9701828 Conroy The Department of Education at Cornell offers programs in educational psychology, foundations, and policy, as well as teacher education in agriculture, science, and mathematics. The applicant was hired in July, 1996, to facilitate a process of reform in agricultural education encompassing several areas: (1) integration of science and mathematics teacher education in agriculture, (2) technical and pedagogical update for secondary agricultural educators in New York, and (3) course/curriculum development to support utilization of agriculture content as applied subject matter for under served populations. This project will provide support for research and educational activities for development of essential elements of reform in the evolution of agricultural education to agricultural science: (1) the development of a unique, integrated program of teacher education in science, mathematics, and agricultural science and (2) the development of an interdisciplinary graduate program to prepare individuals as faculty in agricultural science. A secondary purpose is the development and implementation of research-based inservice programming to improve science and mathematics competencies of practicing vocational agriculture teachers. Specific research and educational objectives and methods required to fulfill these purposes are to: 1. Determine technical agriculture, science and mathematics cmntent as well as pedagogical competencies required for certification to teach agriculture as a science through development of a process to identify areas of overlap which exist between courses offered separately to the two teacher education groups. 2. Revise and/or develop core curriculum and coursets) for the program in teacher education in agriculture to include enhanced science and mathematics skills and pedagogy for teaching science and mathematics. 3. Assess technical update, and science and mathematics skills inservice needs of New York State secondary agriculture teachers. 4. Develop and impl ement a sustained inservice program to enhance the science and mathematics skills of New York State agricultural educators. The integration of academic and vocational content and alternate assessment will be emphasized. 5. Develop core curriculum and course(s) for a graduate program to prepare individuals for faculty positions as teacher educators in agricultural science. Emphasis will be placed on constructivist theories of learning to include aspects related to applied academics as a philosophy of delivery, experiential learning, and reflective practices. The results of this study will be presented on a regional and national level in an attempt to begin discussion on a national agenda for teacher education reform. Information on progressive programmatic changes will be reviewed and considered as Cornell University and New York State begin the process of restructuring agricultural education. The results of this project, however, will reach beyond New York State. Since there has been no comprehensive national review of teacher education in agriculture programs the results will be useful to individuals in other states as they struggle with the same issues faced by New York. Successful development and implementation of a reform effort moving towards agricultural science will require sustained and integrated research and instructional activities. The applicant is poised to make significant contributions to the field of agricultural science education as well as providing a role model for younger women wishing to assume a leadership role. The implementation of this project would have national impact on how faculty and teachers of agricultural education are prepared as well as significant impact on efforts to intezrate academic and vocational content.
