97 Impacts of a trip to the Texas Panhandle on impressions and comprehension of the beef industry by animal science students.

Abstract Experiential learning is a high-impact pedagogical practice that immerses students in technical concepts, allowing them to visualize and experience course content that may be otherwise delivered exclusively via lectures. Experiential learning is critical in applied disciplines, such as animal science, to ensure strong workforce development. The objective of this study was to assess the dynamics of college students’ impressions and comprehension of beef industry concepts during an experiential activity using a qualitative approach. Students from Texas A&M University (n=19) or Texas State University (n=7) attended a 5-day beef cattle industry tour in the Texas Panhandle in May 2022 which included cow-calf, feedlots, a dairy, packing plant, and allied operations. At each operation, students experienced beef production at-scale and interacted with representatives about their roles in the industry. At the beginning of the tour, students were provided with journals containing prompts to be reflected on throughout the tour. Eight prompts from each of the journals were coded, categorized, and merged into themes of reflection, location, impressions, sustainability, and concepts of the beef industry. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted between codes within the same journal and significant correlations (P≤0.01) were included in the matrices for network analysis. Seven clusters (Q=0.623) emerged from the analysis and nodes with the highest betweenness values represented codes for meats, beef supply chain, and genetics within the parental code of Concepts; and the code of large-scale production, under the parental code of Impressions. Clustered together were the codes sustainable, fast paced and efficient, and diversification, providing insight into what aspects of the beef industry students often associate with sustainability. The codes representing overall positive impressions, as well as surprise and impressions being broadened, were clustered with feelings of confidence and motivation and reframing of previous course concepts, demonstrating the positive impact of the tour not only on students’ impressions of the beef industry, but also on supporting previous classroom learning. The code representing students’ interpretation of sustainability as longevity and self-sufficiency appeared in the same cluster as the impressions of animals being cared for, high quality product, and the concept of product processing, marketing and utilization, which suggests students were successful in learning the important connections between animal welfare, product quality, and marketing strategies. Although the effectiveness of high impact learning experiences has been well documented, this data provides novel insights into how specific activities, visits, and conversations may lead to different learning outcomes. Future agricultural industry tours should encourage explicit discussion of concepts of sustainability and promote active reflection on potential careers within that industry to promote centrality of these topics within learning outcomes.