Designing An Undergraduate Ornamental Crop Production Course That Integrates Crop Monitoring, Data Collection, and Team-Based Decision Making

Laboratory-based classes in ornamental crop production where students have the opportunity to grow plants in a greenhouse are essential for undergraduates interested in commercial horticulture production.  Prospective employers of ornamental plant producers also expect students to have the skill set necessary to implement current crop management practices to meet crop quality specifications, in addition to having the interpersonal skills to work as part of a production team.  Frequently, students in crop production courses are assigned a variety of greenhouse crops to grow throughout the semester using minimal data to guide their decision-making during production.  However, primary potted flowering crops such as the poinsettia require very intense management to produce a crop that meets current commercial standards.  Total crop management (TCM) is a hands-on and decision-making horticulture course designed to allow students to integrate collected data from the greenhouse environment (light, temperature, relative humidity), plant growth (graphical tracking), media properties (pH and EC), irrigation water quality (pH and EC), and pest population monitoring, and use this data to make management decisions. The goal of HORT 49100 is to allow students to utilize TCM in the production of a high-quality finished crop of poinsettias. By the end of the class, students will understand how to collect and interpret relevant data, and make appropriate management decisions based on data to produce a uniform, high-quality, and marketable crop.  Students will be given pre- and post-course assessments to measure their understanding of TCM principles and practices.

Laboratory-based classes in ornamental crop production where students have the opportunity to grow plants in a greenhouse are essential for undergraduates interested in commercial horticulture production.  Prospective employers of ornamental plant producers also expect students to have the skill set necessary to implement current crop management practices to meet crop quality specifications, in addition to having the interpersonal skills to work as part of a production team.  Frequently, students in crop production courses are assigned a variety of greenhouse crops to grow throughout the semester using minimal data to guide their decision-making during production.  However, primary potted flowering crops such as the poinsettia require very intense management to produce a crop that meets current commercial standards.  Total crop management (TCM) is a hands-on and decision-making horticulture course designed to allow students to integrate collected data from the greenhouse environment (light, temperature, relative humidity), plant growth (graphical tracking), media properties (pH and EC), irrigation water quality (pH and EC), and pest population monitoring, and use this data to make management decisions. The goal of HORT 49100 is to allow students to utilize TCM in the production of a high-quality finished crop of poinsettias. By the end of the class, students will understand how to collect and interpret relevant data, and make appropriate management decisions based on data to produce a uniform, high-quality, and marketable crop.  Students will be given pre- and post-course assessments to measure their understanding of TCM principles and practices.