Neil Knobloch

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Professor, Purdue University

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About Me

I grew up on a 400-acre farm in the far northwest corner of Iowa. My parents raised corn, soybeans and pigs. I loved agriculture and also interacting with people. My high school agriculture teacher encouraged me to pursue a career in Agricultural Education.

I earned by B.S. in Agricultural and Extension Education at Iowa State University. I taught middle school and high school agricultural science and business for seven years in the Mid-Prairie Community School District in Wellman and Kalona, Iowa. I completed my master's degree in Agricultural Education while I was teaching.

After teaching for seven years, I decided to move to Ohio State University where I taught full-time as an instructor while I completed my doctorate degree in Human and Community Resource Development: Agricultural Education. I started my professorship at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign preparing future agriculture teachers, Extension and outreach educators, and HR trainers for the agricultural industry. I was at the University of Illinois for five years.

In 2007, I started a new faculty position at Purdue University with a focus on Agricultural STEM Education. My research interests focus on motivating and engaging students to learn STEM through agriculture, food and natural resources using learner-centered teaching strategies.

I have been blessed with a talented spouse and three amazing children. All three of our children are Boilermakers. Grant works for Brock Grain Systems, Nelson works for John Deere, and Kedron is a junior in Hospitality and Tourism Management. I am passionate about teaching entrepreneurship using a board game to teach business management. My children owned their own business to learn entrepreneurship and 21st century skills. This experience motivated them to pursue bachelor's degrees and graduate from college debt-free.

I currently serve on a board of directors for a non-profit organization that restores hope for youth and families. I enjoy spending time with my family and outdoors on our small acreage. I raise hay and sell to local small-scale farmers. I enjoy traveling and have visited 45 states in the U.S. and 12 different countries (Korea, China, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Netherlands, Belgium, France, South Africa, Malawi).

Focus of current FEW-Nexus-based education work

My research aligns with the NC-FEW vision around three themes: (1) interdisciplinary learning; (2) STEM/FANH literacy; and, (3) systems thinking. First, a colleague and I co-developed a rubric to define different levels of integrated STEM learning. We also defined epistemologies of STEM and FANH, and how these ways of knowing are different and complementary. Second, I have studied teachers' motivations to integrated FANH in academic content areas. This research has also supported the benefits of integrating FANH to provide contextualization for academic subjects. Finally, I have been researching systems thinking in the last five years. A master's thesis and dissertation have focused on documenting middle school students' interests and concerns regarding the food system, and high school students' demonstration of systems thinking regarding sustainable food systems.

FEW-Nexus-based education experience, expertise and interests

I am particularly interested in designing research studies that document the impact of interdisciplinary education on students' STEM/AFNH literacy, self-efficacy and interests, and systems thinking. I am particularly interested in developing context-relevant measurement tools to measure these variables. I enjoy the challenge of designing research studies for complex problems. I bring experiences (assets) in research design, mixed methods, developing assessments, motivation constructs, learner-centered teaching and culturally relevant pedagogy. I am particularly interested in partnering with colleagues who have experiences and expertise in digital science, artificial intelligence, cognitive and developmental psychology, and inclusive excellence.

Publications, presentations, and other references

• Wang, H. H., & Knobloch, N. A. (2023). K-12 teachers' beliefs and practices in STEM integration. In R. J. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Erkican, K. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (Vol. 11, pp. 251-259). Elsevier. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.13070-2. ISBN: 9780128186305
• Wang, H. H., & Knobloch, N. A. (2022). An action research study of levels of STEM integration through agriculture, food and natural resources. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 6(2). https://dx.doi.org/10.33902/JPR.202213513.
• Thies, S. L. J., Knobloch, N. A., Wang, H. H., & Nelson, B. J. (2022). High School Student Perceptions of a Food System Integrated STEM Project. Poster presentation at the North Central American Association of Agricultural Education Conference, Columbia, MO.
• Charoenmuang, M. & Knobloch, N. A. (2021). The project outcomes of Food Systems Thinker educational experience. Indiana Small Farm Conference.
• Knobloch, N. A., Charoenmuang, M., Cooperstone, J., & Patil, B. S. (2020). Developing interdisciplinary thinking in a food and nutritional security, hunger, and sustainability graduate course. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 26(1), 113-127, https://doi: 10.1080/1389224X.2019.1690014