Graduate assistant Sarah James and three faculty members from U of A's Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology attended the American Association for Agricultural Education annual meeting in North Carolina with the department combining for two national awards and 10 total presentations.

James was joined by assistant professor William Doss, associate professor Chris Estepp and university professor Don Johnson.

Johnson was named AAAE's National Outstanding Teacher for 2023. Doss was primary author on an article, "Determining the Effects of Response Mode and Incentives on Survey Response Rates of School-based Agricultural Education Teachers: An Experimental Study," named Outstanding Article for 2022 and published in the Journal of Agricultural Education.

In addition, Estepp, Johnson and graduate assistant Henry Akwah co-authored "Statistical Power in the Journal of Agricultural Education, 2012 - 2022," which was named a top 10 research poster from among 147 submissions.

The department, housed in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, was also represented by poster entries:

• "An Inaugural Career Development Event in Sustainable Agriculture" (Doss co-author)
• "Assessing Preservice SBAE Teacher Needs for Working with English Language Learners" (Doss co-author)
• "Institutional Representation at AAAE Conferences (Doss, Estepp, Johnson, James co-authors)
• "Professional Development Needs of SBAE Teachers Regarding Suicide and Suicide Interventions," (Johnson co-author)
• "Building Professional Collaboration and Identity Through Pre-service Agricultural Education Professional Development," (Estepp co-author)

Research paper presentations included:

• "Using Self-efficacy Theory to Design Arduino Instruction for Novices: A Replication Study," (Estepp, Johnson, department head George Wardlow co-authors)
• "Suicide and School-based Agricultural Education in the Southern Region - A Multistate Exploratory Study," (Johnson co-author)
• "Determining Professional Development Needs of School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers for Working with English Language Learners," (Doss, Estepp co-authors)
• "Describing Instructional Method Use for Early, Middle, and Late Career Stage School-based Agricultural Education Teachers," (Doss co-author)

AECT includes concentrations in agricultural communication, agricultural education, agricultural leadership and agricultural systems technology management; an M.S. in agricultural and extension education; and a Ph.D. in agricultural, food and life sciences with an AECT concentration.

AAAE is a professional organization focused on agricultural communications, education, extension and leadership.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.