November 2020

In this issue:

President's Message
Call for Teaching Award Nominations - Due Feb. 1
#NACTA21 Call for Poster, Oral and Workshop Abstracts
New NACTA Members
#NACTAChat
Upcoming Events
Renew or Become a New NACTA Member

President's Message

By November, Autumn’s crisp, chilled air has firmly claimed our temperature gauges, and for most of us, Winter is just around the corner. For many, November also signifies the month where we practice and celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday. For my family and me, this becomes a season for giving thanks, as well as celebrating the many good things in our lives: family, friends, opportunities, etc. It is in this spirit I share how thankful I am for NACTA as an organization, and more importantly, the many fellow kindred spirit colleagues and friends that hold membership in NACTA. I appreciate the fact that NACTA upholds and promotes the values I personally hold dear: to educate, strengthen, empower, and promote the next generation of learners, leaders, and teachers, through the equipping and advancement of the educational mission of our institutions. Indeed, I am thankful for the NACTA Family…

Thank you for the privilege to serve NACTA,

J. Marcos Fernandez
2020-21 NACTA President
Purdue University

Call for Teaching Award Nominations - Due Feb. 1

Please consider nominations for the NACTA Teaching Awards. These are due February 1, 2021. Details are here: NACTA Teaching Awards

NACTA seeks to inspire achievement at the highest levels of excellence. Recognizing and honoring individuals whose efforts represent the very best in the teaching of agriculture, environmental, natural or life sciences at the post-secondary level is one of the central purposes of NACTA. At the same time, NACTA seeks to encourage these colleagues to share with us their methods of achieving excellence.

Instructions for nominators and information regarding each of the awards can be found here: Instructions for Nominators

#NACTA21 Call for Poster, Oral and Workshop Abstracts

NACTA welcomes abstract submissions for the 2021 NACTA Conference to be held virtually June 21-24. The submission deadline is February 1, 2021.
The 67th Annual NACTA Conference will serve as a venue for faculty and graduate students in agricultural, environmental, natural, and life sciences to share their scholarship of teaching, innovative teaching and advising ideas, and other relevant teaching and learning information around the theme of “Excellence and Innovation in Response to a New Teaching Paradigm."

Changes for 2021: We will not be accepting abstracts for workshops for the 2021 Conference, only abstracts for poster and oral presentations. With the number of abstracts submitted for presentation at the annual NACTA Conference, accepted abstracts will no longer be returned to authors for revision. Authors are therefore strongly encouraged to have their abstract reviewed prior to submission to verify correct grammar and spelling. The abstract must contain an objective statement and must represent that which will be presented at the meeting.

Also, new for 2021, we would like you to specify an abstract type in one of these three areas:

• Report of Empirical Study
• Case Study
• Best Practice in Teaching / Extension

We request that abstracts for the 2021 NACTA Conference fall within one of the following topic areas:

• Innovative Teaching and Learning
• Global Education
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Teaching with Technology
• Online Programming
• College / University Curriculum
• K-12 Curriculum
• Community Learning / Extension

Abstract Format: Accepted abstracts will be a concise summary of factual information. A high-quality abstract contains the following key elements (without designating them as such): (1) a brief introduction, including objectives of the presentation; (2) relevant experimental conditions indicating the scope of study or survey (authors of predominately philosophical works may substitute other appropriate criteria); (3) observations, results, or data (however, data should be in summary form and not presented in tables or graphs) - philosophical abstracts must demonstrate the application of said philosophy; and (4) a concise summary.

Guidelines for NACTA Abstracts

• Abstracts are limited to one paragraph of 250 words, not including title and by-lines.
• Keywords should also be included with abstract submission.
• Create the abstract with MS Word or compatible software, using single-spaced Times New Roman, 12-point font or similar. Title of abstract should be brief (70 to 90 characters including spaces), precise and in bold.
• Author(s) name(s) and affiliation(s) follows the title.
• First author/submitting author should be the contact author.
• Presenting author’s name should be followed by an asterisk (*).
• Body of the abstract is single-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font or similar.
• Do not include illustrations or bibliographical references in the abstract.
• Indicate if you would like your accepted abstract to be considered for an oral presentation. Accepted abstracts that are not chosen for oral presentations will be presented as posters.
• If an author submits multiple abstracts, the topic and content of each must differ substantially.
• Abstracts should stand alone and contain valuable information for both those in attendance as well as those who read it in the NACTA Journal.

An abstract is unacceptable if it:

• Contains significant grammatical errors and/or meaningless statements such as: "The results will be presented."
• Includes no statement/s relating to the objective(s).
• Fails to comply with submission requirements.
• Presents opinion/speculation with no demonstrated application for teaching or advising efforts.

All abstracts must be submitted at this website: http://nactaabs.expressacademic.org/login.php

Questions? Contact NACTA at ">
Deadline: February 1, 2021.

All abstracts are reviewed by the NACTA Journal Editorial Board and the Editor. The author submitting the abstract will be notified of its status by April 1, 2021.

Thank you,
Frank Robinson, PhD
Editor in Chief, NACTA Journal

New NACTA Members

NACTA had 6 new members in the last month. We hope you will join us in welcoming them!  

#NACTAChat

As friends and colleagues around North America recover from and prepare for local Thanksgiving celebrations, we are all reminded that there is so much to be thankful for - even in 2020! What are you most thankful for this year?

Join the conversation with photos, videos and stories on Facebook and Twitter by using #NACTAChat.

Upcoming Events

Creating Engaging Online Learning When Everyone Wants to Be Present: A NACTA Exclusive Webinar
Presented by Elise Lofgren, Daniel Poole, & Cheryl Wachenheim
November 5, 2020 *Virtual
The transition to online learning has provided the opportunity for many instructors to evaluate their teaching practices. While this provides time to reflect, it is also met with challenges. This 1-hour session will allow NACTA members to come together to discuss the opportunities and challenges related to the online learning environment. Interaction with our three invited panel members will encourage the sharing of ideas. This will be the first of a series of NACTA-sponsored teaching sessions for our membership.

Iowa State University BreifCASE Session
November 12 and 19 *Virtual

2020 NAAE Virtual Convention
Nov. 30 - Dec 4. 2020 *Virtual

Renew or Become a New NACTA Member

NACTA is the largest professional development organization that focuses specifically on the scholarship of teaching and learning in agriculture, food and natural resources.

Need to renew your membership? Want to invite a colleague to join? Want to change your membership status? Visit the membership page here.

We appreciate your NACTA membership!