Rate My Professor Seburn Pense

Dr. Seburn L. Pense serves as Professor of Agricultural Education and Communications in the Department of Agricultural Systems and Education within the School of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a position he has held since 2003. Originally from Tacoma, Washington, Pense served four years in the U.S. Navy before earning his Bachelor of Science in 1980 and Master of Education in 1985 from the University of California, Davis. He subsequently taught high school agriculture in Palm Springs, California, and taught in China for over twelve years. Pense completed his Ph.D. in Agricultural Education at Oklahoma State University in 2002. At Southern Illinois University, he contributes to programs such as the Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Systems & Education and serves in roles including Program Director for the Master of Science in Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems. He was promoted to full professor in 2015.

Pense's research specializations include curriculum re-design, accommodating learning disabled students in secondary agricultural education classrooms, agricultural literacy, recruitment into agricultural education teaching careers, minorities and women in agriculture, research priority setting, program evaluation, and agricultural communications. His key publications encompass peer-reviewed articles such as "Implementations of Common Core State Standards: Voices, Positions, and Frames" (2015, Journal of Career and Technical Education Research, with Freeburg and Clemons); "Assessing Extension Efforts in Afghanistan through the Eyes of U.S. Agricultural Support Personnel" (2013, Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development, with Groninger); "Incorporating Learning Objects in a Curriculum Re-design to Meet Needs of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities in Illinois Agricultural Education Programs" (2012, Journal of Agricultural Education, with Calvin, Watson, and Wakefield); "Learning disabled students’ needs met through curriculum re-design of Illinois Agricultural Education Core Curriculum" (2010, Journal of Agricultural Education, with Watson and Wakefield); "Curricular needs of students with specific learning disabilities surveyed in Illinois agricultural education programs" (2009); and "An assessment of food and fiber systems knowledge in selected Oklahoma high schools" (2004, Journal of Agricultural Education, with Leising).