Experiential learning in the animal sciences: effect of 13 years of a beef cattle management practicum.

As the source of students shifts from rural to urban and suburban communities, students entering agricultural programs have less practical livestock experience. The career goals indicated by most of these students require knowledge of and experience with practical applications of their course work. The objective of this study was to examine the profile of students enrolled in an experiential beef cattle course 1) to describe the demographic and occupational characteristics of students enrolled and 2) to assess the perceived value of course activities to graduates completing the course as related to their skill attainment and career development. The questionnaire was sent to all 312 students who were enrolled in the course from 1983 to 1996. Over 61% of the respondents indicated they had enrolled in the course to gain experience working with beef cattle. Over 39% took the course to enhance their application to the College of Veterinary Medicine. When asked to rate the value of the course, as it related to skill development, they noted it was most helpful in teaching cattle handling skills, growth performance measurement, live animal evaluation, nutritional management, carcass and meat product value determination, and breed identification.

A comparison of learning styles and demographic characteristics of students enrolled in selected animal science courses.

Learning style is the method an individual uses to concentrate and to process and retain new information. This developmental set of characteristics can make identical instruction effective for some learners and ineffective for others. Even though learners are capable of mastering the identical information or skills, if they are taught through methods that complement their preferred learning style, analytical and global learners have different environmental and physiological needs. An important relationship between learning style and instruction is that individuals are likely to teach the way they prefer to learn. The objectives of this study were to identify learning styles of students enrolled in selected animal science courses. The majority (58%) of students enrolled in selected courses preferred a field-independent learning style (analytical). With respect to gender and learning style, there was no difference between males and females. Classification of high school demographics showed students from rural areas preferred a field-dependent learning style (global) and students from suburban or urban areas were more likely to prefer a field-independent style. There was a difference in the preferred learning style of animal science faculty (field-dependent) and those students who declared their majors as animal science and preveterinary medicine (field-independent). The inverse relationship was found between dairy/poultry science faculty and students. Faculty should be aware of their own learning style and the learning styles of their students so they may facilitate learning for all students.