18 pages., via online journal., Meeting the demands of a proficient scientific workforce depends on students’ communication skill preparation. To describe students’ self-perceptions of their communication skills, we surveyed 315 students in Texas A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Participants noted they were most proficient in their ability to listen effectively and least proficient in asking effective questions. Each communication skill characteristic showed a statistically significant difference before and after college engagement, but we found no statistically significant difference in the overall communication scores of students. Therefore, we recommend: 1) interviewing employers to understand their perceptions of entry-level employees; 2) investigating when students transition from false sense of confidence to actual confidence; 3) conducting a longitudinal study to investigate students’ perceptions of communication skills throughout their college experience; 4) evaluating faculty’s communication
teaching methods across disciplines; and 5) investigating the influence of self-reflection on students’ attained communication skills. Conducting such studies could lead to stronger connections between the academy and the industry, especially as faculty strive to align their teaching with needs of the industry.
15 pages., ISSN-1042-0541, Via ERIC., Employers have identified oral and written communications skills to be the most important skills graduates should possess when entering the workforce. In order for faculty to better understand their students' oral and written communications skills, they should understand what apprehension the students have toward oral and written communications. Specifically, no studies have been found that explore communication apprehension (CA) or writing apprehension (WA) in agricultural communications students. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore agricultural communications students' perceptions of CA and WA. Participants believe agricultural communications instructors set up an environment that is conducive to changing behavior. However, students realized and identified areas of improvement that could help them lower their CA and WA. Recommendations for practice are provided in order to help alleviate CA and WA in agricultural communications students.
14 pages, Demand exists for a workforce with graduate degrees in agricultural and environmental sciences. However, research on effective graduate student recruitment into colleges of agricultural and environmental sciences (CAES) is limited. Prospective graduate students consider distinctive factors when selecting an institution, necessitating further examination of their communication channel use. Media richness theory posits communication media are on a continuum of leanness to richness, and agricultural communicators can select the proper medium for an audience based on the message and its richness. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of media richness during the recruitment of prospective graduate students. Nineteen graduate students representing 10 departments within a CAES participated in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative inductive coding revealed three prominent communication channel themes: online, indirect, and direct. Findings indicated participants began their journey using indirect and online channels with less personalization and moved into richer media with the capacity for immediate feedback as their interest increased. Participants expressed disappointment at online channels with outdated information because they felt impersonal. Participants preferred phone or zoom calls as rich media to understand institutional culture, valuing personalization and immediate feedback from current students.
