REMOTE ISLAND COMMUNITIES NEED AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION TO ADDRESS IMPORTANT REGIONAL ISSUES OF FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY, BUT THEY LACK ACCESSIBLE DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. THE CURRICULUM RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT GROUP (CRDG) AT UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA AND THE CENTER FOR GETTING THINGS STARTED (C4GTS) WILL COLLABORATE WITH 12 MASTER TEACHERS AND 15 COMMUNITY LEADERS IN THE HAWAII AND GUAM FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORKS TO CREATE, DISTRIBUTE, AND IMPLEMENT LOW-TECHNOLOGY DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES FOR AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION WIDELY ACROSS OUR REGION. CRDG AND C4GTS WILL PROVIDE A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE FOR THE MASTER TEACHERS TO DEVELOP SKILLS IN DISTANCE LEARNING DESIGN AND OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK WITH A TEAM TO USE THESE NEW SKILLS TO DEVELOP NEW RESOURCES. HAWAII AND GUAM FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORKS DISTRIBUTE 21,000 DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCE KITS TO 500 TEACHERS ACROSS THE REGION WHO WILL USE THE MATERIALS WITH THEIR STUDENTS.FEEDBACK FROM STAKEHOLDERS WILL BE USED TO REVISE THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE AND DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES, WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD ON THE FEAST WEBSITE.THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF FEAST IS TO INCREASE STUDENT ACCESS TO AND PARTICIPATION IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION BY PROVIDING TEACHERS WITH HIGH-QUALITY, LOW-TECHNOLOGY DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES. SOCIETY BENEFITS BECAUSE REMOTE ISLAND COMMUNITIES WILL HAVE INCREASED AWARENESS OF FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES, HOW TO GROW THEIR OWN FOOD, AND THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN FOOD AND HEALTH. BENEFITS COULD INCLUDE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES EATING HEALTHIER, LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE; BEING MORE CONSISTENT IN THEIR USE OF COVID-RELATED SAFETY PROTOCOLS DURING MEAL-PREPARATION AND IN THE GARDEN; AND BEING MORE AWARE OF THE WIDE RANGE OF AGRICULTURALLY RELATED CAREERS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES.

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators