Challenges of Hosting a Virtual Ag Sales Contest (1:00-1:15pm)
Jose Lopez
Texas A&M University-Commerce

The College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) at Texas A&M University-Commerce hosts each year the Futures Farmers of America (FFA) Career Development Event (CDE) for Areas V and VI in the state of Texas, which are traditionally in person and mostly at our university campus. In 2020, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic CDEs were cancelled. In 2021, CASNR received permission to host CDEs in a largely face-to-face setting, but some fully or partially online. The purpose of the Ag Sales event is to prepare students to take advantage of the career opportunities in this field. The Ag Sales contest consists of three activities, two of them individually (objective test and individual sales activity) and one in teams (team sales situation). The contest starts with a 45-minute objective test, then a 40-mintue team sales presentation, and concludes with a 15-mininute individual presentation. There were various challenges in conducting the Ag Sales contest fully online. Some are related to conducting a sales call online such lack of handshakes and eye contacts, and some are related to the logistics of the event such as assistants not showing up, limited internet access, informal dressing, moving participants from room to room, joining rooms, participants joining the meeting with another name, participants joining the meeting sharing camera, etc. The challenges were compiled by surveying the people that assisted with the Ag Sales contest (high school advisors, judges, timekeepers, and event chair). We also discuss the dynamics of the Ag Sales contest, including flow, time logistics, rooms set up in Zoom (one main room with breakout rooms), announcements (verbally and via chat messages), and movement of participants from room to room. Our presentation will generate a discussion about challenges related to the pandemic and about conducting events virtually.

Effects of Low-Stakes Quizzing on Student Learning in Two Plant Identification Courses (1:15-1:30pm)
Samantha Lyle
Iowa State University

Plant identification courses are considered difficult because they rely heavily on memorization of new vocabulary and scientific names. As most students are new to binomial nomenclature, good study habits are particularly important for best performance. Research in educational psychology has reported low-stakes quizzing prior to other standard assessments can improve student scores and retention. Low-stakes quizzing is a method of retrieval practice receiving increased attention in academia in recent years. However, this method has not been widely researched in natural science and agricultural settings.  This research project investigated the effects of low-stakes quizzing in two collegiate plant identification courses so students might improve their performance on higher-stakes quizzes. Students from Trees, Shrubs, and Vines for Landscaping (HORT 240) and Herbaceous Ornamentals (HORT 330) completed a brief, low-stakes quiz almost every week as a way to review the content presented in recent lectures. These online low-stakes quizzes were followed up with higher-stakes quizzes conducted in person in the lab the following week. Ten low-stakes and 10 high-stakes quizzes were administered in each class. Quizzes were cumulative in both classes for the first half and second half of the semester. Scores from both sets of low-stakes quizzes and high-stakes quizzes were compared to assess student performance. The largest benefits of low-stakes quizzing were measured in students with average grades, suggesting it's beneficial to a wide range of students.  Student reflections noted low-stakes quizzing forced them to study earlier and helped hold them accountable for studying regularly throughout the semester. The potential success of implementing low-stakes quizzing into more educators' curricula could prove to be a key factor in their students' academic performance and retention of material after leaving their courses.

Students' Perceptions on Qualities of Great Teachers (1:30-1:45pm)
Shyam Nair
Sam Houston State University

Most universities rely on student evaluations to measure teaching effectiveness. Hence, students' perceptions about the qualities of a great teacher are very important. The objectives of this study were to find the perceived qualities of great teachers and assess the effect of student attributes on those perceptions. We conducted brainstorming sessions in two classes (sophomores with 78 students and senior/graduate with 11 seniors and 9 graduates) and compiled the results to develop a survey instrument with 5-point Likert-type questions [5=strongly agree] on the selected traits from the brainstorming session, along with student attributes. The survey was administered electronically to 194 students in ten Agribusiness classes. We received 117 responses (60.31%). A descriptive statistical analysis was performed, followed by Multiple Linear Regressions (MLR) with top five and bottom five qualities as dependent variables, and Age, Gender, Major, Classification, GPA, and Hours of Employment of the students as independent variables. The results showed that passionate about teaching (mean=4.75), availability/approachability to students (mean=4.69), respectful (mean=4.68), clearly explains materials (mean=4.66), and links theory to real-world applications (mean=4.58) were the top five qualities of a great teacher as perceived by the students. Does not speak with an accent (mean=3.19), allows late work (mean=3.44), lower workload for students (mean=3.50), easy grader (mean=3.65), and strictly enforces the rules (mean=4.04) were the bottom five qualities. The results of MLR showed that females rated passionate about teaching (p=0.025), availability/approachability to students (p=0.027), clearly explains materials (p=0.006), and links theory to real-world applications (p=0.045) significantly higher than males. Students' GPA had significant and negative influence on allows late work (p=0.009), lower workload for students (p=0.002), and easy grader (p=0.002). The study indicates that students value traits such as passion, availability, approachability, respect, clear explanation, and linking theory to real-world applications, and they (especially higher performers) valued academic rigor.

