My overall teaching goal is to integrate technology in the classroom to improve student communication, engagement, and inclusivity. In an effort to not only make the courses I was given at Virginia Tech my own, but also improve how the information is being disseminated, I heavily revised both Applied Dairy Cattle Genetics and Management and Analysis of Agricultural Experiments. Additionally, I removed Professional Development from the curriculum and developed two 1-credit classes: Professional Discourse and Career Development and Translating Dairy Science. Within these courses, I developed 4 projects that integrated some form of technology that demonstrated the application of theory and(or) improved both oral and written communication.

 

Within both my undergraduate courses, Professional Discourse and Career Development and Translating Dairy Science, I have required students to market themselves and discuss difficult topics using various social media platforms. The goal of these projects was to improve their written communication and become more comfortable with engaging with a broader audience as both of these courses count towards our departmental intensive writing requirement. Within Professional Discourse and Career Development, students were required to create an e-Portfolio over the course of the semester as a mechanism to improve their personal marketability. For Translating Dairy Science, the classes discussed the science behind controversial topics in the dairy industry. Using Google Analytics, I was able to determine that there were 4,500-page views throughout the semester, 870 sessions, and an average session lasting 8 minutes. Each student read, viewed, or commented on around 5 pages per session. This suggests that students were very engaged throughout the semester and the use of blogs as a teaching tool was an effective way to encourage class discussions and improve written communication. 

 

Finally, within Applied Dairy Cattle Genetics, I require students to use a simulation program via UC Davis to implement genetic selection strategies taught throughout the semester. As an incentive to ensure students remain competitive, the student whose herds achieve the most genetic gain at the end of the semester is awarded a small prize. Students are able to visualize weekly how their selection decisions (i.e., choosiness, intensity, traits…) impact herd performance. The simulation provides students with an experiential learning opportunity without having to physically be at the farm breeding animals for 10 years. 

 

Within my graduate class, Management and Analysis of Agricultural Experiments, I require students use experimental designs discussed in class to analyze a subset of their own research data and then disseminate the results via a video abstract. Because You-Tube is one of the top search engines, journals are now beginning to incorporate video abstracts as a peer-reviewed publication. Therefore, my goal is to not only expose students to this type of medium, but to also push students to succinctly translate their research for a broader audience. During this project, data were collected on both the graduate students taking the class as well as from faculty, staff, and other graduate students to gauge their interest in using video abstracts as peer-reviewed resource. Initial feedback suggested that younger audiences are open to video abstracts; whereas, older audiences are more resistant to incorporating visual media as a peer-reviewed publication. 

 

In an effort to better prepare both undergraduate and graduate students for their future careers, I have led (60%) an NSF-SSTEM grant and have been awarded internal funds through Fralin Life Science Institute. For the NSF grant, I developed and instructed three courses for 3 cohorts of students and led a 2-day field trip to Washington DC for students to engage with agriculture leaders in government which included ARS Legislative Affairs, USDA-BARC, USDA-NIFA, and NASDA. Preliminary analyses suggest that by providing academic and career support within the first year of college will increase the likelihood that students will remain successful in their undergraduate program. As the majority of federal and university support tends to focus on undergraduate students, I have begun to transition into creating career development programs for graduate students. Through funds awarded by Fralin Life Science Institute I will be developing a Career Success in Precision Agriculture seminar series for graduate students in CALS. This class was used to support the Smart Farm program initiative through the Global Systems Science destination area at Virginia Tech, which has now evolved into an initiative through CALS.