Kathryn S Orvis

Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication

Associate Professor – Extension Education

Phone

765.494.8433

Fax

765.496.1152

Office

LIlly Room 3-231

Address

915 W State Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054

Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

Associate Professor of Horticulture

Phone

765.494.8433

Email

orvis@purdue.edu

Faculty Profile
Dr. Orvis shares a joint appointment between the Departments of Youth Development and Ag Education (primary, Extension) and Horticulture and Landscape Architecture (secondary, Teaching). Her research and extension work focuses on the utilization of plants as teaching tools. Additionally, her background in plant genetics affords her the capacity to focus on various aspects of biotechnology education.

Education
PhD, Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics, University of Wisconsin, 2000
MS, Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics, University of Wisconsin, 1997
BS, Botany and Lyman Briggs, Michigan State University, 1995

Courses Taught
HORT 101 Fundamentals of Horticulture
YDAE 491 Teaching with Plants
YDAE/HORT 542 Introduction to Ag Biotechnology
YDAE 644 Graduate Seminar

Research Interests
Plant science education, experiential learning; science literacy, biotechnology education

Grants & Projects
Collaborator, Enhancing Science Capacity in Introductory Animal, Plant, and Food Sciences Courses. USDA NIFA Higher Education Challenge Grant. 2010-13

Senior Personnel, Youth Outreach and 4-H portion of the Sustainable Production and Distribution of Bioenergy for the Central USA (CenUSA) project. 2011 – 2016

Awards & Honors

(2018) NACTA Educator Award. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA).

(2018) Certificate of Distinction. IAAE-Purdue (Indiana Association of Agricultural Educators).

(2018) ASEC Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. Dept. ASEC.

Selected Publications

Zeller, M., Riordan, T., Zaleski, H., Herzfeld, D., & Orvis, K. S. (2010). Food: Edible Antibiotics in Food Crops. In Life Science Ethics (377–380). Springer Netherlands.

Orvis, K. S., & Espinoza Morales, C. (2017). Concept maps to address misconceptions in introductory science courses. National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Annual Conference.

Orvis, K. (2005). Junior Master Gardener in Indiana.

Mueller, A. L., Knobloch, N. A., & Orvis, K. S. (2015). Exploring the Effects of Active Learning on High School Students’ Outcomes and Teachers’ Perceptions of Biotechnology and Genetics Instruction. Journal of Agricultural Education, 56(2), 138-152. doi:10.5032/jae.2015.02138

Rothhaar, R., Pittendrigh, B. R., & Orvis, K. S. (2006). The Lego® analogy model for teaching gene sequencing and biotechnology. Journal of Biological Education, 40(4), 166–171.

Dirks, A. E. (2005). An evaluation of the junior master gardener program in third grade classrooms. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 15(3), 443–447.

Orvis, K. (2003). Genomic Analogy Model for Educators (GAME): from jumping genes to alternative splicing. Journal of Biological Education.

Orvis, K., & Orvis, L. S. (2003). Growing Healthy Minds and Bodies through the Junior Master GardenerŒ¬ (JMG Œ¬) Program.