10 pages, Extension faculty are tasked with developing and communicating educational programs to local clientele, and communication skills are a considerable piece of the Extension faculty job. Thus, UF/IFAS Extension included a communication portion to the on-board training for newly hired Extension faculty to develop their design skills so they can more effectively communicate through their educational and marketing materials. We used Rogers’ (2003) innovation-decision process to assess Florida early career Extension faculty’s adoption of design principles after completion of the 2019 UF/IFAS Extension Faculty Development Academy. Thirty-two Extension faculty completed the spring and fall sessions of the Academy. A mixed methods approach was utilized to gather survey data at the immediate completion of the Academy and qualitative, telephone interview data four to five months after completing the Academy. The faculty retrospectively perceived they increased their knowledge about design principles. They had an overwhelmingly positive attitude about learning design principles to better their communication efforts, but they decided not to fully adopt design principles in their work as other information and elements of learning their job took precedent.
Erbaugh, J. Mark (author), Donnermeyer, Joseph (author), Kibwika, Paul (author), and Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE).
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2006-05-14
Published:
Uganda
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 150 Document Number: C24181
Notes:
Retrieved June 16, 2006, Pages 222-232 in proceedings of the AIAEE conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida, May 14-17, 2006.
9 pages, Effective delivery of continuing education programs can improve their impact. Using the first of four two-week modules of a professional short course, we tested outcomes of a flipped classroom approach, comparing professional foresters’ completion rates, preference for, and perceived value of pre-module content delivered via video and reading. Participants in the National Advanced Silviculture Program self-reported significantly higher pre-module completion rates, preference for, and perceived value of video over reading. This simple study suggests the potential for video to serve as an accessible and preferred format for delivery of key content to supplement an in-person continuing education program.
10 pages., via online journal., Purpose: Agricultural extension graduates do not get jobs and farmers are not getting agricultural
extension services, and therefore, both the farmers and agricultural graduates do not receive benefi ts.
The study assessed the interest of agricultural extension students in providing private extension services
to farmers, examined their perception towards private extension services and identifi ed extension skills
possessed by the students.
Research Method: The study comprised all the fi nal year students in the Universities in Osun State. A
two – stage sampling procedure was used to select the respondents. One university was selected from
each category of federal, state and private. A total of 68 respondents were selected and interviewed.
Data collected were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings: The results show that the mean age, mean years of formal education of the respondents
were 23.75 ± 2.02 and 17.40 ± 1.16, respectively. About half (51.5%) of the respondents had positive
perception towards the private extension service while 57 percent had high interest in providing private
extension services. Majority of them possessed teaching skills (97.1%), innovation dissemination
skills (95.5%) and communication skills (88.2%). Also, sources of agricultural information available
(χ2=22.448), types of sponsors (χ2=6.102) and marital status (χ2=16.535) had a signifi cant association
with respondents’ interest in providing private agricultural extension services.
Research Limitation: The study focuses on the interest of agricultural extension graduates to provide
private extension services; however, these graduates may have an interest in other areas that have not
been investigated.
Original Value: The study provides an insight to show the interest and capability of agricultural students
to be engaged in private extension services as a livelihood
14 pages, The study assessed the agricultural extension agents' climate change training needs in Abia state. Eighty-three extension agents were chosen for the study using a simple random sampling procedure. Questionnaire was used to collect data, which was then summarized using percentages, frequency counts, and the mean. The findings indicated that male agricultural extension agents comprised a majority (53%) of the state's agricultural extension agents. The average household contained between one and five members (60%). Only 10% have a master's degree, while the majority (69%) have a bachelor's degree. The average length of employment was 15 years. The study's findings indicated that there are still extension agents who are unaware of climate change (1%). Agricultural extension agents in the study area have a limited understanding of all six climate change statements. Extension agents provide significant climate change services to farmers, including technical advice on climate change ( =2.0), the establishment of Small Plot Adaptation Techniques (SPAT) to monitor the impact of climate change (=2.1), and educating farmers on appropriate agrochemicals for climate change adaptation (weed and pest control) ( =2.2). Additionally, the results indicated that understanding fundamental climate change concepts ( =3.7), utilising cultural practises to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts ( =3.4), and environmentally friendly management practises to mitigate and adapt to climate change ( =3.4) were the primary areas of need for climate change training among extension agents. Inadequate funding for training (=3.4), a lack of financial support from organizations ( =3.3), and an inability to access financial support from funders (=3.3) were the major barriers to attending climate change training for extension agents. Regular climate change seminars and training workshops for agricultural extension agents at the federal and state levels will help to improve their overall knowledge of climate change issues. The Agricultural Development Program should utilize Forth nightly training (FNT) meetings to educate extension agents about climate change issues.
12 pages., via online journal., The study assessed the communication competence of agricultural extension workers in Benue State, Nigeria. Ninety-three respondents were selected and studied using stratified and random sampling techniques. Data were collected from the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The results obtained revealed that the majority (57%) showed a low level of communication knowledge/skill. Logit regression statistics showed significant effect of respondents’ educational qualification, work experience, and rank (salary grade level) on their communication competence at 5% level of probability. It is therefore recommended that Benue State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority should adequately train their staff so as to correct their low communication knowledge/skill.
