Understanding Session Disparities and Advancing Experiential Learning in Turfgrass Management

PLAS 229: Introductory Turfgrass Management Laboratory is a sophomore-level course focusing on the practical skills required in turfgrass management. This portfolio documents the teaching methods, course materials, and an analysis of student learning outcomes with a focus on understanding disparities in student performance across sessions and enhancing practical skills through applied activities. Statistical analysis revealed that Session A outperformed Session B on two key field quizzes. This disparity is attributed to logistical differences: students in Session A attended the hands-on, field-based learning opportunities, while Session B faced scheduling conflicts that limited engagement with critical content. These findings underscore the importance of experiential learning in achieving educational outcomes. To enhance engagement and practical skills, a new Weed Identification Project was introduced, replacing the outdated Dichotomous Key Project. This updated project required students to capture images of weeds, document their morphological characteristics, and provide geographical coordinates, fostering real-world learning. Analysis showed that students in Session A exhibited a moderate positive correlation between project performance and midterm exam scores, while Session B demonstrated weaker correlations. These findings underscore the value of experiential learning and informed curriculum adjustments to bridge performance gaps. Future efforts will focus on refining project guidelines, addressing scheduling conflicts, and further integrating field-based learning into the course.