Student Perceptions of Hands-on Activities to Teach Vegetable Production

Hands-on learning is one of the key components of the Horticultural Science curriculum. The multifaceted function of institutional teaching gardens and farms in promoting student learning is increasingly recognized. In recent years, we have observed an evident increase of student engagement in active hands-on learning along with the rising enrollment in the major and minor programs as well as in the courses we offer in the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. This study was conducted to further identify student perceptions of hands-on learning activities, which mainly take place at the vegetable teaching garden on campus, and their impacts on student learning. A survey instrument using a 1-5 rating scale (1 = highly negative, 2 = slightly negative, 3 = no influence, 4 = slightly positive, and 5 = highly positive) was employed to allow student assess the influence of hands-on activities in class on various aspects of their learning. Students taking any of the four courses related to vegetable crop production during Fall 2015 were contacted by email about this online survey via Qualtrics, and a total of 126 responses were received. Over 90% of the respondents indicated positive impacts of different hands-on activities on acquisition of knowledge in the area relating to the activity, providing them new technical skills in horticulture, devoting their time to be outdoors connecting with nature, and overall motivation in horticulture. Approximately 89% of the respondents reported positive influence of hands-on activities on their interest in the discipline. In addition, more than 75% (less than 90%) of the participants perceived positive effects of class activities in the teaching garden on skills related to team work, interest in guided-research in the horticultural sciences, interest in courses in future semesters that take place directly in the teaching garden focusing primarily on hands-on activities, as well as gaining physical exercise. Interestingly, about 73% of the respondents stated positive impacts of these hands-on activities on inspiration to invent or develop something new or original. Approximately 71% of the respondents also responded positively regarding leadership skills. The positive impacts on writing and presentation skills were less received by students as the no influence response reached about 31%, although approximately 66% of the participants still responded positively. Results from this study provided insights into course and curriculum design and innovation in horticulture for enhancing student engagement and recruitment.