The Degree…

When the Department of Agricultural Education at Texas A&M University first began, we served one purpose—to prepare future Secondary Agriculture Teachers.  Now, our department has grown in scope and size.  The Agricultural Science major provides the foundations for students to earn a degree along with teacher certification in Secondary Agricultural Science.

 Coursework…

Coursework for the Agricultural Science major is diverse.  Students choose coursework from four general areas:  Animal Science, Plant and Soil Science, Agricultural Systems, and Agricultural Economics.  Students may then select coursework throughout the College of Agriculture and Life Science such as additional coursework in the above areas or Wildlife, Range and Ecology, etc.

 These technical agriculture courses are then paired with courses that prepare students to work with diverse student environments in an agricultural setting.  Courses include Educational Psychology, Special Populations, Educational Technologies, Instructional Design, and Program Planning in Agricultural Science.

 The highlight of the Agricultural Science degree is student teaching.  This full-semester experience occurs the semester of graduation.  Student teaching allows students to gain practical experience in scientific agriculture, professional education, and classroom management.  The first phase of student teaching occurs on campus for four weeks during which students prepare lessons and activities to be used in the second phase.  The second phase consists of actually teaching at an assigned student teaching center for eleven weeks under the supervision of both an outstanding agricultural science teacher and a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Education.

 Opportunities…

Though coursework is still aimed at creating the finest agricultural science teachers, other career areas often benefit from this training in “technical agriculture” and “people”.  Students typically accept positions in a variety of areas including agricultural science teaching, but expanding beyond into sales representatives, insurance specialists, juvenile officers, breed organization directors, county extension agents, as well as other agricultural communication positions.

 Information…

For more information on Agricultural Science, contact:

Dr. Julie Harlin—979-862-3014  j-harlin@tamu.edu