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Brooke Hall Final Project Edit 677
Brooke Hall Final Project Edit 677
Brooke Hall Final Project Edit 677
Brooke Hall
EDIT 677
Introduction 3
Review of Literature 4
Methodology 7
Analysis 9
Quantitative Data Analysis 9
Qualitative Data Analysis 9
Findings 14
References 15
2
Introduction
model of School-Based Agricultural Education Programs therefore all students must create,
implement and successfully keep records for an SAE. Record-keeping is a vital piece of this
process whether a student is enrolled in an agriculture class for one semester or their entire high
school career. Whether the SAE is classified as a placement at a local business or an individually
conducted research experiment, records must be maintained on how much time, money, and
skills are being used and learned throughout the process of the project.
As paper recordbooks have become less popular over the years, I chose to utilize an
electronic recordbook during my first year of teaching. This recordbook was drafted by another
agriculture educator in Google Sheets and allowed space for students to write journals, tally
hours and upload pictures. At the end of my first year of teaching, I was given the opportunity to
request funds on technology that would improve student experiential learning. My school used
these funds to purchase an annual subscription to the AET at the recommendation of several
Created by a high school agriculture teacher, the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET)
is a program that helps students expertly keep records of their SAE using written journals,
creating financial statements, uploading pictures, and utilizing other documenting tools. The
AET program is sold as a website and mobile application that schools can purchase a
subscription with to give all agriculture students access to a personalized account. Since this
subscription costs our school upwards of $600 a year, the question begs Does the use of AET
(The Agricultural Experience Tracker) lead students to keep more accurate and detailed records
for their SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) over a Google Sheets record book?
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Review of Literature
As the AET was only just created in 2007, there is not a plethora of research about the
program itself, but published journals on recordkeeping and experiential learning proved to be
helpful in identifying the needs of learners and designing this action-research project. For
decades, educators and stakeholders have recognized the importance of experiential learning, but
many, as Shaw (2013) mentions, fail to compliment this methodology with imperative reflection
and recordkeeping skills. This project is centered around the thought that if a sophisticated and
specific system such as AET is utilized, then students will create more detailed and accurate SAE
records.
Dorn (2016) notes that recordkeeping systems are a vital tool for organizations to remain
accurate, organized, and effective throughout the years. The systems being reviewed in this
article merely collected quantitative data in the form of hours while AET in comparison is a must
higher caliber program giving users the ability to keep several categories of quantitative and
qualitative data. While reviewing several systems, Dorn kept a focus on selecting systems that
were easily reviewable, user-friendly, and accomplished the goal of raising the caliber of records
As electronic record books are helpful tools, they are less valuable when users do not
have the ability to write quality logs. Glover (1974) notes that reading and writing skills can
experiences and hands-on learning labs. Although this article is nearly 50 years old, the theme of
vocational, now career and technical education, classes teaching students valuable life skills such
as recordkeeping is still needed and should be advocated for by all educators, no matter the
subject.
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Aside from needing writing skills to complete records, students also need to adopt
consistency in order to produce quality record books. Shaw (2013) notes that preservice teachers
struggled to accurately reflect on experiences due to a lack of dedication to weekly records and
journal logs. This study out of Australia was examining the behavior of student teachers while
utilizing electric forms of recordkeeping. At the beginning of the study, recordkeeping was
identified as a wonderful tool and doorway to reflection opportunities, but the purpose of the
study was to gauge the perception of recordkeeping over a designated period of time. Student
teachers being surveyed had inconsistent recordkeeping and it was concluded that external
factors, aside from the use of the technology itself aided in the lack of records kept. Post
interviews will help this research determine if external factors or internal factors, such as work-
flow of the AET website, deterred quality and consistent student SAE records.
As SAEs are comprised of both hands-on learning and reflection, educators must be trained on
effective techniques for introducing these complementary skills to students. Rolan & Fisher
(2016) teach through their article examples of projects for students to complete for their SAE.
Although this study was conducted within the bounds of a 4H program, it mirrors the same goals,
methods, and missions of the National FFA Organization and SAE (Supervised Agricultural
Experience) within school-based agricultural education programs. Research conducted with these
youth projects in 4H concluded that children were much more engaged with hands-on projects
All students in agriculture classes are required to have a SAEs so it is important that teachers take time to
showcase a variety of hands-on SAE project ideas. This article reinforces the theme that recordkeeping
skills are necessary to learn but must be paired with a stable and hands-on SAE or they will be difficult to
accurately describe.
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Authors Rubenstein & Thorn (2014) Authors recognized a lack of literature and direction
for teachers in advising students to have successful SAE programs. American Star finalists
(national winners for their SAE Programs) were interviewed to shed light on the necessities of an
effective SAE. Seven components were compiled after the study: goal planning/learner
learning/career planning, utilization of program partners, income from SAE program, personal
satisfaction, FFA participation, awards, and degree structure, hard work/personal growth, and
complete records. All 15 participants agreed that “complete records” are a key component of a
successful SAE. It was listed towards the end of this section that all participants had paper record
books (required to use during the interview) but several also utilized electronic versions of their
record books. Let it be noted that AET was created in 2007 and was beginning to gain traction
during the 2010s. Our study will not be evaluating the use of paper records as all SAE records
are now required to be submitted electronically for judging by the National FFA Organization
and this also closely models the standards of the modern-day agriculture industry.
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Methodology
Using a mixed-method research approach, this study was designed to gauge the feedback and
performance of students in order to test the effectiveness of the AET program successfully helping
students to keep more detailed and accurate records. As SAEs are a required component in equal fashing
in agriculture classes of all levels, this project was able to rely on historical data from my spring 2021
classes. These 3 classes were compared with a different 3 classes from spring 2022. The 2021 cohort
completed SAE recordkeeping using a Google Sheet created by a South Carolina agriculture teacher
while the 2022 cohort utilized the AET online program to log all records.
