Archives - Page 2

• Vol. 51 No. 01 (2001)

  The manuscripts in Volume 51, Issue 1 (2001) of the Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research (JSAER) present a broad examination of the agricultural education profession at the turn of the century, addressing technology integration, curriculum development, FFA relevance and ethics, land-grant accountability, distance education, and workforce preparation.

  FFA Programs, Leadership, and Ethics

  • FFA Programs and Services as Perceived by Members and Non-Members: A quantitative study of 404 North Carolina students in agriscience courses finds that students' decisions to join FFA are influenced by their perceptions of its programs, with social belonging being the primary motivating factor, and that gender, ethnicity, grade level, and other demographic variables do not significantly influence those perceptions, recommending that FFA prioritize inclusive personal growth activities.
  • Unethical Practices in FFA Competitions: A survey of 399 agricultural education students finds widespread awareness of unethical practices in FFA competitive events — including physical abuse of show animals, ghostwritten speeches, and sharing judging results — recommending comprehensive ethics education for FFA members to reinforce the values of character and fair play.
  • Historical Antecedents of the FFA: A historical study traces the roots of the National FFA Organization to agricultural societies, the Grange, boys' and girls' clubs, and the Future Farmers of Virginia, documenting how early organizations directly influenced the FFA's symbols, colors, rituals, and organizational structure.
  • Self-Perceived Impact of Texas 4-H Council Participation: A study of former Texas 4-H Council members finds that state-level youth leadership participation is associated with higher educational attainment, career achievement, and community involvement, recommending that Extension use these outcomes to demonstrate program value and improve 4-H programming.

  Curriculum Development and Communication

  • High School Agricultural Communications Competencies: A three-round national Delphi study identifies 11 topic areas and 76 grade-level-appropriate competencies for high school agricultural communications curricula — including writing, computer technology, ethics, leadership, and legislative issues — providing a national framework for curriculum development in an underresearched area of agricultural education.
  • Texas High School Agricultural Communications Curriculum Analysis: A survey of 145 Texas agriscience teachers finds that 67% have little to no experience in agricultural communications but broadly support incorporating communication techniques and procedures in the curriculum, with self-rated teaching skill ranging from fair to good, recommending targeted professional development for teachers assigned to these courses.
  • Biotechnology Curriculum Adoption by North Carolina Agriculture Educators: A descriptive and correlational study finds that most agricultural educators lack the knowledge and training to teach the integrated Biotechnology and Agriscience Research course, cite funding, equipment, and content knowledge as the greatest barriers, but support its inclusion in the program of studies, with newer teachers and those with prior biotechnology training most likely to adopt the course.
  • Teacher Attitudes Toward Georgia Agricultural Education Standards: A study of 85% of Georgia agricultural education personnel finds that most use the State Board-approved standards but primarily as shared evaluation instruments, with attitudes influenced by job description, years of experience, age, and gender, recommending clearer guidance on standards implementation and more individual program use.

  Teacher Preparation and Inservice

  • Preservice and Inservice Needs of Beginning Teachers Supervising Livestock SAEs: A descriptive survey of 145 beginning Texas agriscience teachers finds that they feel least prepared to work with rabbits and poultry and most prepared with beef cattle and goats, and that the greatest program challenges involve parents and logistics around travel and transportation to shows, recommending targeted preservice instruction in less familiar livestock species.
  • Employer Perceptions of Agricultural and Extension Education Graduate Preparation: A survey of employers of University of Arkansas agricultural and extension education graduates finds that while graduates are generally prepared for entry-level positions, interpersonal skills — especially teamwork, decision-making, leadership, and initiative — are the areas most needing improvement, with internet skills and presentation abilities also identified as development priorities.
  • Computer Experiences, Self-Efficacy, and Knowledge of Agriculture Students: A comparative study of Arkansas freshmen and senior agriculture students finds that seniors outperform freshmen in computer self-efficacy, knowledge, and breadth of experience across all areas, though overall scores remain low, recommending that agricultural programs systematically assess and strengthen computer literacy throughout the undergraduate experience.

  Distance Education and Technology

  • Attrition Rate in an Asynchronous Swine Continuing Education Course: A study of a National Pork Producers Council web-based farrowing management course finds completion rates rising from 27% in the spring offering to 58% in the fall, examining how instructional design, adult learner characteristics, and technological barriers affect course completion, recommending design strategies to reduce attrition in self-paced asynchronous formats.
  • Using Visuals Effectively in Distance Education: A survey study identifies best practices for visual design in distance education classrooms, finding that contrasting color combinations — especially violet background with white text — san-serif fonts, and larger font sizes (54 pt) are most preferred, with visual or distance impairment having no significant relationship with preferences, providing practical guidance for instructors designing materials for television-based distance delivery.

