A Case Study of How Modern Agricultural Education Programs May Be Designed to Support Innovative Agricultural Content

The agricultural industry is changing every day, and new innovations are being developed faster than educational resources can be developed. Secondary agricultural education is faced with the challenges of keeping up with the changes in the industry. Determining how to bring cutting edge innovative content to the classroom is difficult and without a clear vision of what is relevant it is impossible. The purpose of this case study was to determine how modern agricultural education programs may be designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The researcher focused on the planning theory of (Cervero and Wilson, 2006), as well as the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (Rogers, 2003) for the theoretical framework of the research. The case study used a qualitative approach to examine the phenomenological views of stakeholders and artifacts collected to support the innovative program design. This qualitative study used interviews to describe and find the meanings to how modern agricultural education programs may be designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content.

The findings of this study delivered a clear picture of this innovative agricultural education program. There were five categories and nine themes to emerge from the data collected, these categories and themes support the role the participants have played in the design and development of this innovative agricultural education program. The study showed that teachers were the key to a successful program. Teachers were then connected to professional development, program support, curriculum, and expectations of students at the end of their agricultural education program.