ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors describe pieces of the agricultural sciences teaching and learning quilt, beginning with an analysis of the enduring patterns within the discipline throughout the 20th century. The unique historical identity of colleges, professional schools, and departments provides a context for learning that occurs within a classroom. In the early 1980s, Taylor and Kauffman published a 75-year review of the teaching literature in animal sciences and put forth both groundbreaking and astounding conclusions. Despite apparent changes in educational goals throughout its history and limited documentation of recorded scholarship, higher education in agricultural science has a unique pedagogy. As the 21st century unfolds, higher education in agricultural sciences must be transformed profoundly to respond to ever-increasing complexity of food production systems and an increasingly diverse student population. The history of higher education in agricultural sciences is rooted in the spirit of independent, hard-working, innovative, and self-reliant settlers whose success depended on their ability to manage complex production systems.
