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Critical thinking: Opinion formation in an equine oriented FYS course
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
385
Teaching and Extension: Oral Presentations National trends: The entering ‘equine’ student population K.D. Bump, J. Livermore, and T.S. Williams Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY; National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics (NAEAA), Cazenovia NY The two most notable tools for cross-institutional comparison of entering college students are the HERI [1] and NACAC [2] reports. These reports are useful for understanding and comparing general trends, but have limited usefulness for specific departments and degree programs. To address this limitation, the National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics (NAEAA) implemented a survey for entering freshman studying one or more aspects of the equine discipline. While the tool mirrors several general aspects of HERI and NACAC, its primary aim is to develop an understanding of the background, interests, and perceptions of ‘equine’ students. Survey creation occurred with NAEAA member input and IRB approval was received through Cazenovia College. In the confidential design, institutions receive their data along with pooled aggregate results. Participation rates are: Fall 2011, 621 students from 15 institutions; Fall 2012, 858 students from 32 institutions. Key findings from 2012: 1) Equine students applied to fewer colleges than reflected in national trends – while NACAC found that 77% of students applied to three or more schools, in this study only 44% applied to three or more and 32% applied to only one. 2) Students were significantly more likely to be enrolled at their first choice college – HERI reporting 58% while this study found 85%. 3) In regard to ability to pay for college, responses mimicked HERI trends in the presence of concern regarding ability to pay with a small trend toward more reporting ‘major’ concerns than found in the general population; 4) In regard to prior involvement with horses, 47% reported active hands-on involvement with horses for at least 10 years, 11% reported less than 3 years and 14% reported no hands-on involvement. 5) When asked about employment, 50% reported never holding a part-time job with horses. 6) In regard to horse ownership and riding lessons, 52% had owned a horse while 35% had never taken a lesson. 7) When asked about involvement in youth organizations, 4-H topped responses at 29% while 42% reported no involvement in youth organizations. 8) Regarding pursing an equine career, 83% report strong family support while 26% feel there are lots of career opportunities and 39% felt there are some. 9) When asked about classification of horses, 63% felt horses were livestock while 87% felt they were companion animals/pets. 10) On the topic of animal rights and animal welfare, 72% support animal rights, 91% support animal welfare, and 31% felt that animal rights and animal welfare are the same thing. 11) When asked to rank the top three issues facing the horse industry
today, ‘Unwanted horses and what to do with them’ came in top followed by’ owners who don’t understand horses’ and ‘cost of horsekeeping’.
References [1] HERI Higher Education Research Institute CIRP Freshman Survey Results 2012. http://heri.ucla.edu/ [2] Hopkins, K. Study: More Students Apply to More Colleges. US News and World Reports October 20, 2011
Critical thinking: Opinion formation in an equine oriented FYS course K.D. Bump Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY Developing critical thinking is at the top of the skill set anticipated to be developed during college. While it is not fully clear how to actually develop and assess these skills, the use of the Toulmin Method for Argument Analysis [1] provides a framework for challenging students to develop critical thinking skills using a claim-evidence-warrantrebuttal model. Students can only assert ‘claims’ when they can provide valid ‘evidence’ that backs up those claims along with a ‘warrant’ that logically connects claimevidence. In addition, students must prepare ‘rebuttals’ to show their ability to acknowledge opposing claims that are also backed up by valid ’evidence’ and ‘warrant’. A First Year Seminar course (FYS) at Cazenovia College – Horses, Humans, Politics, and Pressure – provided the basis for a Fall 2012 Case Study on use of the Toulmin Method in critical thinking and opinion formation. The class of 23 freshmen - 18 within the equine discipline - discussed views of animal rights compared to animal welfare, classification of horses as livestock or companion animals, welfare of racehorses, horse slaughter and consumption of horse meat, and unwanted horses. Students engaged in initial conversations regarding their views on a topic and were then provided readings with contrasting views. Following this, students conducted secondary research and built ‘claims, warrants, rebuttals’ regarding each topic; these were then presented in both written and oral form. Students returned to topics throughout the term and found that their opinions, assertions of claims, and use of evidence underwent dramatic shifts. These shifts were influenced primarily through student research and discussion as the course professor served as facilitator/ moderator and also consistently assumed the role of ‘devil’s advocate’. Tracking of opinion and opinion shifts occurred through multiple measures including discussion, written assignments, class debates and formal polling. The use of the Toulmin method to engage in multiple explorations of a topic resulted in an average of 5 view changes reported per student per topic. The process of shifting views resulted
386
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
in an increase in students who were ‘unsure’ of their views toward the middle of the course; a scenario with which they were unaccustomed and uncomfortable. At the end of the term, students reported increased confidence in having educated views and a greater likelihood of thinking critically about topics – particularly controversial topics - rather than jumping to an opinion without full ongoing investigation. An overview of significant trends in opinion shifts toward claims follows in Table 1.
