1955
Examining demographics and student interests in an introductory animal science course
Over the past nine years, the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry at Kansas State University has seen tremendous growth in undergraduate programs (2005 n=704, 2013 n=1197). One of the courses impacted by enrollment growth is ASI 102, Principles of Animal Science (2005 n=263, 2013 n=438). This course is required for Animal Sciences & Industry majors and is a service course to students in the Colleges of Agriculture, Business Administration and Arts & Sciences. Over nine years, surveys were given to the students enrolled in ASI 102 during the Fall semester, examining demographics and student interest. These questions examined gender, ethnicity, age, residency, and both primary and secondary specie of interest. Gender distribution has held relatively steady over the years with 61% of the class being female in 2005 and 68% female in 2013. Age distribution held steady with 61% of the class being ages 17-18 years of age in 2005 and 63% in 2013. Subtle changes in student ethnicity have been shown as the class went from being 92% White/Non-Hispanic to 85% White/Non-Hispanic with the most significant growth in both the Black/Non-Hispanic population (1% in 2005 to 5% in 2013) and the Hispanic/Spanish American/Latin/Mexican population (2% in 2005 to 6% in 2013). The change in residency came from the increase of out-of-state students (18% in 2005 to 23% in 2013), while international students remained 1% each year. Student primary specie of interest in 2005 showed that the most popular specie was beef cattle at 37% of the class, with companion animals close behind at 31%, then horses at 29%, swine or sheep (these were combined because of bubble sheet limitations) at 2% and dairy cattle at 1%. In 2009, the percentage of students with a primary specie interest in companion animals (35%) surpassed those with a beef cattle interest (34%). Companion animals continue to be the most popular species of interest with 39% of the students reporting them as their primary species of interest in 2013, however, beef cattle have held steady at 34%. When students were asked about their secondary specie of interest, horses consistently were the most popular (36% in 2007 and 31% in 2013). Survey results have been extremely useful to categorize students. Examining demographics has allowed us to identify student interest and focus on areas of the course that need greater clarification and emphasis.
Keywords: undergraduate, demographics, teaching