RESEARCH

My research explores and investigates gender-based agriculture issues, food insecurity, and developments in international agricultural education, including nonverbal communication use in international agricultural settings; My work utilizes upon storytelling, visual, and arts-based qualitative methods. Additionally, I enjoy employing Q methodology as a means of gaining greater understanding on social phenomena.

Explore my published work...

Dokolo and Apac's Women's Lives

Spence, J. R., Redwine, T., Rutherford, T., & Dooley, K. (2023). Unanticipated unity and independence: A photovoice of Ugandan gender-based agriculture issues. Advancements in Agricultural Development, 4(2), 74–90. https://doi.org/10.37433/aad.v4i2.283

What We Learned in Ghana

Dado, M., Spence, J. R., & Elliot, J. (2023). Going the distance: Examining the impact of a long-term international fellowship. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 30(1), 59-73. https://doi.org/10.4148/2831-5960.1088

Taking in Teachers' Perspectives

Spence, J. R., Letot, C., Foster, D., Redwine, T., McCubbins, A., & Miller-Foster, M. (In Press). Global guides: Defining teachers’ viewpoints about global food insecurity using Q methodology. Journal of Agricultural Education, 64(4). https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i4.151

The Case of Contraditions

Dado, M., Spence, J. R., & Elliot, J. (2023). The case of contradictions: How prolonged engagement, reflexive journaling, and observations can contradict qualitative methods. The International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231189372
Impact Factor: 5.4

It's Who We Are

Elliot, J., Spence, J. R., Tumushime, I., Dado, M., Casas, A., Ilesanmi, O., Gould, M., & Le Bon, M. (2022). It’s who we are: New approaches, supported by evidence. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 29(1), 86-96. https://doi.org/10.4148/2831-5960.1018

Screen Shot 2024-08-10 at 8.35.13 PM.png

Charactarizing Communicators

Parrella, J. A., Spence, J. R., Redwine, T., & Leggette, H. R. (2021). Characterizing Viewpoints of Scholars in Agricultural Communications as they Relate to Research Themes in the Journal of Applied Communications: A Q Methodological Study. Journal of Applied Communications, 105(3), 3. https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2389

UPCOMING RESEARCH

Take a moment to look into my upcoming work on data that has been collected with IRB approval.

The work of women.

I utilized narrative inquiry and arts-based drawing methods to explore community and gender identity in Northern Ghana.

Through these innovative and culturally-appropriate methods, we gained greater insight into how women farmer view themselves, their gender identity, and their community.

Screen Shot 2024-02-27 at 12.35.44 AM.png

Factoring food insecurity.

I employed Q method with over 10 Ghanaian agriculture teachers to better understand how these individuals view matters on food insecurity.

Because these teachers have the power and responsibility to educate the youth of Ghana on agricultural topics, it is vital we understand their personal and subjective stance on relevant food insecurity issues.

Screen Shot 2024-02-27 at 12.37.07 AM.png

Understanding international experiences.

I used photovoice as a method to understand both long-term international experiences with American agricultural graduates in Ghana, and short-term immersive experiences with American agriculture teachers in Uganda.

We know that international experiences can have positive personal and professional development for both recent graduates and educators, but we know less about how the length of time and immersive experiences can contribute to this development. Photovoice allows the participant to take hold of the narrative and explore their experience.

Screen Shot 2024-08-10 at 8.13.58 PM.png

Using the un-meeting for Agricultural Extension.

We brought the un-meeting to Virginia Cooperative Extension to gain a holistic understanding of what agriculturalists and Extension agents are concerned with across the state.

Stop relying on outdated meeting formats and start understanding your audience. The un-meeting is an innovative meeting style that generates space for diverse perspectives, collective thought, actionable outcomes and... data? Through using this method at the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Commonwealth Summit, a team of researchers and I both facilitated an un-meeting, and analyzed the results of participants action, thoughts, and words.

Uncovering nonverbal communication.

I interviewed undergraduates from five different land grant universities to understand their nonverbal communication encounters on study abroad programs.

Thousands of students study abroad annually and often incur challenges stemming from communication mishaps. We know nonverbal communication differs greatly between cultures. Much research has been done on nonverbal communication, and on study abroad programs–but none has been completed on how NVC impacts SA. So, how can we better understand students' nonverbal communication use on study abroad programs, and how can we use that understanding to improve future students' experiences?

Bridging borders.

We used case study methodology to understand a class taught across borders.

Virginia Tech and the University of Media, Arts and Communication have come together to co-teach development communications. As this partnership grows to include professor partnerships, university agreements, and collaborative leadership, it has navigated multi-institution credits, time zones, technological issues. In this case study we gather insights from many perspectives to both record this innovation and make recommendations for future like-courses.