Agricultural and Extension Education

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Kirk Swortzel
214 Lloyd-Ricks-Watson Building
Box 9745
Mississippi State, MS  39762
Telephone: 662-325-7837
E-mail: kswortzel@humansci.msstate.edu

The Agricultural Information Science and Education Program in the School of Human Sciences offers graduate courses leading to the following degrees:

1. Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education with a concentration in Teaching or Leadership
2. Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Sciences with a concentration in Agricultural and Extension Education

Admission Criteria

To obtain admission to the graduate program, the applicant must meet all the general requirements of the Office of the Graduate School.  A student applying to the Master of Science teacher certification concentration must have an undergraduate degree in an agriculturally-related field and submit GRE scores.  The student must qualify for admission to teacher education by presenting an ACT score of 21 (SAT equivalent of 860) with no sub-score below 18, or by obtaining at least the following scores:

Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST)

Subject	Score
Reading	156
Writing	162
Mathematics	150

The applicant for the doctoral degree must have a 3.00 GPA on a 4.00 scale in all prior graduate study.

Provisional Admission

The student who has not fully met the requirements stipulated by the University and the appropriate department for admission to graduate study may be granted admission as a degree-seeking graduate student with provisional status.  Such students must have as their initial objective advancement to regular status. A provisional student must receive a 3.00 GPA on the first 9 hours of graduate-level courses on the program of study taken at Mississippi State University in order to achieve regular status.  Courses with an S grade, transfer credits, or credits earned while in Unclassified status cannot be used to satisfy this requirement.  If a 3.00 is not attained, the provisional student may be dismissed from graduate study.  While in provisional status, a student is not eligible to hold a graduate assistantship.

Academic Performance

Unsatisfactory performance may be defined as the failure to maintain a B average in graduate courses attempted after admission to the program, a grade of U, D, or F in any course, more than two grades below a B, failure of the preliminary/comprehensive examination, an unsatisfactory evaluation of a thesis or dissertation, failure of the research defense, or any other failure of a required component on one’s program of study.  Any one of these or a combination of these may constitute the basis for the termination of a student’s graduate study in a degree program.

Upon the recommendation of the major professor or the graduate coordinator, and the dean, a student whose academic work is unsatisfactory at any period during a given semester or term may be forced to withdraw from a graduate program.  The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences defines “unsatisfactory” as making more than two grades below C.  A student forced to withdraw can appeal to department faculty.  If upheld by the faculty, then the student can submit a written appeal to the director.  If upheld there, the student may appeal to the dean of the college.

Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education with Leadership Concentration - Thesis

Core Courses
AIS 8803	Applying Research Methods to Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
or AIS 8703	Evaluation of Agricultural Information Science and Education Programs
AIS 8403	Directing Learning Experience in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8503	Program Planning and Development in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8413	Methods of Planned Change in Agricultural and Extension Education	3
AIS 8801	Graduate Professional Seminar in AIS	1
AIS 8263	Public Relations in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
or AIS 8203	Advanced Communication in Agricultural Information Science and Education
Graduate-level electives including a required statistics course		9
Thesis
AIS 8000	Thesis Research/ Thesis in Agricultural Information Science and Education	6
Total Hours		31

Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education with Leadership Concentration - Non-Thesis

AIS 8803	Applying Research Methods to Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
or AIS 8703	Evaluation of Agricultural Information Science and Education Programs
AIS 8403	Directing Learning Experience in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8503	Program Planning and Development in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8413	Methods of Planned Change in Agricultural and Extension Education	3
AIS 8801	Graduate Professional Seminar in AIS	1
AIS 8263	Public Relations in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
or AIS 8203	Advanced Communication in Agricultural Information Science and Education
Graduate-level coursework		9
AIS 8100	Creative Component Project in AEE	6
Total Hours		31

The remaining courses in the leadership concentration may be a combination of approved electives or those courses to comprise a minor.  A faculty member from the minor area should also be a member of the student’s graduate committee.

Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education with Teaching Concentration - Thesis

EPY 6033	Application of Learning Theories in Educational and Related Settings	3
or AIS 8693	Philosophical Foundations of Agriculture and Extension Education
EDX 8173	Special Education in the Regular Classroom	3
AIS 8503	Program Planning and Development in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8403	Directing Learning Experience in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 6113	Methods of Teaching Agriscience	3
AIS 6403	Development of Youth Programs	3
AIS 8000	Thesis Research/ Thesis in Agricultural Information Science and Education	6
AIS 6703	Experiential Learning Programs in Agriculture	3
AIS 8603	Teaching Internship in AEE I.	3
AIS 8613	Teaching Internship in AEEII	3
AIS 8801	Graduate Professional Seminar in AIS	1
Total Hours		34

A student who chooses to complete a thesis must pass a final thesis defense and submit the thesis to complete degree requirements.

