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Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science

Many animal science students have little exposure to working livestock production systems prior to college. As such, they can lack insight into day-to-day challenges and rationale behind decision making in these systems, opening the door for the adoption of misconceptions frequently promoted in the...

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Autores principales: Bowhay, Ciana M, Wickersham, Tryon A, Richardson, Ra’Sheedah, Dunlap, Kathrin A
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9162385/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35669948
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac054
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author Bowhay, Ciana M
Wickersham, Tryon A
Richardson, Ra’Sheedah
Dunlap, Kathrin A
author_facet Bowhay, Ciana M
Wickersham, Tryon A
Richardson, Ra’Sheedah
Dunlap, Kathrin A
author_sort Bowhay, Ciana M
collection PubMed
description Many animal science students have little exposure to working livestock production systems prior to college. As such, they can lack insight into day-to-day challenges and rationale behind decision making in these systems, opening the door for the adoption of misconceptions frequently promoted in the popular press. In addition, students identify a lack of first-hand knowledge and experience in the industry as a challenge to their educational success. Field trips stimulate interest and motivation, provide context for learning, and influence long-term career goals, but are underutilized in higher education. The potential impact of such experiences prompted the creation of the Texas Panhandle Beef Production Tour, a 2-credit hour compressed course. Students on this tour visited beef production sites in the Texas Panhandle ranging from cow-calf operations, to feedlots and packing plants. To cement learning through reflection, students responded to a series of questions before, during, and after visiting these sites to probe preconceptions, observations, and outcomes of the experience. We performed a retroactive qualitative evaluation of these reflections (n = 22) to determine cogent themes. Emergent themes included surprise at the intensive systems of data collection and management and the level of technology used at each site. Cattle were calmer and more comfortable than expected at the feedlots and packing plants. Students expressed new appreciation and understanding of course material and a desire to share their insights with others after completing the tour. Finally, participants gained a broader view of industry opportunities and returned with renewed motivation to pursue additional hands-on opportunities. Participation in this course provided valuable insight into the livestock production industry and motivated students to explore new career options and address their own preconceptions of the industry through independent inquiry. The creation of similar courses may be useful to address misconceptions, create personal connections with course material, and broaden career interests in animal science students.
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spelling pubmed-91623852022-06-05 Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science Bowhay, Ciana M Wickersham, Tryon A Richardson, Ra’Sheedah Dunlap, Kathrin A Transl Anim Sci Special Topic Many animal science students have little exposure to working livestock production systems prior to college. As such, they can lack insight into day-to-day challenges and rationale behind decision making in these systems, opening the door for the adoption of misconceptions frequently promoted in the popular press. In addition, students identify a lack of first-hand knowledge and experience in the industry as a challenge to their educational success. Field trips stimulate interest and motivation, provide context for learning, and influence long-term career goals, but are underutilized in higher education. The potential impact of such experiences prompted the creation of the Texas Panhandle Beef Production Tour, a 2-credit hour compressed course. Students on this tour visited beef production sites in the Texas Panhandle ranging from cow-calf operations, to feedlots and packing plants. To cement learning through reflection, students responded to a series of questions before, during, and after visiting these sites to probe preconceptions, observations, and outcomes of the experience. We performed a retroactive qualitative evaluation of these reflections (n = 22) to determine cogent themes. Emergent themes included surprise at the intensive systems of data collection and management and the level of technology used at each site. Cattle were calmer and more comfortable than expected at the feedlots and packing plants. Students expressed new appreciation and understanding of course material and a desire to share their insights with others after completing the tour. Finally, participants gained a broader view of industry opportunities and returned with renewed motivation to pursue additional hands-on opportunities. Participation in this course provided valuable insight into the livestock production industry and motivated students to explore new career options and address their own preconceptions of the industry through independent inquiry. The creation of similar courses may be useful to address misconceptions, create personal connections with course material, and broaden career interests in animal science students. Oxford University Press 2022-05-04 /pmc/articles/PMC9162385/ /pubmed/35669948 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac054 Text en © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Special Topic
Bowhay, Ciana M
Wickersham, Tryon A
Richardson, Ra’Sheedah
Dunlap, Kathrin A
Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
title Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
title_full Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
title_fullStr Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
title_full_unstemmed Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
title_short Texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
title_sort texas panhandle beef production tour, a high-impact compressed course in animal science
topic Special Topic
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9162385/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35669948
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac054
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