High School Students' Motivations and Views of Agriculture in Pre-College Programs

High School Students Motivations and Views of Agriculture and Agricultural Careers upon Completion of a Pre-College Program Kaylie Scherer April 28, 2016 1

Introduction Expose students to careers & degrees in agriculture Strengthen the STEM pipeline to support student recruitment Increase the number, participation, & success of underrepresented minorities Pre-College Programs Determine if pre-college programs are having the intended effect Assessment strategies 2

Pre-College Programs Summer residential programs that bring high school students to campus for: career exploration academic preparation skill building social relationship & networking 3

Purpose Pilot a common assessment tool and explore and describe the outcomes of 2 separate pre-college programs: Molecular Agriculture Summer Institute (MASI) Purdue Agribusiness Science Academy (PASA) And participating high school students : Motivation to engage in the program and activities Agricultural career interests Views of agriculture Future educational aspirations 4

Research Questions 1. To what extent where students in the two pre-college programs motivated to engage in the pre-college programs and activities? 2. To what extent where students in the two pre-college programs interested in agricultural careersbefore and after the pre-college programs? 3. What were students views of agriculture before and after the participating in the pre-college programs? 4. What were students future educational aspirations six to eight months after participating in the pre-college programs? 5

Literature Review Non-agriculture students had increase in self-efficacy & career interest in agriculture (Settle et al, 2012) Increased understanding of food, agriculture, & natural resources (Foster & Savala, 2012) Higher awareness of agriculture one year after the program (Ortega, 2011) Positive effect on science career interest (Markowitz 2004) 6

Racial and Ethnic Minorities in STEM Model (REM STEM) 7 Museus et al., 2011

Racial and Ethnic Minorities in STEM Model (REM STEM) Early dispositions toward STEM (Interest, self-efficacy, aspirations, expectations Early exposure to STEM careers 8

Operationalized REM STEM Model Demographics & Personal Characteristics Interest in Agricultural Careers Disposition Toward Agriculture -Views -Interest Future Educational Aspirations -Intention to apply Early exposure to Agriculture -Pre-college Experience Career Choice Views of Agriculture 9

Theoretical Framework Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985) Identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as factors influencing motivation Informed the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, which measures: Interest/enjoyment Value/usefulness Perceived competence Importance/effort 10

Research Design Exploratory, descriptive study Limited ability to make causal conclusions Mixed methods Sequential mixed model Quantitatively driven with qualitative support Data collection instruments: Questionnaires quan. Interviews- quan. & qual. Variables: Motivation to engage in the programs Agricultural career interests Views of agriculture 11

Participants 13 26 high school students from the 2015 Molecular Agriculture Summer Institute (MASI) high school students from the 2015 Purdue Agribusiness Science Academy (PASA) Selection based on: Length: 1 week or longer Audience: high school students 12

Purdue Agribusiness Science Academy (PASA) High School Summer Institute Molecular Agriculture Summer Institute (MASI) Academic preparation Career exploration Students Students 27 students (26 participated in study) 13 students Social relationship building Grades 10, 11, 12 Grades 11 &12 Underrepresented minorities Skill building Program Program 2 weeks 1 week Exploratory Lab-based 3 academic tracks 4 lab groups 13

Data Collection Timeline Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire Pretest Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire Posttest Follow-Up Phone Interview Beginning of the Pre- College Program End of the Pre- College Program 6-8 Months After the Pre-College Program 14

Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire Pretest Posttest Agricultural Career InterestsViews of Agriculture Agricultural Career Interests Views of Agriculture Motivation to Engage in the Pre- College Program 15

Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire AGRICULTURAL CAREER INTERESTS 13 # of items Source Ag Discovery Camp Questionnaire (Ortega et al., 2011) Sample Items I am interested in working with animals. I am interested in working with natural resources. Scale 5-point 16

Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire VIEWS OF AGRICULTURE # of items 15 Source Agricultural Awareness Survey (Knobloch et al., 1997) Sample Items Agriculture is an environmentally sustainable industry. Agriculture is economically profitable. Scale 5-point 17

Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire MOTIVATION TO ENGAGE IN THE PROGRAM # of items 4 subscales: Interest/Enjoyment (7 items) Value/Usefulness (7 items) Perceived Competence (6 items) Effort/Importance (5 items) Source Intrinsic Motivation Inventory Informed by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan 1985). Sample Items I would be willing to do this again because it has some value to me. I enjoyed this pre-college program very much. Did it engage & create interest? Scale 5-point 18

Instrument Validity & Reliability Items adapted from other instruments Expert panels Pilot tested Factor Analysis Cronbach s alpha post-hoc reliability coefficients Determined whether questionnaire components were reliable within the datasets Motivation .83 Agricultural Career pretest = .70; posttest = .52 Views of Agriculture pretest = .88; posttest = .95 19

Follow-Up Phone Interviews 3 Questions 3 Questions Agricultural Career Interests Reflect on Experience 7 MASI students 10 PASA students Future Educational Aspirations Views of Agriculture 2 Questions 7 Questions 20

Conclusion 1 Students reported that they were motivated to engage in the pre-college programs and activities. PASA MASI 5 4.68 5 4.62 4.48 4.44 4.44 4.35 4.5 4.17 4.5 3.92 4 4 3.5 3.5 3 3 2.5 2.5 2 2 1.5 1.5 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 Interest/ Enjoyment Value/ Usefulness Perceived Competence Effort/ Importance Interest/ Enjoyment Value/ Usefulness Perceived Competence Effort/ Importance 1 = none/not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = somewhat, 4 = a lot, 5 = absolutely 21

Conclusion 2 Students reported higher agricultural career interests after the pre-college programs 5 4.5 4 3.22 3.5 3.15 3.15 2.83 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 MASI Pretest MASI Post- Test PASA Pre- Test PASA Post- Test 1 = none/not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = somewhat, 4 = a lot, 5 = absolutely 22

Conclusion 3 Students described more positive views of agriculture after the pre-college programs 4.87 4.71 5 4.28 4.22 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 MASI Pretest MASI Posttest PASA Pretest PASA Posttest 23 1 = none/not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = somewhat, 4 = a lot, 5 = absolutely

Conclusion 4 Future Educational Aspirations 6-8 Months After the Pre-College Programs PASA MASI 70% attend a 4-year university 100% attend a 4-year university 70% probably will apply to Purdue, definitely will apply to Purdue, or already applied to Purdue 100% definitely will apply to Purdue or already applied to Purdue 100% would consider a career in agriculture 70% would consider a career in agriculture 24

Implications for Practice Program Design Opportunities to see how careers in agriculture combine science and working with people Pilot test of Pre-College Program Youth Questionnaire Further work on a common assessment to help provide descriptive impact of programs across the college 25

Recommendations for Future Research Increasing Programs and Participants Greater generalizability Increased construct validity of the instrument through factor analysis Pre-College Program Design Examining the pre-college programs at this level of lab groups/ academic track groups Programs of differing lengths Research Design More longitudinal data Other factors, including parents, teachers, friends, guidance counselors, and mentors Other items within the 7 constructs of the Racial and Ethnic Minorities in STEM Model 26

Acknowledgements Committee members- Dr. Knobloch, Dr. Dotterer, and Dr. Joly MASI and PASA program coordinators- Amy Jones and Myron McClure 27