Paper presented at the 52nd CFCS Annual Meeting, Guadeloupe, July 10-16, 2016 Main results Social and personal background A total of 24 and 32 students completed the pre-and post-survey, respectively. The majority of students were between the ages 21-25 (51.8%), followed by the 17-20 age category (25%) and 14.3 % were more matured (>30). There was an uneven distribution of males and females with the latter (66.1%) outnumbering the former (33.9%). The majority of students were full-time (82.1%) and pursued the Agriculture special degree option (64.3%) (Table 1). Course related information Students were asked at the beginning and end of the course how helpful the course was to the overall appreciation of their degree option and there was no significant difference as the majority found that the course was very helpful pre- and posttest (79.2 and 78.1%, respectively). There was, however, a significant difference between students indicating the number of hours they spent studying for the course at the beginning and end, with 41.7% indicating that they spent between 1 and 5 hours per week before and 25.0% at the end and 37.5% spending 5-10 hours before compared to 71.9% at the end given the increased coursework requirement. Significant differences were also seen in the methods students used to take notes in class and the use of MyElearning. Students consistently developed good study habits from early, listening and making notes of lecturers both early and later during the semester, while using the library and MyElearning more than once a week. Self-competency evaluations Table 2 shows that there were changes in competency self-assessment from the beginning to the end of the course using the integrated field-based approach. This was observed for all levels of competency with the Inquiry process showing the highest change of 2.1. Note that competencies such as Understanding values, Interpersonal skills and Communication skills (writing/presenting) were not assessed at the beginning of the course. There were also changes in their Ways of knowing and learning (1.5) and the Analysis/experiential learning (1.5). The use of competency self-assessments is useful to the course in that it collects data on which assignments help develop which competencies and also informs students of their performance and notes activities in which they engage. This linking of competency self-assessment data to each course assignments allows for course instructors to observe how activities in the course can lead to enhanced student learning or development, not only individually but as a group. It can therefore serve as a course evaluation tool. Conclusions • The data suggest that using the integrated field-based approach as a competency-based framework, students’ competency levels were improved with time. • Field-based courses and student-driven research projects are excellent ways to introduce research methods to undergraduate students, improving knowledge and self-awareness. • Student learning was enhanced during the experiential learning process by allowing the students to follow the scientific method. • Horizontal and vertical synergy of such approaches into the curriculum may prove beneficial to students and University.
Bibliographic references Francis, C.A., Jordan, N., Porter, P., Breland, T.A., Lieblein,G., Salomonsson, L., Sriskandarajah,N., Wiedenhoeft, M., DeHaan,R., Braden,I and Langer,V. (2011). Innovative Education in Agroecology: Experiential Learning for a Sustainable Agriculture. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 30: 226-237. Galta, R.E, Parr, D. and Jagannath, J. (2013). Facilitating competency development in sustainable agriculture and food systems education: a self-assessment approach. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 11(1): 69 –88.
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