  Land-Grant Accountability and Extension

  • Forestry Professors and Stakeholder Service Ten Years after Boyer: A qualitative study of Oklahoma State University forestry faculty finds that faculty roles have shifted from teaching to research over their careers, that faculty perceive knowledge generation as their primary role while viewing stakeholder service as Extension's responsibility, and that peer-reviewed journal articles dominate how scholarship is communicated, recommending a cultural revolution in promotion and tenure that genuinely values service alongside research.
  • Gathering Stakeholder Input for Research Priorities: A pilot study advances a model grounded in fourth-generation evaluation theory for collecting and implementing stakeholder input to set land-grant research priorities as required by the 1998 Farm Bill, recommending broad testing and refinement of the model at other institutions to increase accountability and community participation.
  • Qualitative Evaluation of an Agricultural Center of Excellence: A qualitative evaluation of an Oklahoma value-added agricultural products center finds customers highly satisfied with services but identifies communication gaps, limited public profile, and difficulty bridging service and research cultures within the academic unit, recommending improvements in stakeholder communication, outreach to new client groups, and institutional recognition of industry-responsive service.
  • Florida Extension Volunteers — Learning Styles and Professional Development: A study of 274 Florida Association for Family and Community Education volunteers finds their mean age is 71 years, that only 42% have received formal professional development as volunteers, and that the group is predominantly field-dependent learners, recommending that Extension agents use varied instructional strategies to match the preferred learning needs of older volunteer populations.
  • Florida State Fair Youth Livestock Achievement Program: An evaluation of the first two years of a youth livestock achievement program finds that participants most value the opportunity to earn money and points and the educational aspects of the program, with first-time participants more motivated by learning opportunities and repeat participants more motivated by financial incentives, recommending the program as a model for rewarding individual effort and equitable participation in livestock exhibitions.
  • HR Competency Assessment of County Extension Chairs: A descriptive and correlational study of Ohio State University Extension county chairs finds that the highest perceived HR competencies include written and oral comprehension and problem sensitivity, that a strong significant correlation exists between competency and performance of HR activities, and that chairs receive little formal HR training, recommending professional development targeting human resource management for Extension managers.

  Higher Education Quality and Creativity

  • Peer Evaluation of Teaching in the University of Florida's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences: A five-year follow-up qualitative study finds that while time demands and reluctance to include critical feedback are weaknesses of the peer review process, all three stakeholder groups — evaluated faculty, committee chairs, and administrators — agree that peer evaluation has improved teaching quality and should continue.
  • Tapping into Creative Potential in Higher Education: A theoretical article reviews the literature on creativity and proposes a model of the creative thinking process as a cognitive map for agricultural faculty, recommending that higher education create learning environments that actively foster divergent and creative thinking alongside analytical skills.
  • Relationships Between Critical and Creative Thinking: A correlational study examines whether critical and creative thinking are related constructs among agricultural students, providing foundational empirical data to inform the profession's efforts to develop both dimensions of student thinking simultaneously.
  • Quality of Life of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Recipients: An evaluation of HLS&R scholarship recipients examines the impact of scholarship support on graduates' quality of life across the domains of being, belonging, and becoming, providing benchmark data on career outcomes, community engagement, and overall well-being for a major agricultural scholarship program.

• Vol. 50 No. 01 (2000)

  The manuscripts in Volume 50, Issue 1 (2000) of the Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research (JSAER) reflect a profession actively navigating technological transformation, accountability pressures, and curricular evolution, with a rich set of studies spanning FFA enrollment and engagement, Internet adoption, distance education, block scheduling, agricultural literacy, and land-grant history.

  FFA Status, Enrollment, and Teacher–Administrator Relations

  • FFA Status of Traditional and Non-Traditional Agricultural Education Enrollees in Oklahoma: A quantitative study of 393 Oklahoma junior and senior agriscience students finds that traditional enrollees are more likely to be rural males with higher FFA activity involvement, while non-traditional enrollees are more urban, equally male and female, and more than half report no FFA activity involvement, with neither group maintaining strong SAE participation, recommending that enrollment point be considered when designing FFA and SAE programming.
  • Administrator Satisfaction with First-Year Agriculture Teachers: A study of public school administrators who hired first-year Oklahoma State University agriculture graduates finds that administrators are generally satisfied with overall teacher performance but identify areas for improvement including student behavior management, adjusting instruction based on monitoring, lesson closure, meaningful SAE programming, and community involvement, recommending targeted refinements in teacher preparation.
  • Administrator Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Agricultural Science Teachers in Texas: A study of Texas high school administrators and agriscience teachers finds that administrator perceptions are significantly shaped by the level of communication initiated by agriculture teachers, recommending that agriscience teachers take a proactive role in regularly communicating program activities and FFA events to their building administrators.
  • Problems Faced by Beginning Agricultural Teachers Preparing for CDEs and LDEs: A descriptive survey of beginning Texas agriscience teachers finds that chapter conducting is rated highest in importance and competence among leadership development events, while agricultural issues forum is rated lowest, and that livestock judging is the most popular career development event, with forestry and cotton classing least familiar depending on geographic background, recommending preservice training matched to regional program needs.

  Teacher Preparation and Professional Development

  • Agricultural Mechanics Course Requirements in Agriculture Teacher Education Programs: A national assessment of 46 agriculture teacher education programs finds that approximately two three-credit-hour courses in agricultural mechanics are typically required for certification, that course content reflects traditional subject matter, and that instructors generally have both agricultural education and mechanics expertise, recommending that programs consider expanding content toward more physical science-based approaches to meet changing industry needs.
  • Impact of a Professional Development Workshop on Teaching Agricultural Communications and Leadership: A study of a secondary agricultural communications and leadership course in Oklahoma finds that teachers who attended a summer professional development workshop devoted significantly more days to communication theory, while non-attendees focused more on public speaking and parliamentary procedure, demonstrating that targeted workshops can meaningfully shape content emphasis in new course offerings.
  • How Secondary Agricultural Education Teachers Describe Their Work: A Q-method study of 23 California agriscience teachers examines how teachers perceive their job responsibilities in terms of actual and ideal work, providing qualitative insight into the diverse and complex nature of agricultural teaching beyond classroom instruction to include FFA, SAE, and community leadership roles.
  • Part-Time Farming Activities of Georgia Young Farmer Teachers: A descriptive correlational study finds that over half of Georgia Young Farmer teachers engage in part-time farming, that supervisors and chapter presidents whose teachers farm report a positive effect on working relationships, and that chapter presidents broadly support part-time farming while supervisors are more divided, recommending increased dialogue among teachers, presidents, and supervisors about expectations.

  Internet and Technology Adoption

  • Use of the Internet in Georgia Agricultural Education Programs: A descriptive study of 56 Georgia agriculture program head teachers finds that only 37% report using the Internet, with the school library as the most available access point and FFA information as the most common use, while most teachers acknowledge the Internet's potential and desire more training and equipment, recommending improved preservice and inservice Internet training for Georgia agriculture educators.
  • Pennsylvania Secondary Agriculture Teachers' Perceptions of and Use of the Internet: A survey of 205 Pennsylvania agriculture teachers finds that factors discouraging Internet use are not significantly related to actual use, while comfort with computers, willingness to invest time, administrative support, and access are the most important encouraging factors, recommending school funding for Internet access, inservice training, and access to technology mentors.
  • Texas Agriscience Teachers' Attitudes Toward and Stage of Adoption of the Internet: A correlational study finds that Texas agriscience teachers hold highly favorable attitudes toward all forms of information technology and perceive themselves in advanced stages of internet adoption, with computer anxiety, perceived importance, and home access strongly correlated with attitudes and adoption levels, concluding the Internet has reached critical mass in this population.
  • Agriculture Students' Academic Achievement, Computer Anxiety, and Learning Styles: A study of 45 Mississippi State University agriculture students finds that paper-and-pencil quiz takers score significantly higher than electronic exam takers, that field-independent learners achieve higher quiz scores, and that no significant relationships exist between achievement and computer attitudes, anxiety, or gender, recommending early identification of field-dependent learners for additional computing support.

  Distance Education

  • Student Satisfaction and Interaction in a Distance Education Course: A mixed-methods case study of an interactive compressed video animal genetics course delivered to five northeastern land-grant universities finds that students are satisfied with the course and with interaction opportunities, with face-to-face contact with site facilitators as the most enjoyable interaction type, recommending advanced organizers, more time for Q&A, and resolution of technology failures.
  • Barriers to Interaction in Distance Education: A companion qualitative case study of the same ICV course identifies ten barriers to student interaction — including social concerns, technical limitations, camera shyness, lack of non-verbal cues, and the mute button — with all ten serving as dissatisfiers, recommending web-based course alternatives in light of the limited interaction observed in ICV delivery.
  • Comparison of Primary vs. Supplementary Web Delivery in an Agricultural Communication Course: An experimental study comparing fully web-based and supplementary web-based delivery of an undergraduate agricultural communication writing course at Mississippi State finds no significant differences in student achievement or attitudes, recommending continued investigation with larger samples before drawing firm conclusions about web delivery effectiveness.
  • Student Perceptions of Case-Based Instruction via the World Wide Web: A study of 35 Penn State and Rutgers students in a web-delivered turfgrass course finds generally favorable perceptions of web-based delivery, with Rutgers students reporting frustration over firewall-related download delays, recommending equitable access speeds and assessment of student computer comfort before web-based course delivery.
  • Use of Distance Learning to Teach a Multidisciplinary Course on Phytochemicals: A formative and summative evaluation of a Texas A&M graduate course delivered by videoconference to 10 sites finds that access to national expert presenters and the relevance of research applications are the most valued components, recommending this model for future multidisciplinary distance courses that could not otherwise bring together geographically dispersed expertise.
  • Cognitive Innovativeness as a Predictor of Student Attitudes Toward Technology Delivery: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior, a University of Florida study finds that students high in cognitive innovativeness hold more positive attitudes toward online courses, with attitude being the strongest predictor of intent for internal innovators and attitude plus norms predicting intent for external innovators, recommending that course designers consider student innovativeness profiles when planning technology-delivered instruction.

  Curriculum, Science, and Agricultural Literacy

  • Assessment of Student Agricultural Literacy Using the Food and Fiber Systems Framework: A quasi-experimental study using the FFSL Framework in two treatment schools (Montana and Oklahoma) and one control (Nebraska) finds significant knowledge gains in three grade groupings and three thematic areas — Understanding Agriculture, History/Culture/Geography, and Science and Environment — for the treatment group but not the control, concluding the FFSL Framework can effectively infuse agricultural literacy into core academic subjects.
  • Effects of Openness Level in Agriscience Experiments on Achievement and Science Process Skills: An experimental study of nine Illinois teachers using BSAA and PSAA agriscience courses finds that students in the traditional prescriptive lab format score significantly higher on achievement tests and science process skills than those in the more open, investigative format, with females outperforming males only in the control group, recommending further research before widespread adoption of open inquiry approaches in agriscience contexts.
  • Higher-Order vs. Lower-Order Thinking in Block vs. Traditional Scheduling: A study of 666 Texas animal science students across 45 schools finds no significant difference in higher-order or lower-order thinking achievement between traditional and block-scheduled students, while FFA membership length and teacher tenure significantly predict achievement for both thinking levels, recommending that scheduling decisions not be made solely on the basis of anticipated cognitive gains.
  • Professional Development Workshop on Agricultural Communications and Leadership: A study finds that attendance at a targeted summer workshop significantly influences how much time teachers devote to specific content areas within a new agricultural communications and leadership course, reinforcing the importance of professional development in successfully implementing curricular innovations.

  Leadership and Extension

  • Evaluation of the Florida Leadership Program for Agriculture and Natural Resources: A qualitative interview study of program alumni, spouses, and business associates finds that networking, increased leadership skills, broader agricultural perspectives, issue-identification abilities, and appreciation for diversity are the primary program benefits, concluding the program is effectively equipping agricultural and natural resource leaders for current and future roles.
  • Leadership Styles of Florida County Extension Directors: A study of Florida county extension directors using the Leadership Profiles Index finds that CEDs score near the 50th percentile across four of five leadership practices and that significant gender differences exist in four practices, recommending leadership-specific inservice training and preparation for new directors that goes beyond traditional management skills.
  • Self-Perceived Leadership Skills of Students in a Leadership Programs in Agriculture Course: A descriptive study of 58 Clemson University agriculture students finds they perceive themselves as possessing strong leadership skills and participate in a range of organizations, with departmental club participation showing a significant positive relationship with leadership skill, recommending expanded opportunities for community and departmental involvement.
  • Framework to Identify Inservice Training Needs of Extension Agents: A study of Clemson University Extension agents and specialists develops a structured framework for matching agent-identified training needs with specialist offerings, finding a good overall match and recommending this model as a practical approach for aligning professional development with the actual needs of county Extension personnel.
  • Macro and Micro Level Challenges to Program Evaluation and Accountability: A conceptual analysis identifies five macro-level and six micro-level challenges to Extension program evaluation and accountability, proposing a three-component framework — accountability information, customer satisfaction, and generic evaluation instruments — and recommending communication, teamwork, and distance education as strategies to build evaluation capacity among county staff.

  4-H and Livestock Programs

  • Benefits of Competitive Livestock Exhibition for Texas 4-H Members: A qualitative study at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo identifies six major benefit themes for youth participants — social relations, character development, family bonds, competitive spirit, exposure to new cultures, and financial support for education — recommending that the Texas 4-H program continue to use competitive livestock shows as a core educational vehicle.

  Historical Studies

  • Congressional District Agricultural Schools as Secondary-Level Land-Grants: A historical study of congressional district agricultural schools in Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia documents how these institutions conducted extension activities, agricultural instruction, and research years before the Smith-Lever and Smith-Hughes Acts, establishing important precedents for cooperative extension and secondary agricultural education that predate their federal legislative foundations.

  Critical Thinking

  • Dimensions of Critical Thinking: A conceptual paper synthesizes the literature on critical thinking to develop a working definition and accessible framework for college of agriculture faculty, proposing instructional strategies for developing critical thinking in agricultural disciplines and recommending that faculty prioritize teaching thinking skills alongside content knowledge.