Table 1 Opinion Shifts: Toward ¼ shift to agree with claim, Away ¼ shift to disagree Claim
Opinion Shift
Horse are livestock I believe in Animal Rights Animal Rights and Animal Welfare are the same thing Horse Slaughter should never occur in the US Horse Slaughter under US oversight is inhumane There are enough rescues to handle the number of US unwanted horses
Toward Away Away Away Away Away
alpha of .90 with the current population. Data were collected at the 2012 ENRU through distribution of surveys to youth upon completion of their activity, with 252 usable surveys received. Factor analysis loaded items to four motivational factors, utility, attainment, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation. Contest entered did not impact motivation of youth for participation. Analysis of frequencies revealed 4 of the top 5 items as indicators of intrinsic motivation (interest in horses, horses as a lifelong hobby, career working with animals, and enjoyment of competition). Youth also indicated a strong sense of self-efficacy to answer questions about a wide variety of horse topics. Although it might be hypothesized that events such as Horse Bowl and Hippology would produce higher selfefficacy in topics such as stable management and nutrition, youth participating in communications and horse judging events had similar self-efficacy scores to those participating in Horse Bowl and Hippology. In conclusion, youth are motivated by diverse factors to participate in these events. Although items indicating intrinsic motivation are most frequently reported in the top 10 items, utility and attainment items are present. Furthermore, regardless of event of participation, youth have a high level of self-efficacy regarding their horse knowledge at the completion of their experience.
Reference References [1] Toulmin S. The Uses of Argument. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; 1969.
Youth motivation to participate in the 2012 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup C.M. Brady 1, and J.A. Nadeau 2 1 Department of Youth Development and Agricultural Educaiton, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, 2 Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Competitive horse content events are an integral part of youth extension programs across the country. Previous studies have identified life skills that youth gain by participating in these types of events (Anderson & KarrLilenthal, 2011), and program alumni report that participation was beneficial to their career goals through skill attainment and networking opportunities (Rusk, 2002). However, research on why youth choose to participate in these events has been limited. Therefore, this descriptive study was conducted to assess the youth participants’ motivation to participate at a National 4-H Horse Contest. The Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup (ENRU) was established in 1985 through a collaboration of the North American Livestock Exposition and the Cooperative Extension/4-H Program, to offer a national level educational event for youth. This event is a culmination of yearlong activities in hippology, horse judging, horse bowl, public speaking, team presentation and individual presentation. The assessment was conducted using an instrument grounded in self-determination theory, and validated in use assessing motivation in youth in similar events at a state level (Lancaster, 2013).It had a Cronbach’s
[1] Anderson KP, Karr-Lilienthal L. Influence of 4-H horse project involvement on development of life skills. Journal of Extension, [OnLine] 2011;49(5):5IAW2. Available at, http://www.joe.org/joe/ 2011october/iw2.php. [2] Lancaster, K.L., Knobloch, N.A., Jones, A., and Brady, C.M. (2013) Youth Motivation to Participate in Animal Science Related Career Development Events. Journal of Extension. (in-press) [3] Rusk CP, Martin CA, Talbert BA, Balschweid MA. Attributes of Indiana’s livestock judging program. Journal of Extension. [On-Line] 2002;40(2): 2RIB5. Available at, http://www.joe.org/joe/2002april/rb5.php.
