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PENNSYLVANIA TURFGRASS

Turfgrass science offers careers in “an industry that includes recreation, stewardship, and art,” says Penn State Agricultural and Extension Education Science PhD student Carson Letot. However, he is concerned about the labor shortage in the turf industry. Declining numbers in turf programs at the post-secondary level are leading to staffing gaps across the industry, but intervention at the secondary level to create interest and awareness may help. Youth competitions, content delivery, and experiential learning opportunities have all been shown to attract high school students. Previous experience on golf courses or playing sports on turf fields may also influence students to consider a career in turf. But with so many different requirements in levels of education and training in skillsets ranging from agronomy to leadership, the challenge of filling jobs remains enormous. One approach is to work through key figures like coaches, athletic directors, and science educators at the secondary level to expose students to the industry.

Turf Science for High School

KAFMO has been at the forefront of developing strategies to raise awareness of turf careers in high school. This past May, it sponsored its first weekend-long Turf Institute at Penn State University to introduce high school ag teachers to turfgrass science. According to Kristen Althouse, Education Manager for the Sports Field Management Association and one of the organizers of the Turf Institute, “Agriculture teachers are highly influential when it comes to introducing high school students to career options. Jobs in the turfgrass science industry offer exciting opportunities for young people who enjoy working outdoors and doing something different every day, take pride in their work, and have a passion for sports. Currently, job opportunities are abundant with job availability exceeding demand either as a summer job or long-term career.” The hope is that teachers will add the study of turfgrass to their curriculum and raise awareness of turfgrass science among students at the secondary level.

Carson Letot gives us an overview of the weekend institute. Ten teachers from Pennsylvania and Virginia met on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University for the 2022 Turf Institute, a program to engage educators in two days of professional development centered on golf and sports turf.

Participants visited Mountain View Country Club, Beaver Stadium, Medlar Field, and Valentine Turfgrass Research Center. At each site they had an opportunity to work with the field manager paired with a Penn State turf science faculty member. Teachers learned about the skills and training needed to begin a career in turf management, as well as the science behind how the turf is maintained. They left the institute with tools and practical knowledge to bring the science and art of turf management back to their classrooms and expose students to a discipline that can take advantage of the fields around their schools as learning spaces and the turf managers in their communities as facilitators for experiential learning opportunities.

Researching Teacher Efficacy

The weekend was not just a hands-on opportunity for educators to add to their own knowledge of turf science, however. It also served as a pilot study to investigate teacher efficacy in turf science teaching and explore opportunities for future activities, according to Letot. The objectives for the study were to (a) Identify the level of familiarity educators have with turfgrass content; (b) Identify the level of competence educators have in delivering content in turfgrass science; (c) Describe the best practices teachers have for establishing connections with turf managers to facilitate experiential learning opportunities.

This pilot study was initiated in a partnership between the Center for Professional Personnel Development (CPPD) and the Center for Turfgrass Science at Penn State. Three main research questions in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and outreach emerged:

• How do we improve the content knowledge of educators through curriculum offerings?
• How do we approach training for educators through teaching interventions in a workshop centered on turf-related skill building?
• How do we improve teacher efficacy in outreach through the establishment of connections with local industry to provide opportunities for students?

Letot described his methodology in assessing teacher progress in these areas. The ten participants were pre- and post-assessed on their knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and outreach. Results showed significant growth in overall confidence in teaching turfgrass science as well as facilitating opportunities for their students to work with local turf professionals through outreach. Baseline assessments in outlets for turf science in existing courses showed that educators are willing to connect concepts in turfgrass science to topics in existing courses at the secondary level. In addition to course connections, participants showed improvements in confidence to teach turfgrass science. This confirms that even short-term professional development opportunities can lead to improvement of knowledge, self-confidence, and understanding.

Reaching the Next Generation

Finally, participating teachers revealed that their view of the turf industry had improved. They are now willing to reach out to local professionals and bring turf experiences to the students and may also now be more likely to be advocates for employment in the turf industry. When students experience success and encouragement in subject areas, they develop positive attitudes towards those subject areas and studies have shown improvements in the career prospects of STEM majors when support was provided. Support in the turfgrass industry is plentiful and the results could have a positive impact on the future labor market.

Carson Letot hopes that future research will explore student response to turfgrass science and career opportunities. The role of high school science educators on influencing students to choose a career in turf or a turf major at a post-secondary institution has not yet been measured, he says. He believes that measuring the effectiveness of training in the form of professional development for high school educators will not only reveal opportunities for recruitment but also provide feedback so that KAFMO and SFMA can improve the programs offered to high school teachers and ultimately reach greater numbers of the next generation of young turf science recruits.