What is the Future of Agricultural Education?
- Kevan Lamm
- Jul 17, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 14
Interdisciplinary education is more important than ever as it relates to agriculture and food systems. This industry and associated disciplines are only getting more complex as the demands to feed the global population keep expanding. Implementing robust agricultural practices demands a blend of knowledge from a wide range of fields.
Embracing interdisciplinary education isn’t only about giving students knowledge from various fields, although that is important. It’s also about teaching them to lead effectively across the boundaries of these varied disciplines. In this post, I would like to quickly summarize the results from research that I conducted along with a team of colleagues. The study points to the value of flexible, nimble, lifetime learners who are ready to address the critical issues they encounter.
Key Insights from Interdisciplinary Education Research:
Learning Goal Orientation: Interdisciplinary programs are naturally attractive to students who are intrinsically motivated to learn. This connects nicely with other findings showing that a strong foundation in learning goal orientation significantly influences educational pursuits.
Program Design and Implementation: When educators understand the goals of their students, they can more effectively meet their needs and improve engagement and effectiveness.
Student Interests in Agricultural Topics: Curriculum development can, and should, be informed by current student interests. For example, students may be engaged with a range of issues from nutrition and human disease management, to economics and plant disease management. Monitoring interests across disciplines can offer opportunities to engage and make connections.
Challenges and Opportunities:
Curriculum Development: An opportunity exists to increase engagement and the effectiveness of learning by developing instructional materials that better match the interests students bring with them to class.
Tailored Educational Paths: Courses that prioritize personal development and practical application should be considered. These courses may benefit from moving away from traditional content recall to engage students who are motivated by the goal of learning.
Early Introduction and Broad Inclusion: It’s important to introduce interdisciplinary education early in the learning process. This could help students see the many career paths that are available to them. Such an approach may improve engagement among those who don’t already have a specific career goal in mind.
The critical issues that impact the agricultural and food systems aren’t going to get any simpler. That reality emphasizes the importance of moving toward interdisciplinary education as soon as possible. We need to adapt our educational frameworks to better align with the realities that students will face when they leave the classroom. Graduates should be prepared for both the challenges of today and the inevitable changes of tomorrow. Please be sure to share your insights using the comments below. I've also included the original article if you would like to learn more.
DiBenedetto, C. A., Lamm, K. W., Lamm, A. J., & Myers, B. E. (2016). Examining undergraduate student attitude towards interdisciplinary education. Journal of Agricultural Education, 57(1), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2016.01167
It's absolutely crucial to focus on integrating diverse fields and building young people with innovative mindsets to tackle global challenges like food security, especially in developing countries.