Several students and faculty members from U of A's Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology attended the recent American Association for Agricultural Education annual meeting in Kansas with one paper earning Outstanding Presentation honors and two posters earning top 10 research recognition.

The group attending the event hosted by Kansas State University in Manhattan included M.S. student Haylee Henry, recent Ph.D. graduate Henry Akway, assistant professor Will Doss, associate professor Chris Estepp and university professor Don Johnson.

The paper "Using ChatGPT with Novice Arduino Programmers: Effects on Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Programming Ability" by Johnson, Doss and Estepp was named one of five Distinguished Manuscripts at the conference and earned the Outstanding Presentation award.

The posters "Inservice Needs of Selected Arkansas Agriculture Teachers Related to Precision Agriculture" by Akwah, Johnson, department head George Wardlow, assistant professor Cengiz Koparan and crop science assistant professor Aurelie Poncet; and "School-based Agricultural Education Teachers' Support Needs" co-authored by Doss with faculty members at Oklahoma State University were both named Top 10 Research Poster.

Other paper presentations included:

• "Identifying Relationships and Differences Related to Arkansas FFA Chapter Performance in Career Development Events" by Doss, Estepp, Johnson and recent M.S. graduate Hiliary Rodgers
• "Does Sense of Belonging Predict Student Retention in a College of Agriculture?" by Estepp, Doss, recent M.S. graduate Sarah James and Johnson
• " Validation of the School-Based Agricultural Education Model of Support Instrument" by two faculty members at OSU and co-authored by Doss

Other posters presentations were:

• "Navigating Responsibility and Acceptance: Students' Engagement with GenAI Writing Tools" by Henry, assistant professor Casandra Cox and instructor Grace Vehige
• "Scholarly Metrics by Rank in the Agricultural Education Discipline" by Ph.D. student Marcus Martin, Estepp, Johnson and Doss
• "Using Generative AI to Solve Technical Problems: Student Results and Perceptions" by Vehige, Doss, Estepp and Johnson

In addition, Estepp was elected to serve as AAAE assistant treasurer, and Johnson conducted an invited session on teaching for graduate students attending the conference.

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

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