Supervised Agricultural Experience: An Examination of Student Knowledge and Participation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate student Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) knowledge and participation. This descriptive study was conducted in 120 randomly selected agricultural education programs throughout four purposively selected states representative of the National FFA regions. Students completed a questionnaire assessing knowledge of the five SAE categories. According to findings of this study, 46.1% of the students surveyed reported having a SAE program (n = 473). Students on average could only correctly categorize between three and four of the five SAE project scenarios and approximately one–third of the students surveyed in Indiana, Missouri, and Utah could categorize all five. Students appeared to be able to correctly identify the improvement, research and experimentation, and placement SAE categories more frequently. Those surveyed without a SAE program were either not familiar or somewhat familiar with the five SAE categories. The average number of classroom days spent on SAE instruction since enrolled in agricultural education courses varied from nine to 34 and half of the students in three of the states did not receive a grade for their SAE program or record book in agricultural education courses. Students surveyed did not believe they needed more classroom instruction from their teacher about SAEs.