Navigating Challenges: Uncovering FFA Agriscience Fair Professional Development Gaps for School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers

Inquiry-based instruction (IBI) has many benefits for students, yet it is not a commonly used teaching method in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs. Similarly, the FFA Agriscience Fair competition, which utilizes IBI methods, has also reported low participation. Barriers to utilizing IBI are likely similar with FFA Agriscience Fair but have not been identified. These barriers could be addressed with professional development. The purpose of this study was to determine SBAE teachers’ professional development needs for FFA Agriscience Fair tasks and identify participation barriers. A descriptive survey of SBAE teachers from each of the four regions of the National FFA Organization was conducted using a Borich needs assessment. The top five needs were related to helping with a portion of the written report including the literature review, abstract, materials and methods, results, and discussion and conclusions sections. Top barriers for students include time, money/resources, and interest. Teacher barriers include time, lack of student interest, and lack of FFA Agriscience Fair program knowledge. We recommend professional development focused on structuring a research manuscript be offered to SBAE teachers and curriculum be developed on how to conduct an FFA Agriscience Fair that could be used directly by the students in the classroom.