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Article
Identifying Challenges Pre-service Teachers Encountered When Teaching Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Coursework during Student Teaching
Journal of Agricultural Education
  • Trent Wells, Southern Arkansas University
  • Mark S. Hainline, Iowa State University
  • Scott W. Smalley, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
1-1-2019
DOI
10.5032/jae.2019.03128
Abstract

Student teaching is the capstone experience in an agricultural teacher preparation program (Edgar, Roberts, & Murphy, 2011). During student teaching, pre-service teachers work with cooperating teachers to learn to effectively deliver instruction (Feiman-Nemser & Buchmann, 1987) on topics such as agriscience, agricultural mechanics, horticultural science, and so forth, to secondary students. School-based agricultural education (SBAE) also includes instruction in applied academic content (Stubbs & Myers, 2015). Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) has emerged in recent years to provide engaging, academically-reinforced coursework for SBAE teachers and students across the United States (CASE, n.d.a). Thus, it is reasonable to expect pre-service teachers may be responsible for teaching CASE coursework at their student teaching placement sites. We sought to identify challenges that pre-service teachers may encounter when teaching CASE coursework. Through two face-to-face focus group interviews conducted at both the mid-semester and end-of-semester student teacher meetings, we identified three primary themes: 1) accessibility to resources; 2) influence of cooperating teachers; and 3) applicability of coursework based on local needs. We concluded these pre-service teachers encountered both positive and negative experiences related to teaching CASE coursework and recommended that pre-service teachers be adequately prepared to engage in CASE coursework prior to student teaching.

Comments

This article is published as Wells, T., Hainline, M., & Smalley, S. (2019). Identifying challenges pre-service teachers encountered when teaching curriculum for agricultural science education (CASE) coursework during student teaching. Journal of Agricultural Education, 60(3), 128-140. doi: 10.5032/jae.2019.03128.

Copyright Owner
American Association for Agricultural Education
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Trent Wells, Mark S. Hainline and Scott W. Smalley. "Identifying Challenges Pre-service Teachers Encountered When Teaching Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Coursework during Student Teaching" Journal of Agricultural Education Vol. 60 Iss. 3 (2019) p. 128 - 140
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/scott-smalley/21/