Pathway to Creator: Using the Social Technographics Ladder to Characterize Science Influencers (1:45-2:00pm)
Morgan Orem
Texas A&M University

Serving a critical role in message dissemination, message retention, and consumer behavior, influencers have the power to shape thoughts, opinions, and behaviors of their followers. The social technographics ladder classifies social media users into seven rungs: creators, conversationalists, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. The purpose of our study was to improve strategies for teaching students how to be science influencers by determining the characteristics that categorize influencers into each of the social technographics ladder rungs. We developed a semi-structured interview protocol using empirical and anecdotal evidence related to social media and research and interviewed five social media strategists in [state] that identified through convenience sampling based on existing relationships. We used a deductive analysis to analyze data according to the social technographics ladder. Students seeking to be influencers should strive for the rungs of conversationalist and creator. A creator is an influencer who 'sparks participation" through 'leadership, accuracy, knowledge of the target audience, and ability to adjust and adapt messaging accordingly." Creators actively build and persuade a specific audience using engaging content, transparency, perceived expertise, information translation and transformation, and audience interaction. Students become influencers and creators through active participation in social media conversations, audience engagement, persistence, story, and data mining, and defining a circle of influence. Conversationalists influence through their writing competency and their ability to distinguish between passion and purpose in their social media strategy development. To become conversationalists, students should find and follow 'community managers" on relevant platforms and further expand their skill sets to reach creator. Instructors can engage students in becoming creators and conversationalists by using a case study approach in the classroom. Challenges to becoming creators and conversationalists include social media fatigue among content creators, constant learning of new algorithms used on social media sites, and lack of understanding because of unfamiliarity.

Perceived Agricultural Experience Impacts the Learning Environment (2:00-2:15)
Justin Rickard
Illinois State University

The potential impact of preconceived notions on classroom environments has been well documented. This includes how students perceive their peers as well as how students and teachers perceive one another. These perceptions may negatively influence student experiences and be detrimental to achieving learning outcomes. One area in which the influence of perception has been minimally documented is in agriculture programs where changing student and faculty demographics may lead to preconceived notions regarding production agriculture experiences. To evaluate the extent to which perception issues occur in the college agriculture classroom, a survey was administered over three semesters to students in an introductory agriculture course taken primarily by freshmen and transfer students (n=162).  The survey assessed students' backgrounds, prior agricultural experiences, and how students perceive the backgrounds and experiences of their classmates and agriculture faculty. Just 36.4% of respondents grew up on farms, with the percentage of farm students varying by academic sequence ranging from 15% (pre-veterinary medicine) to 71% (agricultural teacher education). Respondents overestimate their classmates' agricultural experience, believing that over 91% of their classmates have production agriculture experience, while 71% of students self-report having some such experience. This misperception also influences students' comfort level in their agriculture classes. Non-farm students were more likely (50%) than farm students (15%) to report they have felt like they did not 'fit in" with their classmates because they perceive that their classmates' production agriculture experience exceeds their own (X2(1) = 18.881, p < .01). Interestingly, both farm (85%) and non-farm (90%) students perceive that their agriculture faculty have significant real-world experience in the disciplines in which they teach. Actual faculty experience remains undocumented, suggesting future research needs. As production agriculture experience decreases, it is important to examine the role of perception in modern agriculture to foster a more inclusive and effective learning environment.

Describing Research on Visuals Used for Classroom Learning: Where Does Agricultural Education Fit? (2:15-2:30pm)
Lacey Roberts
New Mexico State University

Instructors have used visuals in classroom settings for decades. Visuals included in instructional material to significantly improve learning is supported by empirical research. While this evidence strengthens the argument for incorporating visuals, no evidence exists to support teachers' decisions about the amount or type of visuals needed for improved learning. Through qualitative descriptive review of literature, I sought to determine if prior research provides evidence of a relationship between type or frequency of visuals and information retention. I also analyzed existing research to determine if a prescriptive procedure exists to guide educators on how to incorporate visuals into teaching material. Initially, I found 73 pieces of literature pertaining to visuals in classrooms. Following exclusion criteria, including year of publication and age of learners in the study, 14 articles formed the pool of research used to generate findings. Literature focused on visual usage within agricultural disciplines accounted for only two of the final 14 articles. Only three articles were prescriptive, providing evidence and tools for improving the use of visuals in teaching. A common theme among articles was the conclusion that disciplines require different visual formats. Essentially, there is not a 'one-size fits all" approach to including visuals in teaching. While some research measured information recall or cognition based on a single visual format, no research has been conducted on the optimum number of visuals for learning or specific visual types desired by students. Agricultural education efforts include the use of visuals, but lack of research limits our understanding of how to best serve students in the disciple. These findings will serve as a foundation for future research to measure cognition related to visuals in agricultural classrooms. This knowledge will provide instructors with clear guidance on how many and what visuals should be incorporated into their future learning materials.