Synopsis Laboratory Reports: Effects on Student Learning and Curricular Benefits
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Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.
History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.
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1905–present
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- Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Engineering (parent college)
- Department of Industrial Education and Technology, (merged, 2004)
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Abstract
This study examined the effect on student learning of writing laboratory (lab) reports in the synopsis format versus the traditional format of the field of industrial technology, as well as the benefits of reduced instructor grading time and reduced student writing time. The synopsis lab report format, if able to provide students with an equally effective learning experience as the traditional lab report format while requiring less of an instructor’s time for grading and freeing up a significant amount of students’ out-of-class study time for other assignments, would be beneficial to instructors who choose to adopt it and to their students.
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This paper was presented at 2008 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, 22–25 June 2008, Pittsburgh, PA.