UW Ag Education Students Gain Experience in Classroom

University of Wyoming secondary education students are gaining hands-on experience working with middle school students in Laramie as part of an "Agriculture Education Methods" class.

The class, taught by Rosemary McBride, an assistant lecturer in UW's School of Teacher Education, is a collaborative program that allows preservice teachers and middle school students to work together to shape knowledge and skills, and innovate for the future of agricultural education. The yearlong practicum is being done with UW Lab School students enrolled in a middle school "Exploring Ag" elective course.

In September, the UW students spent time getting to know one another's strengths, establishing plans for their foundational supervised agricultural experience, exploring career opportunities and developing career-ready skills.

As part of this program, the students recently took part in an activity inspired by the famous TED Talk "Marshmallow Challenge." Working in teams, they used constrained resources -- spaghetti, tape and string -- to construct the tallest possible marshmallow towers. This challenge is known for its interesting results: Research shows that kindergartners and structural engineers typically perform the best, with towers averaging 18 inches in height, while recent business school graduates tend to perform the worst.

Impressively, two of the three teams composed of preservice teachers and middle school students succeeded in building towers taller than the research study's average height, despite having no experience with the challenge.

"The most rewarding experience coming from working with the Lab School students is their newness to ag and the opportunity to try to pique their interest in that area," says student Aleah Russell, of Shandon, Calif. "My hands-on experiences within the ag education program have given me opportunities to gain insight into what it is like to be an ag teacher. I would like to see more real-world connections made in K-12 education. I know that, when my students can relate the learning content to something that matters to them, they tend to be more enthusiastic learners."

The activity concluded with a discussion on the importance of developing career-ready skills, such as teamwork, communication and focus, all of which were essential for success in the marshmallow tower challenge, life, future classrooms and careers.

Other UW students participating in the practicum are Madison Fields, of Lyman; Jane Goldy, of Parker, Colo.; Lindsey Kisicki, of Cheyenne; Garrett Strohschein, of Wright; and Jonah Zeimens, of Cheyenne.