Pedagogical Pigs

Experiential Learning for Boundary Crossing

Abstract

Preparing college students with the skills to engage in multidisciplinary problem solving, especially as it relates to the wicked problems of agriculture, has been called for by scholars for nearly two decades (UNFAO, 2006; Boyer, 1998; NRC 1998). Our nation’s Land Grants, with the mission to provide practical education, and particularly campus-based farms, play an important role in addressing this challenge (Parr, 2007, Evans, 2023).  Toward this end, we conducted a project at Michigan State University’s Student Organic Farm in response to a call from MSU’s Hub for Innovation in Teaching and Learning for cross-disciplinary curricula that addresses grand global challenges.  In 2021, a team of five faculty designed and taught an experiential course focused solely on the care and management of two sows and their litters. Students from five colleges and over 15 different majors toured the MSU Swine Farm, met with a campus chef, and sold the piglets to a local farmer. Data collected includes student reading responses, video reflections, and an oral final examination. Key findings from qualitative data analysis reveal that students gained boundary crossing skills from the shared responsibility of working in a team to care for animals, developing problem solving skills in an agricultural context with their professors and peers through innovative pedagogy, and learning agricultural skills from farm stories shared by the senior faculty.