"The Evidence"

    While given the task to design a syllabus seemed easy, since I've seen dozens of syllabi through my years of education, it was not as simple as I originally imagined. I deeply appreciate the commitment to "practical and useful" work that is requested from this class. As an Extension Educator, I value useful material that I can apply to my career. With this being said, in my 6 years in Extension, I have never seen a Extension Program Syllabus. I believe this is the mythical creature of PSU Programming that I was on a hunt to find, or even just get a peek at.

   Consulting with co-workers and the instructors of this class, I thought of what might be helpful to clients who use Extension Programming services and how it would be a helpful document to them.
This seemed to flow nice with keeping main concepts, such as course overview, content, contacts and schedule in line with a syllabus. I did face some challenges though, how do I evaluate a non-exam program? How do I have an attendance policy for an optional, free program? How do I motivate the learners without grades?

        Peer review to get ideas accomplished!                 Image: Lynda.com

   During the "Snap Shot" phase of speed peer review, I received a lot of great feedback from my colleagues. While some aspects of the syllabus followed a typical layout, I had areas that were unique to the Extension Program area. All five of my classmates gave insightful feedback on areas to clarify or build upon based on their brief overview of my draft. I was partnered up with Shelby for the "Deep Drive" in which she spent thoughtful amount of time reviewing and making helpful suggestions. Shelby advised on areas from a different perspective, which helped me carefully revise the syllabus draft. It was very helpful, since Shelby was in 4-H while she lived in Texas, so her comments were very constructive and helped me clearly design an Extension Program Short Course syllabus.

   Working through the revisions and getting outside perspective was extremely helpful while creating the final draft of the syllabus. There were was plenty of feedback from six classmates that helped drive my creative thinking process for what to include in an Extension Syllabus. While working within Extension, not all feedback was completely applicable, but with some creative rationale it become worked into some sections of the syllabus.

Designing a Syllabus

A syllabus is probably going to be a student's first impression of the class in terms of what is going to happen and what is expected of each student. Therefore, its important that you have everything you need to say down on that document so that you draw in the appropriate students for your course and even allow students the ability to plan how they would like to tackle the course material.
Given my experience in entomology along with my inexperience in course design, I stuck with something I was familiar with and interested in teaching others about. I chose a course dissecting insects' role in our society, along with common misconceptions, fact about insect life-cycles and physiology, and other general perceptions people may have about insects.

 This course is meant to be an entry-level course that grabs the attention of new scholars who are interested in insects, but never had the opportunity to study them and aren't comfortable taking the typical intro course.

Unfortunately for myself, I wasn't able to attend the class where we exchanged syllabi. However, I had a vast resource pool that I was able to dip into: my previous courses. I looked at each of my courses I enjoyed the most, looked at their syllabi, and wrote down all the important policies, tidbits of information, and scheduling that I felt like were very useful for me to have and important in outlining the course's expectations.

The 'deep-dive' showed that both Xiyu and myself had a pretty good idea about what we thought would be important to include on our syllabus and what we wanted to teach a course on. With a few minor points here and there for us to fix, and a schedule added to my own syllabus, we both seemed to have very strong syllabi that I would love to have for any course I'd take.

Writing and revising and revising and revising a syllabus

Sitting down to write a syllabus for a theoretical class I might someday teach was not necessarily as easy as I originally thought it would be.  The process started by me simply spending so much time thinking about exactly what type of class I would teach.  Given my background in bioenergy, I decided to choose a class focused on this subject.  Then, I had to decide in that vast and wide topic what exactly I would hope to cover within a semester course.

            It was interesting to see how everyone’s syllabus compared to each other’s and to my own.  Dr. Curry really helped me to see the areas of my syllabus that could be toned down and those that needed more information.  He also emphasized to me the importance of having a late work/exam policy, which I had not fully considered before as how the student could claim that they can turn something in whenever they want, given that I did not provide an explicit policy.

            Working with Mariana on the “deep-dive” portion of the assignment, I was able to again see a syllabus given on a different subject than mine which allowed me to better self-evaluate my own and make sure that flow and clarity were present.  It was also nice to have the rubric for the deep-dive portion, as it allowed for looking for explicit details within the syllabus and checking whether they were there or not and whether they needed some more work or clarification.  Mariana provided me with some really great constructive points that I feel helped me to strengthen my final syllabus!

Student Introduction: Jesse Starkey, Entomology M.S. Student

My name is Jesse Starkey and I'm in my final semester of my M.S. program in the Entomology department. I'm being advised by Dr. Etya Amsalem on my work that focuses on the evolution of reproductive division of labor in social insects.

Originally from Montebello, New York, my interests in entomology did not begin when I was younger (although I was interested in animals and the environment). Starting out interested in birds of prey, wildlife management, and the reintroduction of native species to the U.S, my interests shifted towards entomology after participating in a summer REU (research experience for undergraduates) at the Mountain Lake Biological Station where I was able to work with my current favorite insect, the bumble bee.

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Sustainability Science from Cornell University. During the latter part of my undergraduate career I became interested in the evolution of social behavior in various systems, insects being the most prominent. However, with little to no experience working with insects in general I figured it would be a good idea to put myself out there and work with the system before I journey forward with my education.

After completion of my degree I worked with Purina on developing a alternative honey bee protein supplement that has since made it to market as Hearty Bee. Since then I've returned to my roots as a budding entomologist and began studying aspects of the evolution of eusociality in insects, which led me to the Amsalem lab were I currently work.

