AECT Groups Attend Two Education Conferences, Claim Multiple Honors

Faculty members, students and former students from U of A's Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology attended two conferences this summer with several earning honors and awards.

Chris Estepp, professor of agricultural education; Don Johnson, University Professor of agricultural systems and coordinator of the agricultural systems technology management program; Catlin Goodwin, assistant professor; Donna Graham, University Professor of agricultural education; and Casandra Cox, assistant professor of agricultural communications, attended the American Association for Agricultural Education annual meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, in May.

Estepp, graduate assistants Billie Patterson and Dustie Koudela, and former GA Natasha Hightower from agricultural economics and agribusiness attended the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture national meeting in Starkville, Mississippi, in June.

Highlights from the AAAE meeting are Estepp being inducted as a Fellow, Graham received emeritus membership into the society and Cox graduated from AAAE's Leadership Academy.

Highlights from the NACTA meeting are Hightower winning the Master's Degree Graduate Student Teaching Award; and Estepp, Johnson, former faculty member Will Doss and Sarah James of Jacksonville High School winning the E.B. Knight Journal Award for the journal article "Does Sense of Belonging Predict Student Retention in a College of Agriculture."

Presentations at AAAE:

• "Predicting School-Based Agricultural Education Teacher Engagement in Promoting Agricultural Education Teaching as a Career" - Emmanuel Sekyere - U of A; Doss - Texas Tech University; Krysti Kelley - Texas Tech University; Estepp - U of A
• "Effects of a Hands-on Workshop on Teachers Confidence and Knowledge for Teaching Microcontrollers: A Three-State Study" - Bradley Borges - Utah State University; Laura Rice - Penn State University; Joseph Furse - Utah State University; Michael Pate - Utah State University; Johnson - U of A
• "Exploring Retention and Satisfaction Among Arkansas County-Level Cooperative Extension Employees: A Job Embeddedness Perspective" - Rebecca Simon, Johnson, Steven Siegelin, Julie Robinson, Graham - UA System Division of Agriculture, U of A
• "The Paths to Developing Teachers: Using Path Analysis to Analyze the Impacts of Teacher Preparation Program Characteristics on Preservice Teacher Completion Rates" - Donavan Phoenix, Marcus Martin, Becky Haddad, Kristen Olson -University of Nebraska - Lincoln and U of A
• "Integrating Automation Technology into Agriculture Sciences: Lessons Learned Across Three States" - Borges, Rice, Pate, Furse, Johnson;
• "Integrating Coding in Utah FFA Agriculture Technology and Mechanical Systems Career Development Event" - Borges, Rice, Pate, Furse, Johnson
• "Feeling the Weight of the Plate: A Buffet of Opportunities and Responsibilities for SBAE Teachers" - Goodwin - U of A; Tiffany A. Marzolino - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Donavan Phoenix - University of Nebraska - Lincoln

From the NACTA meeting:

• "Comparison of a Hands-on Versus Simulation Activity in Teaching Microcontrollers" - Johnson, Doss and Estepp
• "Making Learning Accessible for All: The Use of Universal Design for Learning in a Large Enrollment Entomology Course" - Jones; Suzanne Kucharczyk - U of A; and Estepp
• "Exploring Agricultural Pathways: An Analysis of Arkansas Community Colleges" - Hightower; Cox; Jill Rucker - U of A; Hunter P. Goodman - Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development, UA System Division of Agriculture
• "Crisis Leadership Under Pressure: Communication Opportunities Revealed During a Campus Hoax" - Cox, Rucker and Koudela
• "Expanding Students' Perspectives Through a Multi-Institutional Collaboration in an Agricultural Issues Course" - Patterson; Estepp; Becky Raulerson - University of Florida
• "Do Self-Efficacy and Metacognitive Learning Strategies Predict Students' Expected and Actual Exam Performance?" - Adnan Alrubaye - U of A poultry science; Doss; Estepp; Johnson

AECT is part of U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

AAAE is a national society for social science scholarship in food, agriculture and natural resources.

NACTA is professional society that focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning agriculture and related disciplines at the postsecondary level. Members are from two-year and four-year colleges.

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 Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X 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.