Traditional and Non-Traditional Strategies to Increase Student Engagement and Motivation in Animal Science Education.

Abstract

Animal science educators face the unique challenge of engaging students in topics that can be scientifically rigorous, difficult for students to relate to their daily lives, and plagued with misconceptions. Three educational interventions are described herein which serve to promote engagement, motivation, and identity development among animal science students. These projects were grounded in experiential learning theory, constructionist and constructivist theories of teaching and learning, and theories of visual and verbal model-based reasoning. Studies were undertaken in a food microbiology course, a nutritional physiology course, and an industry connections minimester course. Students in animal science identify lack of hands-on experience as a challenge to their educational success. By participating in an experiential learning minimester course where they received firsthand experience in the livestock industry, students gained a broader vision of available careers, greater motivation to pursue their career goals, and a desire to share what they have learned with others. Similar courses could generate similar successes in motivating and preparing students to enter the livestock production industry. Drawing to learn in nutritional physiology deepened understanding and generated confidence among students in their ability to explain complex nutritional concepts and make comparisons among species. This activity was made more effective with the inclusion of a writing component asking students to combine both visual and verbal cognitive processes to increase comprehension. Similar combinations of visual and verbal modeling of complex physiological processes would likely be useful in other biological disciplines. Finally, incorporation of a student created digital reference in food microbiology following constructionist and constructivist design principles contributed to development of a science identity among students as they engaged cognitively and emotionally with course material. Students also cultivated their self-efficacy and perceived agency, promoting development of identity as scientists. As learning can be defined as construction of knowledge leading to “becoming”, identity development is an important component of learning in STEM disciplines. Educators who choose to implement similar projects should consider that constructionist learning principles must be combined with elements of social constructivism to adequately scaffold learning and collaboration among students to glean the greatest results from the learning activity.