his garage.

The Progression of Change in Adult and Continuing Education

Plant Science who teaches Golf Course Irrigation Management, explained that one of his primary concerns was keeping his students engaged. “I usually include a lot of hands-on activities,” he told AG Science Magazine. “I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do that online.”

Jakubowski decided to demonstrate the hands-on activities on video. He converted his garage into a classroom outfitted with a set of display tables showing irrigation system components and a variety of quick-reference items and visuals hanging on the back wall. He installed an entire irrigation system, complete with water hookup, and walked his students through the various assembly techniques. On Zoom, the class worked together to disassemble and reassemble various irrigation system components. This helped keep the students engaged.

Penn State University utilized a flexible mix of inperson, remote, and online instruction during the fall semester of 2020.

To prepare for her fall Advanced Dairy Herd Management course, Lisa Holden, associate professor of dairy science, visited the dairy farm where under normal circumstances she would have taken students on an inperson field trip, and took photos and videos with which to build a virtual field trip. The virtual field trip ended with a Zoom session with the farm owner, a nutritionist, and reproductive specialists.

Instructors worked hard to create in-person opportunities for students whenever possible.

Gretchen Kuldau, an associate professor of plant pathology and environmental microbiology explained, ”(W)e [Kuldau and María del Mar Jiménez Gasco] spent the summer preparing our class with a variety of activities to help our students stay engaged.”

One strategy Kuldau and Jiménez Gasco, associate professor of plant pathology and environmental microbiology, used during lectures was to divide the students into breakout rooms to discuss particular questions.

“This worked really well,” said Kuldau. “I think it empowered students who might not normally have spoken up to have their voices heard, maybe not directly, but through the group spokesperson.”

To make the course more hands on, the instructors

prepared kits for each student containing the supplies for growing oyster mushrooms on toilet paper rolls and for observing fungi growing out of plant seeds. They also threw in a few fungal snacks.

Kuldau said the team normally takes students on a walk around campus to show them fungi up close.

“To provide them with an alternative, we created a scavenger hunt so they could go out near their homes and hunt for fungi,” she said. The students took photos of what they found so they could share them with the class on Zoom.

Jiménez Gasco added that offering the course remotely allowed the team to closely consider what they wanted to accomplish and how they could be more creative than usual in delivering it. “We found that some of the new activities worked out better than we thought they would,” she said, adding that some of the activities will remain for in-person teaching.

Editor’s note: Much of this information originally appeared in a story written by Sara LaJeunesse that was included in the winter/spring edition of AG Science Magazine.

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