Advancing stem in agriculture with active experiential learning engagement for high school and college students focused on creation of health product from super-fruits and medical herbs

Modern agriculture and food science is a highly technical field of science and technology that often requires an interdisciplinary approach involving professionals with specializations in chemistry, biology, environmental science, and engineering, along with traditional agriculture and food science specialists. However, students majoring in these science disciplines often do not correlate their professional training with careers within food and agriculture. Since 2020, PI and collaborators run successfully AFRI-EWD-REEU program bringing college students for summer internships to work as interdisciplinary teams in active experiential learning projects focused on super-fruit aronia (Aronia mitschurinii), medical herbs, and creating, phytochemically analyzing, and planning production of health products: power aid drinks, and vitamin gummies. Active experiential learning, along with extensive training in STEM in agriculture and professional and leadership developing, prepare them to apply their majors in agriculture. In 2023, authors have expanded the pipeline of training to include high school students and their educators with the help of AFRI-EWD-FANE grant.
The program covers STEM in agriculture topics in genomics, biotechnology, interdisciplinary horticulture and phytochemistry, precise irrigation, instrumental chemical analysis, and more, while active experiential learning during the summer places students into interdisciplinary teams, led and mentored by experienced undergraduate and graduate students and a group of faculty-mentors to work on phytochemical analysis of specialty crops, such as aronia, holy basil and young ginger, and creation and planning production of healthy products from these crops – power aid drinks, and vitamin gummies.
External evaluation from WOM Communications LLC allows us to optimize the activities and estimate the effectiveness of training and active experiential learning.
Here we present a short description of program activities, and focus in particularly on currently being patented all-organic, colorants-free, sugar-free, natural power aid drinks that claim high content of phenolic antioxidants, including anthocyanins, essential minerals and microelements projects, developed during the summer active experiential learning teams activities, and healthy gummies with similar properties as drinks.