Programmatic Student Engagement Activities of FFA Chapter Leaders in Tennessee and Nebraska

The experiential activities inherent in agricultural education are effective student achievement enhancers because they awaken a student to be engaged. This study sought to identify activities of student leaders/chapter FFA presidents that would be descriptive of student engagement in the agricultural education program: classroom, FFA student organization and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). Engagement was conceptualized as inclusive of emotions, behavior, and cognition. Experts with experience in agricultural education and the literature in agricultural education were consulted to identify emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement activities inherent in the FFA and via SAE programs. Students ranked their level of engagement on a web-based survey instrument, which was patterned after the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) (2000) and the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) (2005). Given a five-item summated rating scale, students had higher levels of engagement in FFA than in SAE. In addition student levels of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement for FFA and SAE are detailed and discussed