Status of instructor certification and curriculum in higher education members of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International H.A. Brady Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409 Due to the growth of interest in the field of Equine-Assisted Therapy, there has been a corresponding development of related programs within this discipline in universities and colleges in the United States. In response, the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) introduced the Higher Education Membership in 2010 to foster the training of college students with incentives for on–site Therapeutic Riding Instructor Certification. Benefits of this program vary by level of Membership, but for the highest level (Level Three), student PATH Intl. memberships, training and PATH Int. on-site certification are included. Higher Education Membership has remained static from 2010 to 2012 with 6 members at different levels, including Azabu University and West Virginia University (Level 1); Waubonsee Community College and North Dakota State University (Level 2); and Texas Tech
385
Teaching and Extension: Oral Presentations National trends: The entering ‘equine’ student population K.D. Bump, J. Livermore, and T.S. Williams Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY; National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics (NAEAA), Cazenovia NY The two most notable tools for cross-institutional comparison of entering college students are the HERI [1] and NACAC [2] reports. These reports are useful for understanding and comparing general trends, but have limited usefulness for specific departments and degree programs. To address this limitation, the National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics (NAEAA) implemented a survey for entering freshman studying one or more aspects of the equine discipline. While the tool mirrors several general aspects of HERI and NACAC, its primary aim is to develop an understanding of the background, interests, and perceptions of ‘equine’ students. Survey creation occurred with NAEAA member input and IRB approval was received through Cazenovia College. In the confidential design, institutions receive their data along with pooled aggregate results. Participation rates are: Fall 2011, 621 students from 15 institutions; Fall 2012, 858 students from 32 institutions. Key findings from 2012: 1) Equine students applied to fewer colleges than reflected in national trends – while NACAC found that 77% of students applied to three or more schools, in this study only 44% applied to three or more and 32% applied to only one. 2) Students were significantly more likely to be enrolled at their first choice college – HERI reporting 58% while this study found 85%. 3) In regard to ability to pay for college, responses mimicked HERI trends in the presence of concern regarding ability to pay with a small trend toward more reporting ‘major’ concerns than found in the general population; 4) In regard to prior involvement with horses, 47% reported active hands-on involvement with horses for at least 10 years, 11% reported less than 3 years and 14% reported no hands-on involvement. 5) When asked about employment, 50% reported never holding a part-time job with horses. 6) In regard to horse ownership and riding lessons, 52% had owned a horse while 35% had never taken a lesson. 7) When asked about involvement in youth organizations, 4-H topped responses at 29% while 42% reported no involvement in youth organizations. 8) Regarding pursing an equine career, 83% report strong family support while 26% feel there are lots of career opportunities and 39% felt there are some. 9) When asked about classification of horses, 63% felt horses were livestock while 87% felt they were companion animals/pets. 10) On the topic of animal rights and animal welfare, 72% support animal rights, 91% support animal welfare, and 31% felt that animal rights and animal welfare are the same thing. 11) When asked to rank the top three issues facing the horse industry
today, ‘Unwanted horses and what to do with them’ came in top followed by’ owners who don’t understand horses’ and ‘cost of horsekeeping’.
References [1] HERI Higher Education Research Institute CIRP Freshman Survey Results 2012. http://heri.ucla.edu/ [2] Hopkins, K. Study: More Students Apply to More Colleges. US News and World Reports October 20, 2011
Critical thinking: Opinion formation in an equine oriented FYS course K.D. Bump Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY Developing critical thinking is at the top of the skill set anticipated to be developed during college. While it is not fully clear how to actually develop and assess these skills, the use of the Toulmin Method for Argument Analysis [1] provides a framework for challenging students to develop critical thinking skills using a claim-evidence-warrantrebuttal model. Students can only assert ‘claims’ when they can provide valid ‘evidence’ that backs up those claims along with a ‘warrant’ that logically connects claimevidence. In addition, students must prepare ‘rebuttals’ to show their ability to acknowledge opposing claims that are also backed up by valid ’evidence’ and ‘warrant’. A First Year Seminar course (FYS) at Cazenovia College – Horses, Humans, Politics, and Pressure – provided the basis for a Fall 2012 Case Study on use of the Toulmin Method in critical thinking and opinion formation. The class of 23 freshmen - 18 within the equine discipline - discussed views of animal rights compared to animal welfare, classification of horses as livestock or companion animals, welfare of racehorses, horse slaughter and consumption of horse meat, and unwanted horses. Students engaged in initial conversations regarding their views on a topic and were then provided readings with contrasting views. Following this, students conducted secondary research and built ‘claims, warrants, rebuttals’ regarding each topic; these were then presented in both written and oral form. Students returned to topics throughout the term and found that their opinions, assertions of claims, and use of evidence underwent dramatic shifts. These shifts were influenced primarily through student research and discussion as the course professor served as facilitator/ moderator and also consistently assumed the role of ‘devil’s advocate’. Tracking of opinion and opinion shifts occurred through multiple measures including discussion, written assignments, class debates and formal polling. The use of the Toulmin method to engage in multiple explorations of a topic resulted in an average of 5 view changes reported per student per topic. The process of shifting views resulted
386
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
in an increase in students who were ‘unsure’ of their views toward the middle of the course; a scenario with which they were unaccustomed and uncomfortable. At the end of the term, students reported increased confidence in having educated views and a greater likelihood of thinking critically about topics – particularly controversial topics - rather than jumping to an opinion without full ongoing investigation. An overview of significant trends in opinion shifts toward claims follows in Table 1.
