Bridging the Gap between College Algebra and Agronomic Math

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Date
2017-04-01
Authors
Summers, Haleigh
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Honors Projects and Posters
University Honors Program

The Honors project is potentially the most valuable component of an Honors education. Typically Honors students choose to do their projects in their area of study, but some will pick a topic of interest unrelated to their major.

The Honors Program requires that the project be presented at a poster presentation event. Poster presentations are held each semester. Most students present during their senior year, but may do so earlier if their honors project has been completed.

This site presents project descriptions and selected posters for Honors projects completed since the Fall 2015 semester.

Department
Agronomy
Abstract

Practitioners of agronomy are often faced with scenarios involving math during their daily activities. Students studying agronomy are required to take college algebra but often miss the opportunity to bridge the gap between general algebra and agronomic math. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of two delivery methods for teaching agronomic math. Videos and posters were created to demonstrate: fertilizer application, unit conversions, irrigation, yield estimation, and growing degree day calculation. We predicted using videos to teach agronomic math would be more effective by providing both auditory and visual teaching methods, while posters only provide visual elements. The videos also allowed students to control when and where they learned. To assess the effectiveness of the videos and posters, four sections of an agronomy lab: Field Application and Problem Solving in Crop Production, were divided into two groups. Both groups were given a pre-quiz and survey prior to starting the unit. Students in each group completed a handout corresponding to either the videos or posters. The following week, a graded quiz and anonymous survey were given. Quiz data showed that neither method was more effective. Survey results indicated students perceived using videos as more effective.

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