Semester of Graduation

Summer 2023

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Agricultural and Extension Education and Evaluation

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Recent trends in agricultural education have demonstrated that the number of middle school programs and students has been increasing. Despite this, middle school agricultural education students, teachers, and programs often have been considered to be underserved. For example, teachers at this level have expressed that they often lacked the training and resources to meet the needs of this diverse learning population. Even so, middle school agricultural education teachers have continued to provide quality learning experiences for their students. In response, this investigation’s purpose was to examine current trends of middle school agricultural education and the quality of learning conducted by exemplary middle school agricultural education teachers. To achieve this, I examined the deficiencies regarding middle school agricultural education through two articles. In the first article, I conducted a scoping review that revealed limited peer-reviewed publications on middle school agricultural education. In the second article, I used self-regulated learning as a lens by which to examine the facilitation of learning through SAEs. In particular, I used an interpretive study design to collect qualitative data through participant interviews. The findings from this study provided a better understanding of current trends in middle school agricultural education and illustrated how the exemplary teachers navigated various contextual and structural challenges to facilitate high-quality learning for middle school students through SAEs. Documenting these trends and practices was vital to reinforcing the importance of middle school agricultural education. Moving forward, I recommend that future research explore the issues impacting middle school agricultural education students, teachers, and programs and develop strategies to eliminate the deficiencies impacting these populations.

Date

7-10-2023

Committee Chair

Roberts, Richie

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