Table 1 Opinion Shifts: Toward ¼ shift to agree with claim, Away ¼ shift to disagree Claim
Opinion Shift
Horse are livestock I believe in Animal Rights Animal Rights and Animal Welfare are the same thing Horse Slaughter should never occur in the US Horse Slaughter under US oversight is inhumane There are enough rescues to handle the number of US unwanted horses
Toward Away Away Away Away Away
alpha of .90 with the current population. Data were collected at the 2012 ENRU through distribution of surveys to youth upon completion of their activity, with 252 usable surveys received. Factor analysis loaded items to four motivational factors, utility, attainment, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation. Contest entered did not impact motivation of youth for participation. Analysis of frequencies revealed 4 of the top 5 items as indicators of intrinsic motivation (interest in horses, horses as a lifelong hobby, career working with animals, and enjoyment of competition). Youth also indicated a strong sense of self-efficacy to answer questions about a wide variety of horse topics. Although it might be hypothesized that events such as Horse Bowl and Hippology would produce higher selfefficacy in topics such as stable management and nutrition, youth participating in communications and horse judging events had similar self-efficacy scores to those participating in Horse Bowl and Hippology. In conclusion, youth are motivated by diverse factors to participate in these events. Although items indicating intrinsic motivation are most frequently reported in the top 10 items, utility and attainment items are present. Furthermore, regardless of event of participation, youth have a high level of self-efficacy regarding their horse knowledge at the completion of their experience.
Reference References [1] Toulmin S. The Uses of Argument. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; 1969.
Youth motivation to participate in the 2012 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup C.M. Brady 1, and J.A. Nadeau 2 1 Department of Youth Development and Agricultural Educaiton, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, 2 Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Competitive horse content events are an integral part of youth extension programs across the country. Previous studies have identified life skills that youth gain by participating in these types of events (Anderson & KarrLilenthal, 2011), and program alumni report that participation was beneficial to their career goals through skill attainment and networking opportunities (Rusk, 2002). However, research on why youth choose to participate in these events has been limited. Therefore, this descriptive study was conducted to assess the youth participants’ motivation to participate at a National 4-H Horse Contest. The Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup (ENRU) was established in 1985 through a collaboration of the North American Livestock Exposition and the Cooperative Extension/4-H Program, to offer a national level educational event for youth. This event is a culmination of yearlong activities in hippology, horse judging, horse bowl, public speaking, team presentation and individual presentation. The assessment was conducted using an instrument grounded in self-determination theory, and validated in use assessing motivation in youth in similar events at a state level (Lancaster, 2013).It had a Cronbach’s
[1] Anderson KP, Karr-Lilienthal L. Influence of 4-H horse project involvement on development of life skills. Journal of Extension, [OnLine] 2011;49(5):5IAW2. Available at, http://www.joe.org/joe/ 2011october/iw2.php. [2] Lancaster, K.L., Knobloch, N.A., Jones, A., and Brady, C.M. (2013) Youth Motivation to Participate in Animal Science Related Career Development Events. Journal of Extension. (in-press) [3] Rusk CP, Martin CA, Talbert BA, Balschweid MA. Attributes of Indiana’s livestock judging program. Journal of Extension. [On-Line] 2002;40(2): 2RIB5. Available at, http://www.joe.org/joe/2002april/rb5.php.
Status of instructor certification and curriculum in higher education members of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International H.A. Brady Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409 Due to the growth of interest in the field of Equine-Assisted Therapy, there has been a corresponding development of related programs within this discipline in universities and colleges in the United States. In response, the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) introduced the Higher Education Membership in 2010 to foster the training of college students with incentives for on–site Therapeutic Riding Instructor Certification. Benefits of this program vary by level of Membership, but for the highest level (Level Three), student PATH Intl. memberships, training and PATH Int. on-site certification are included. Higher Education Membership has remained static from 2010 to 2012 with 6 members at different levels, including Azabu University and West Virginia University (Level 1); Waubonsee Community College and North Dakota State University (Level 2); and Texas Tech