Applied Economics Education & Extension

Opening Remarks

• Dr. Jason Bergtold, Kansas State University, Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee

Session 1: Experiential Learning Pedagogy and Practices

• Speaker: Dr. Lisa Melander, Professor of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences, Faculty Fellow for Applied Learning, Kansas State University
• Synopsis: Provide foundational information on experiential learning pedagogy definitions, principles, strategies, and activities with real-life illustrations from Arts and Sciences disciplines.

Workshop 1: Learning by Doing: Experiential Education in Classrooms 

• Structure: Hands-on workshop that involves centering a course around experiential learning

Session 2&3 Experiential Learning in Ag. & Applied Economics: Overview & Speaker Introduction, Dr. Jason Bergtold

• Synopsis: Showcase application cases of experiential learning in our field. Four speakers will present their experiential learning projects and share best practices in experiential learning design and implementation. Examples in Session 2 showcase course projects that engage industry partners. Examples in Session 3 showcase simulated experiential learning activities in the classroom. Participants will choose one example per session to engage in.

Session 2: Experiential Learning with Industry Partners

• Example #1 @ Room Truman A: Finance as Strategy: Designing Experiential Learning that Connects Economics, Student Learning, and Stakeholder Impact by Dr. Mario Ortez, Virginia Tech
• Synopsis: This presentation shares best practices for designing and implementing industry-partnered experiential learning projects in agricultural and applied economics. The session will discuss how finance and business planning can serve as a unifying framework that helps students translate economic concepts into real-world decision making while creating actionable value for entrepreneurs, commodity groups, and community stakeholders.
• Example #2 @ Colonial Ballroom: From Classroom to Field and Back: A Live Case Approach to Agribusiness Learning by Dr. Lijun (Angelia) Chen, University of Florida
• Synopsis: Live cases matter in agribusiness teaching because they connect classroom concepts to real decisions facing farms, food businesses, industry partners, and communities. This talk shares lessons from using live cases in an agribusiness and marketing management class, including how to choose the right case, engage stakeholders, build feedback loops, avoid common pitfalls, and assess students based on managerial judgment.

Session 3: Simulated Experiential Learning in the Classroom

• Example #3 @ Room Truman A: Making Gaming and Simulations Impactful: Ag Bank Simulator by Dr. Brian Briggeman (Kansas State University) and Dr. Hannah E. Shear (Oklahoma State University)
• Synopsis: Playing an in-class game or simulation is a great way to get students engaged and hands-on with agricultural economics topics, but how do you ensure learning outcomes and goals are achieved. This gaming activity and discussion shares how Drs. Briggeman and Shear incorporate gaming into their agricultural finance classrooms.
• Example #4 @ Colonial Ballroom: From Observation to Analysis: Teaching Economic Decision-Making Through Circular Food Systems, by Dr. Jennifer Clark, University of Florida
• Synopsis: Experiential learning can happen in the classroom when students actively connect course concepts to the systems and decisions they encounter every day. This example demonstrates how the components of a semester-long Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) project help students transform everyday observations into evidence-based systems of thinking and economic decision-making.
• At each breakout room -
  • 3:15 – 3:45 Presentation and Showcase
  • 3:45 – 4:45 Workshop 3: Project Design and into the Weeds.