Ferguson College of Agriculture

The number of agriculture teachers seeking  alternative pathways to  certification is continually growing. With this, agricultural education faculty and students at Oklahoma State University are working on a project to help these teachers earn certifications.

 

This project is funded by the CHS Foundation. OSU’s Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence is a key partner in this effort with the goal to  build a series of micro-credential courses to meet state requirements for alternative teacher certification. A micro-credential is a condensed course which offers specific learning opportunities for students, relevant to what they teach. Once completed, micro-credentials are transcribed by OSU.

 

Robert Terry Jr., OSU agricultural education professor, has been working on this project since its inception. He said the series of five or six micro-credential courses will focus on subject area pedagogy for agriculture teachers. They will be accessed through Canvas, the online learning platform used at OSU. Each course will be organized into modules that include readings, video lectures, and interviews with respected teachers, he said. Each module will have an assignment and a quiz to serve as a learning check for participants.

 

“We have been really careful to pick assignments that will help the person do their job better,” Terry said.

 

The first course is Foundations of Teaching School-based Agricultural Education. Each module in the course addresses content similar to what is taught to agricultural education students at OSU. Terry said these courses can be used either for credit toward a certification requirements and for graduate degree credit, if they so desired.

 

For some students, “this could be a step toward earning a master of science in ag education and leadership in our department,” Terry said.

 

Along with Terry and other agricultural education faculty members at OSU, Morgan Sweeney, a current agricultural education doctoral student, is helping with this project.

 

“The micro-credential courses will serve as an effective resource for alternatively certified agriculture teachers, providing a concise, targeted overview of the essential knowledge required for successful instruction in School-Based Agricultural Education,” Sweeney said. “I am excited to be working on this project as an alternatively certified agriculture teacher myself because I recognize the value it offers and I am passionate about creating something I wish I had when I first began.”

 

To learn more about the OSU Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership or the micro-credential, visit the website.