Agronomy: Towards an Explicit Definition.

The first important step in engaging in any academic discourse is to have a clear and common understanding of the main concepts referred to. Students at the K-12 level are often challenged in learning science, which results in fewer students pursuing STEM-related careers like Agronomy.  In this era of education with emphasis in instructional strategies that focus on the 21^st century skills to enhance students’ engagement in and learning of science, it is critical that teachers be explicit in their teaching and especially on science related concepts presented to students. Effective instructional strategies emphasize hands-on activities related to specific science careers that make science real to the students. Unfortunately, Agronomy as a science career has not been explicitly defined in our community and specifically for students.  Agronomy means different things to different people even to “agronomists”. It could be as simple as “the science of crop production”, which embeds numerous careers that are not evident to the students. The decreasing number of students pursuing agronomy is a cause for concern especially with the increasing trend of human population that relies on agronomy for its basic needs. The need to engage students in thinking about and pursuing agronomy at the onset of their education has never been so demanding. What do we want students to know about agronomy that will excite them to pursue it as a career? The first important step is to have an explicit definition of what agronomy is. This presentation will explore a set of definitions of agronomy that will engage agronomists in reflecting on what agronomy is towards a common definition explicit for all and specifically for students to appreciate its dimension and be excited to pursue agronomy as a career.