Depending on the courses taken at the undergraduate level, a student in the teaching concentration may be required to take 3-6 additional hours of prerequisite coursework.

Faculty in Agricultural Information Science and Education must approve substitutions for any of the above courses. 

Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education with Teaching Concentration - Non-Thesis

EPY 6033	Application of Learning Theories in Educational and Related Settings	3
or AIS 8693	Philosophical Foundations of Agriculture and Extension Education
EDX 8173	Special Education in the Regular Classroom	3
AIS 6113	Methods of Teaching Agriscience	3
AIS 6403	Development of Youth Programs	3
AIS 6703	Experiential Learning Programs in Agriculture	3
AIS 8100	Creative Component Project in AEE	6
AIS 8403	Directing Learning Experience in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8503	Program Planning and Development in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8603	Teaching Internship in AEE I.	3
AIS 8613	Teaching Internship in AEEII	3
AIS 8801	Graduate Professional Seminar in AIS	1
Total Hours		34

A student who chooses to complete a Creative Component Project must pass the final defense of the Creative Component and complete an oral comprehensive examination over all coursework completed.

Depending on the courses taken at the undergraduate level, a student in the teaching concentration may be required to take 3-6 additional hours of prerequisite coursework.

Faculty in Agricultural Information Science and Education must approve substitutions for any of the above courses. 

A student must have earned at least a 3.00 GPA on coursework taken on the program to be eligible to enroll in AIS 8603 and AIS 8613  (teaching internship).  An Application for Admission to Student Teaching form must be submitted to the Director of Clinical/Field Based Instruction one semester prior to student teaching.  The student must submit the minimum Praxis II – Principles of Learning and Teaching: Grades 7-12 (PLT) score as required by the Mississippi State University College of Education to meet graduation requirements and to the Mississippi Department of Education to obtain licensure.  To be eligible for graduation, students must have a 3.00 GPA after completion of all coursework and internships.

To secure a Mississippi educator’s license, the student must request that ETS send a copy of his or her score on the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) to Mississippi State University (Code R1480) or to MSU Meridian (Code R3336).  It is imperative that the student retains the originals of test scores in a safe place.

In accordance with statutory provisions, the Mississippi Department of Education, Jackson, Mississippi, has adopted the rules and regulations on issuing and renewing teaching licenses, which are set forth in Guidelines for Mississippi Educator Licensure, July 1999.  The licensure program is applicable to all teacher licenses.  Satisfactory completion of any teaching curriculum offered by the College of Education will enable the graduate to apply for teaching licensure in Mississippi, but this institution can neither waive any licensure requirements nor authorize substitutions for mandatory courses.  Mississippi State University has submitted and received approval for its programs. Consequently, a student who plans to transfer from another university or college to the College of Education should consult with the Director of Clinical/Field-Based instruction or an advisor in the College of Education to ascertain the general education, professional educational, and specialized education courses which must be completed to obtain a teaching license in the field or fields of his or her choice.  Since teacher licenses are issued by the Mississippi Department of Education only, and not by the teacher education institutions, applications for licensure and original test scores must be filed with the Mississippi Department of Education by the applicant.  Information concerning teacher licensure can be obtained from the Office of Clinical/Field-Based Instruction and Outreach.

Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural and Extension Education Concentration

Agricultural and Extension Education
AIS 8593	Historical Foundations of Agriculture and Human Science	3
AIS 8693	Philosophical Foundations of Agriculture and Extension Education	3
AIS 8243	Administration and Supervision in Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8513	Volunteer Development in Agricultural and Extension Education	3
AIS 8413	Methods of Planned Change in Agricultural and Extension Education	3
Other Agricultural and Extension Education credits		15-21
Statistics, Research, and Evaluation
AIS 8803	Applying Research Methods to Agricultural Information Science and Education	3
AIS 8703	Evaluation of Agricultural Information Science and Education Programs	3
AIS 9583	Analysis and Interpretation of Data in Ag and Extension Education Research	3
EPY 8214	Advanced Educational and Psychological Statistics	4
EPY 9213	Advanced Analysis in Educational Research	3
Minor or Supporting Area
Gradulate-level coursework		12-18
Electives
Graduate-level coursework		0-12
Dissertation
AIS 9000	Dissertation Research/ Dissertation in Agricultural Information Science and Education	20
Total Hours		78-102

The minimum requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is the completion of 90 semester hours of graduate credit on an approved program of study above the bachelor’s degree.  This 90-hour requirement can be partially met by previous graduate coursework.

Students must pass a written and an oral comprehensive examination in both the major and minor/supporting area. To be eligible for the preliminary/comprehensive examination, a graduate student must have a 3.00 GPA on all graduate courses taken after admission to the degree program. Students must also pass the final dissertation examination.  The student’s graduate committee supervises the dissertation and examinations.