Philosophy of Experiential Learning
Through the AgriScience education program one experiences many topics through learning. A tool that AgriScience education use, to showcase what the students learned, are Supervised Agricultural Experiences Program.
The Supervised Agricultural Experince Program (SAE) is an integrated portion of the curriculum of AgriScience Education. There are many beneficial outcomes that the students can take advantage of when participating in the SAE program. The outcome that I find to be most beneficial is that students apply what is learned in the classroom to their SAE. With the students using the applications learned in class, they can see those lessons put into play during real situation.
A line in our FFA Moto is “ Learning to Do.” Learning to do is exactly what we practice in and out of the classroom. In the Classroom students learn the practicality and technologies how things and why things work. Outside the classroom, in the SAE program students have the opportunity to apply what is taught. For example: In class students are taught different techniques on how to dehorn cattle and the importance of that practice. If a student has a beef enterprise, they will be able to successful dehorn their cattle properly and manage the herd correctly.
There are many other opportunities through the class instruction , and incorporated in SAE’s for students to showcase what is learned in the classroom. Some of the opportunities that students can be successful in are record keeping, communication/networking , and work ethics.
Students have many outlets that they can explore through the SAE program. Something that all the experiences have in common is that they provide a way for students to track their progress, through records. There are many type of records that the students have access to when engaged in a SAE. Records allow the students to partake in real world applications while still in high school. The skills that they learn through record keeping, make students marketable. When they are able to practice these possible skills and tasks related to the job market they are more prepared for the task at hand, opposed to the other candidates.
A great skill that the class, FFA ,and SAE encompass is communication. There are many variations on how communication come into play with everyday encounters. When a student goes to the local Co-Op for feed and supplies for their SAE they come into contact with sales reps and other employees of the store. Students also get communication skills when participating in various FFA Activities. Such Activities include CDE’s , Conventions, and FFA students ran programs. With these different aspects students are immersed in these activities , they have the opportunity to network with other, and gain better social skills. With strong communication skills it allows the students to be more desirable for the future opposed to students that aren’t a member of the FFA.
As stated before there are multitudes of paths that students can explore through the Agricultural Education and SAE Programs. A factor that is also demonstrated in both areas is work ethic. All students develop some type of work ethic through our programs. Students demonstrate what their work ethic is in the classroom, and often times that ethic transfers to their SAE. The design of the classroom instruction and the SAE allow students to develop these ethics based upon the dynamic of their SAE. Work ethic also plays a role into how our students perform with formal instruction. When we set a target for the students to reach like being able to develop five goals in our Plan Of Practices portion of the record book, students see the end in sight. Visualizing the end result, students are able to experience what goal setting is like. The path to reach that goal drives work ethic. Students are going to work harder and more when they are working towards something that interests them. The FFA Award Program sets similar goals for the students to reach. The goals for FFA Awards are incorporated in every aspect of the program. Awards or end goals are put into place by SAE’s and CDE’s. Through the combination of them both students can receive higher levels of degrees. In CDE’s students can achieve with a team or individually high ranks. With knowing what could be achieved through these different components student will be willing to work harder and be more inclined to participate.
Interest is another reason that experiential learning is important. In a typical classroom, such as math, students are placed in that class based upon skill level. In an AgriScience Classroom, there are a wide variety of learners and interests. The variety of learners and interests is a huge reason why experiential learning is so important. When we allow our students to complete “projects” based upon their interests we have a better chance of reaching the students with the information that is needed, because they are focused on something that is important to them. With the wide variety of learners we are able to capture all students. Letting the student work through the problem and figuring out for themselves you will capture the rest of the students in the class. They are able to retain all the information needed because the students are experiencing the lesson rather than just listening to what the teacher knows about the topic.
Students are also able to choose CDE’s based upon interests. This not only allows them to be engaged in such activities and reach those goals, but also explore possible career options in agriculture.
Experiential learning is not only used in Agricultural classroom, it just fits the need more than other subject areas. Students are able to showcase their leanings in non formal ways , but in the end they are reaching the goal in sight.