I'm excited for this course because as a scientist I have an obligation, that often goes ignored, to convey the ideas and discoveries in the field to friends, family, and the community in a way that facilitates interest and growth. This class seems like a great opportunity to hone my ability to do this.

Student Introduction: Matthew McVey, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Ph.D. student

Hello everyone,

My name is Matthew McVey and I am in the first semester of my Ph.D. program in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.  I am being advised by Dr. Daniel Ciolkosz and am hoping to focus my research within some area of biofuel production. 

I am from Little Rock, Arkansas.  When I began my undergraduate studies at the University of Arkansas in 2010 I actually majored in creative writing.  After one semester, I realized majoring in creative writing might not provide the best opportunities and decided to switch my major.  My freshman roommate was an engineering major and convinced me to give it a try.  I chose to join the department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made!  In the summer of 2013 I took part in a summer research program at Auburn University.  It was because of this research program that I solidified my decision to go to graduate school. 

In January of 2016 I began my studies towards an M.S. degree here at Penn State (never in my life did I think I would live in Pennsylvania).  After successfully completing my Master’s degree at the end of 2017, I moved out of the state to pursue my Ph.D. and be a little closer to home at the University of Tennessee.  I soon realized that this was not a good fit for me and decided to look for job opportunities in Arkansas.  While applying for jobs, I was talking to my M.S. advisor (Dr. Ciolkosz who would eventually also be my Ph.D. advisor) and he informed me that there was funding available for a Ph.D. student.  So, after getting married this past October, my wife and I packed everything and moved back to Pennsylvania!  I am very excited to be back here in PA and given another opportunity to obtain my Ph.D.

I am really looking forward to this class as I have always had an interest in teaching and hope to use what I learn in this class towards my dream goal of moving back to my home state and becoming a professor focused on bioenergy at the University of Arkansas! 

Student Introductions: Devin Cunningham, M.S. Student, Animal Science

 " I didn't grow up on a farm" is the shocking answer I give when I am asked how I got to be passionate about agriculture, livestock, and animal sciences.

My story isn’t the usual, "I grew up on fifth-generation dairy farm in southeast Pennsylvania and everyone in my family farms, so here I am". My story is, no one in my family farms. My dad’s manager for custom kitchen and bathroom designer company and my mom worked as a teacher's aide. The closest thing to agriculture in my household was whatever was in the refrigerator. But as a small child, cliché of course, I loved animals. So, at the age of 8, I joined the local 4-H program and that is where my journey into agriculture began.

I work full time for Penn State Extension as a 4-H Educator in Dauphin County. Dauphin County is home to the state's capital, Harrisburg, along with the sweetest place on earth, Hershey. I started in Extension in June 2013, after graduating from Delaware Valley University with a dual degree in Livestock Science and Dairy Science. I was first located in Delaware County, PA, which is the neighboring county to Philadelphia. While there, I was the 4-H Educator and Farm Manager of a unique educational farm. These opportunities allowed me to teach urban youth about agriculture, food production, animal sciences and much more through hands-on learning experiences. Eye-opening moments like these made me aware of the need for agriculture education to youth and adults.

While being close to my Alma Mater, I became a part-time adjunct professor teaching various courses including; Suburban Goat Production, Livestock Judging & Evaluation and Anatomy & Physiology. Working and teaching college-aged students was enjoyable and developed a personal goal to return to academia as an animal science professor. 

As I continue to work in Extension, I have become invested in my future, which would include continuing my education to further advancement within Penn State. I struggled to find a professor that would accept a part-time animal science master's student who wasn't located in State College. For my first three years, I kept trying to get into the master's program, but I heard a lot of no, it's impossible, it won't work, quit your job, etc. I transferred to Dauphin County, hoping that the hour and a half commute to State College would open a door for me. In January 2017, Dr. Troy Ott took me on as a part-time animal science graduate student in the field of bovine reproductive immunology. Since then, I have been commuting to campus for classes and lab work to pursue my dream of getting my master's degree. 

I’m looking forward to AEE 530 to learn, laugh and meet others passionate about sharing knowledge with others! 

Azlan Zahid, PhD Student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Hola!
"if you put your heart and soul into something, you keep at it, you can achieve it"

University Park, PA Fall-2018

Originally from the South of Asia, born and raised in the beautiful city of Lahore, which is in the mid-eastern part of Pakistan. Like every other developing country in the region, Pakistan's economy is also driven by agriculture with more than 70% of the population linked directly or indirectly to farming and related industries. Being raised in the farming community, no surprises, my interest in agriculture began to develop at a young age.

I was always fascinated by machines and never missed a chance to learn how mechanical systems work. I did my undergrad in 2013 from University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). I developed a keen interest in mechanical systems and utilization of renewable energy at farms. I have worked on renewable energy for master's thesis and in my project, I introduced a novel technique of heat recovery to the solar thermal system which results in increased efficiency of the system. 

I have joined the Penn State in Fall 2018 for Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. My research is focused on developing a robotic pruning system for apple trees to minimize the production cost considering variation in tree architecture, illumination condition, and topographic feature. The overall goal of my research is to make the apple production system sustainable.

During my graduate program at UAF, I felt convinced that my true liking and aptitude lies in research and teaching. I am currently working as Lecturer (sabbatical) in the Department of Farm Machinery and Power, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Technology, UAF since 2015. I worked there on machinery projects including precision/robotic agriculture systems. I have been teaching undergraduate students, and I am really looking forward to this class to learn; how to make teaching and learning more effective and interesting.