Utilizing a 60-point rubric split between 12 criteria, students’ SAE logs were evaluated on a 4-
week basis throughout both semesters. This rubric remained a control while the method of logging SAEs
is what changed as one group used Google Sheets while the other used the AET. Student scores produced
a quantitative data set that helps show how detailed and complete student logs were throughout the class.
A class-wide survey and selective follow-up interviews were conducted to garner the qualitative
data set. While all students completed the survey, a select group of 25 students who were a part of both
the historical group and control group was interviewed at the end of the research to specifically gain
insight on comparing their 2 experiences with SAE recordkeeping. Administered with 4 weeks remaining
in the semester, this survey asked students about their experience so far with utilizing the AET for SAE
recordkeeping. Students were asked the following questions and given space on the electronic Google
1. How many agriculture classes have you taken (including this semester)?
5. What do you not like about AET for logging SAE records?
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7. Have you used a Google Sheet in previous agriculture classes for SAE records?
8. If you answered yes to #7, which method do you prefer for recordkeeping? Why?
All questions were designed to lead students toward answering the research question of is AET a
useful tool for creating more detailed SAE records. Question #3 was used to anonymously gauge student
understanding of their SAE so that the small sample of students who were not participating correctly
would not be able to skew data and weigh in unfairly on a program that they have not properly acquainted
themselves with.
The survey was completed by all 76 students in this semester’s 3 agriculture classes. A larger
sample was available for the quantitative data as 155 student SAEs have been evaluated using the same
rubric between the historical and current classes. At the beginning of the action research, the 25 students
who were a part of both groups were asked to keep their past experience in mind this semester as they
considered and evaluated for themselves the effectiveness of the AET versus the Google Sheet. Each of
these students was asked the same 3 questions at the end of the research and asked to explain in as much
detail as possible their opinion on which method would best serve future students.
1. Which of the programs was more user-friendly for creating SAE records? Why?
2. Which of the programs was more user-friendly for reviewing SAE records? Why?
3. Which program would you recommend be used for future classes? Why?
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Analysis
the AET compared to spring 2021 using Google Sheets for recordkeeping. Growing from a class
average of 80 to 88 (Figure 2). Taking a deeper look, students were found to be more productive
with recordkeeping with the AET going from a minimum score of 0 to a minimum score of 35
with the AET. The 25th percentile grew from 79 to 90 and the 75 percentile decreased from 100
to 97. Maximum stayed consistent with some students attaining a 100 average in both semesters
(Figure 1). As part of a student survey, the students who participated in both groups of
recordkeeping methods were asked to identify their preference. Out of 25 students, 76% choose
the AET while only 24% indicated that Google Sheets was still their method of choice.
their experience with utilizing AET for their SAE records for the semester. While reviewing the
data, similar answers were categorized in order to streamline the presentation of the data set. For
questions #4-#6, answers were listed in the order of their prevalence in student responses.
1. How many agriculture classes have you taken (including this semester)?
Answers ranged from 1 to 4 years. Students with more than 1 year of experience
were asked follow-up questions to determine if they would fit in the specialized
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Students answering higher than 1 were asked to participate in follow-up
interviews at the conclusion of the semester. 25 students fit into this niche
category of having experience with both Google Sheets records and AET records.
Answers were not relevant to research questions and therefore were only utilized
5. What do you not like about AET for logging SAE records?
7. Have you used a Google Sheet in previous agriculture classes for SAE records?
8. If you answered yes to #7, which method do you prefer for recordkeeping? Why?
76% of the group above reported that they prefer using AET while 24%
advocated for Google Sheets. Those in favor of AET justified their answer by
discussing AET’s “user-friendly website”, “ability to easily review past logs”, and
needing to log in”, “ease of logs being in Google Drive” and “familiarity of
Google”.
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Figure 1 shows the effectiveness of AET in Spring 22 versus the Google Sheet Method in Spring
21. These charts compare the minimum value, the 25th percentile, the 75th percentile, and the
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Figure 2 shows the effectiveness of AET in Spring 22 versus the Google Sheet Method in Spring
21. These charts compare the average project grade for both methods.
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Figure 3 shows the results of a survey given to the 25 students present in both groups, asking for
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Findings
Data collected indicates that the AET is a more effective program for helping students to
create, develop and review consistent SAE records over the course of a semester. Students
preferred the accessibility, ease, and organization of AET whether utilizing the website or mobile
Google Sheets as a method showed to be ineffective as several students never utilized the
log to enter any records. On this application, students had to conduct more math on the spot
which lead to miscalculations on total hours and income/expenses. Furthermore, the pictures
were not compatible with the application and there was a lack of consistency in size, quality, and
As agriculture programs look to further research, there is a need for examining the ease of
mobile applications and developing more abilities for mobile use. Furthermore, strategies should
be developed for how to measure and increase student engagement with SAEs and in conjunction
Overall, the hypothesis was confirmed that this website, specifically created for and by
agricultural educators, promotes more detailed and accurate student SAE records. To improve
the accuracy of this report, larger sample size will help to ensure the validity of the data, and
student interviews can be conducted on a larger scale as now more students will have experience
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References
Glover, M., & New Mexico State Dept. of Education, S. F. D. of I. S. (1974). Record-
Keeping and Checklists for Reading and Writing. Methods for Keeping Track of
Individual Progress.
Roland, T. J., & Fisher, M. (2016). Teaching Record-Keeping Skills to 4-H Youths
Shaw, S. G., Pedersen, S., Cooley, D., & Callingham, R. A. (2013). Intentions and Behaviours:
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