AGRN 2103 - Crop Sciences

Description
Principles of plant growth, development, and utilization and how these principles relate to crop production. Emphasis on major agronomic crop species including forage crops. Three hours of lecture weekly.

Pre-Requisite
We strongly recommend BIOL 1544 (or its equivalent), with a grade of C or better.

Co-Requisite
AGRN 2101L

3 Credit Hour(s)

Contact Hours
45 lecture contact hours

3 Faculty Load Hour(s)

Semesters Offered
Fall

ACTS Equivalent
N/A

Grade Mode
A-F

Learning Outcomes
Students completing this course will be able to:

Summarize the evolution of field crop production through history
Identify nomenclature, growth stages, and anatomy of major agronomic crop species.
Describe the role of crops in food and fiber for the world economy.
Evaluate the theoretical and practical aspects of agronomic principles.
Evaluate basic management systems to aid in good decision making for the environment and production.

General Education Outcomes Supported
Students develop higher-order thinking skills. Students demonstrate information literacy.

Standard Practices
Topics list

Importance of Crop Plants for food, Feed, Fiber, and Fuel
Origin, Classification, and Importance of Major Field Crops
Crop Growth and Development
Crop Physiology
Crop Environmental Factors
Agronomic and Environmental Problems
Integrated Pest Management
Cropping Systems and Practices
Crop Breeding and Improvement
Sustainable production

Learning activities

Courses must, at a minimum, cover the core learning outcomes for each topic.

Assessments

All students will be given a pre-test with 25 general knowledge questions. At the end of the semester, students are given a post-test over the same material. Sharing this information with the student at the end of the semester helps to demonstrate competence.
Evaluating general higher level thinking skills will be developed through activities such as: computer assignments and research papers include researching material using Internet sources and incorporating these ideas into a research assignment or paper.

Grading guidelines

A minimum of 70% of the grade must be proctored, supervised, or otherwise verified.