Session moderated by Terri Billeisen

Presentation 1 - Effect of Exam Delivery Method on Agriculture Students in an Advanced Level Animal Science Course    
Marcy Beverly    
Sam Houston State University    

Since the onset of COVID, online exams have increased in prevalence in college classrooms across the nation. Typically, these online exams are accompanied by online delivery of course material as well. While many studies discuss the usefulness of online examinations, the objective of this study was to determine if students who receive concurrent face to face delivery of course content perform differently on exams delivered remotely compared to in person. Students enrolled in two different sections of Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic Animals (ANSC 3363) at Sam Houston State University were exposed to face-to-face delivery of course material during the fall 2022 semester. The two sections (n = 30/section) were team taught by two professors at the same time and in the same room. Students in one section received their examinations during class time in the traditional paper-form, whereas the other section's exam was delivered remotely utilizing proctoring software. PROC GLM in SAS v9.4 was used to determine differences across each of four exam scores as well as the student's overall course grade. Initial GPA was used as a covariant to account for student performance prior to entering the course. Across all exams and overall course grade, students had similar scores regardless of exam delivery method (P < 0.1). These results illustrate that when teaching method is fixed, examination style did not influence students' scores as it is anecdotally observed by professors.

Presentation 2 - Implementing Upper-Level Inquiry-Based Learning Within an Introductory Animal Sciences Course    
Elizabeth Karcher    
Purdue University    

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a learner-centered, active learning strategy which poses a question to students and provides them with the materials and resources to solve it at their own individual learning pace. This creates a self-driven atmosphere which promotes collaboration, creativity, cognitive processing, and a curiosity to learn. The three upper levels of IBL (structured, guided, and open) were implemented in an introductory animal science laboratory course at four periods during the Fall of 2022. Students (n=176) were enrolled in one of five laboratory sessions and then randomly placed into one of six groups. In each period, students engaged in a 45-minute collaborative and authentic IBL case scenario which was created to mimic one of the three levels of IBL or a control. The control simulated a 20-minute teacher-centered lecture. After each period, half of the students self-reported their situational interest using the Situational Interest Survey and half reported their perception of the active learning experience with the Active Learning Strategy Inventory. Additionally, students completed a demographic and prior experience survey at the start of period one. Overall, students in the IBL groups reported a greater perception of active learning compared with students in the control group. Situational interest in the activities, specifically exploration intention, remained high across all IBL groups and the control.  Students also reported feelings of low challenge across the activities, regardless of treatment. In the future, a more complete understanding of the impact of IBL activities on animal science students is needed in order to more effectively engage undergraduate students.
 

Presentation 3 - The Ranch Life: A Game About the Ups and Downs of the Beef Cattle Industry    
Matthew Kennedy    
Oregon State University    

In teaching students of various backgrounds and experience levels in the beef industry, it can be challenging to help them understand the real-world trials and tribulations of managing a beef cattle operation. To help students contemplate what it takes to be successful and what is needed to exist in the beef industry, a term project was developed to help develop a deeper understanding of the many variables and factors involved in running a beef cow-calf operation. The Ranch Life game starts with randomly assigning each team of 2-3 students an existing ranch and budget, of which is located within the state. Teams are asked to research, decide, and defend what type of operation they want to run (i.e., seedstock or commercial), breeds of cattle to be used, and number of cattle they intend to manage. Weekly, teams are assigned real life scenarios directly related to the lecture material, which they must solve, and then discuss the projected economic, animal, and overall impacts. For example, one scenario is drawing a natural disaster card (e.g., summer rangeland fire, drought, flood), which requires that they formulate a plan of how to manage the situation, then deal with asset effects and economic implications. During class, we discuss team's decisions and impacts to see multiple types of solutions and methods. At the end of term, students reflect on their decisions, how they could be changed and why, and discuss what they learned. Additionally, teams evaluate their budget decisions and how they might impact their revenue gains or losses. Students have found value in the real-world scenarios representing the day-to-day, annual operations of the cattle industry. Students have also expressed an appreciation for varied perspectives and experience, and a common ground in shared learning, as well as teaching one another about the beef industry.
 

Presentation 4 - Students' Perceptions of an Experiential Learning Activity in a Livestock Feed Formulation Animal Science Course    
Carly Hoffmann    
Texas A&M University    

Livestock Feed Formulation (LFF) is a lab-based component of a required undergraduate-level animal science course that emphasizes advanced scientific approaches associated with precision diet formulation to create cost-effective feeding strategies to optimize livestock animal productivity. LFF relies heavily on student's ability to integrate various methods of precision diet formulation and actively apply course concepts to a livestock feeding program. To aid student's ability to apply these course concepts, an experiential learning activity was developed, via a case study (CS). The CS consists of a three-part project in which students: a) conduct hands-on forage laboratory analysis; b) determine nutritional requirements for their case study animals; c) formulate multiple forage-based rations to meet nutritional requirements.  A survey instrument was used to determine student perceptions of the CS. Students (N = 159; response rate = 98%) enrolled in LFF completed a post-completion survey instrument that consisted of demographic and 5-point Likert-scale questions to gauge student perceptions of the CS. Most students agreed or strongly agreed that they had a positive experience with the CS (49% and 33%, respectively) and felt it positively contributed to course knowledge (44% and 40%, respectively). Additionally, a majority of students reported that the CS increased their course interest and motivation to further their knowledge in LFF. Participants also indicated they saw value in the learning experience, and it required more than just listening. The real-world application of the CS was notably the item that students reported to like most about the activity. However, when asked what students most disliked about the CS, they noted too many assignments and challenges associated with teamwork. This study demonstrated that students had an overall positive experience and association with the case study, which shows the advantage of implementing an experiential learning activity towards improving student comprehension of feed formulation techniques.