INNOVATION ON SMALL FARMS THROUGH A PROJECT-BASED LEARNING CURRICULUM

The increasing use of technology in agriculture, coupled with the increasing difficulty of farming economically on small farms increases the challenges for the farmers in the northeast, but also increases the opportunities for students trained in a wide variety of disciplines to enter a career where they can apply their knowledge to pressing needs. Accordingly, our goals in developing this project-based curriculum that engages farmers, professionals, students and faculty from multiple disciplines encompass building community, developing effective curriculum, and effecting institutional change:1. Aid in the development of innovations for small farms2. Build new partnerships between the SOE, CAHNR, farmers, and farm-focused non-profit groups that could lead to future research or community development.3. Develop relationships between agricultural businesses and students that have the potential to lead to transformative career opportunities, products or business development4.Develop online modules and in-class activities to enable multi-disciplinary teams to integrate knowledge on complex agricultural systems and develop professional skills.5. Implement inclusive teaching practices in a project-based learning curriculum6. Broaden the perspective of students to future job prospects that are less traditional in their major course of study. 7. Develop a specialization in agricultural technology for multi-disciplinary engineering students that bridges curriculum from the school of engineering and the college of agriculture.8. Increase the diversity of students that will pursue postsecondary education in food and agricultural sciences.