PARENT SESSION

(T227) THE TRANSITION BETWEEN TEACHING AN AGRICULTURE-BASED REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY COURSE AT A LAND GRANT INSTITUTION TO THAT OF A SMALL, PRIVATE, LIBERAL-ARTS UNIVERSITY.

Dixon, Alison¹, Inskeep, E. Keith ², Dailey, Robert², ¹ Wingate University, Wingate, NC² West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

ABSTRACT- Educators with agriculture-based reproductive physiology training often are faced with transitioning material to maintain the interests of diverse audiences. One such transition was the modification of an agriculture-based reproductive physiology course to fit the needs of students at a small, private, liberal-arts university. Students in the course were pre-professional students with little or no agriculture background. Class size was fewer than 20 students. Modification of lecture material and laboratories was necessary to incorporate material on human reproduction throughout the course and to familiarize liberal-arts students with agriculture-based topics. For example, teaching follicular development began from a primate standpoint and was then compared with livestock and litter-bearing species. Most topics were taught from a comparative aspect, with the exception of the last unit, which focused on human reproductive aging, disease, and assisted reproductive technology (ART). Laboratories were modified to provide a hands-on experience for students unfamiliar with agricultural procedures and to match limitations of the facilities and reduced budget. Networking was essential to developing the laboratory, as collaboration between the university and private livestock producers, veterinarians, and educators was necessary to provide adequate facilities and animals for topics such as palpation per rectum, ultrasonography, and estrous detection. One of the main objectives of this course was to introduce students to a variety of topics and literature surrounding reproductive physiology. A course web-site was developed to link students to supplementary materials, diagrams, animations, and review papers corresponding to each topic. Literature and current research were discussed, as students presented papers in a journal club setting. Student′s satisfaction with the course was assessed using end of the semester evaluations and comments.

KEY WORDS: teaching, reproductive physiology, higher education