TPSS 300 Tropical Production Systems is a four-credit undergraduate crop production course. It has two lectures and one lab period a week. In Spring 2023, there were 16 undergraduate students registered for this every Spring offered course—12 TAE students, one NREM student, one Interdisciplinary Studies student, one Botany student, and one Hawaiian student. In Spring 2024, there were nine undergraduate students—six TAE students, one Botany student, one Journalism student, and one Elementary Education & Special Education student. The objective is to describe the improvements made to TPSS 300 based on student interests and emerging new technologies and disciplines in horticulture. Various teaching techniques were used including flipped classroom, small group discussions, class discussions, in-class activities, lectures, guest speakers, field trips, YouTube videos, and laboratories. With a BYOD format, students could review assigned materials and look up information on the Internet to aid group discussions. New topics were added such as agricultural drone technology and crop sensors and equipment for monitoring plant status. Besides inviting our department graduate students as guest speakers, department extension agents and faculty and faculty and graduate students from other departments were invited. A TPSS faculty with another department’s faculty discussed the regulations for drone use and gave a demonstration of flying drones. The TPSS graduate students spoke on breadfruit tissue culture and industrial production in Hawaii; innovative agroforestry in ancient ways; and taro in aquaponics. Extension agents spoke about food safety. A PEPS graduate student spoke on invasive pests impacts on palm species with a focus on the Pacific and Israel. Two GEO students demonstrated their experimental growth chambers and artificial lighting set up. The manager of our college’s greenhouse facilities provided a tour of the facilities, explaining maintenance and irrigation. The rigor of this course was increased through incorporating more mathematics and quantitative reasoning, growth analysis, yield analysis, crop modeling and simulation, computer applications in horticulture, and high technology in horticulture. Students commented that TPSS 300 was a valuable learning experience. The course provided diverse learning experiences and hands-on activities. The integration of graduate students, extension agents, and the greenhouse manager as guest lecturers into the course worked well, providing benefits to both the speakers and the students.
