Poster Display
Formal and Informal Teaching
Kellen Pautzke (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington
Anabella Valdovinos
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington
Within the world of pesticide safety education, study materials constitute a large portion of how information is disseminated to pesticide applicators. In an effort to enhance the accessibility of these materials, visual images can be used to refine convoluted content and support learning about complex concepts. In this study, we implemented a participatory research project with faculty and students in a Hispanic agricultural education program in central Washington to develop and assess these images. With this collaboration, we aimed to work directly with groups of people who experience disproportionate pesticide exposure risk and would most benefit from our materials, in other words, the stakeholders themselves. The faculty and students participated in this study through focused small group discussions, image annotation, and post-assessments. The images belonged to three main pesticide safety content areas: 1) Integrated Pest Management, 2) Federal and State Laws, and 3) Pesticide Formulations. The findings from these discussions will reveal how the images are understood by and provide learning opportunities to participants. The participants will provide insight into how the images can be revised to better communicate the content. The information gathered from this study will be used to refine these and future images for publication and dissemination to stakeholders state-wide. The purpose of this work is to create more equitable pesticide safety educational opportunities through accessibility and by recognizing the importance of stakeholders in the development of materials that serve them.