11. Evaluation
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12. Examining the impact of expert voices: communicating the scientific consensus on genetically-modified organisms
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Landrum, Asheley R. (author), Hallman, William K. (author), and Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 34 Document Number: D10695
- Journal Title:
- Environmental Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- 13(1): 51-70
- Notes:
- 21 pages., via online journal., Scholars are divided over whether communicating to the public the existence of scientific consensus on an issue influences public acceptance of the conclusions represented by that consensus. Here, we examine the influence of four messages on perception and acceptance of the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs): two messages supporting the idea that there is a consensus that GMOs are safe for human consumption and two questioning that such a consensus exists. We found that although participants concluded that the pro-consensus messages made stronger arguments and were likely to be more representative of the scientific community’s attitudes, those messages did not abate participants’ concern about GMOs. In fact, people’s premanipulation attitudes toward GMOs were the strongest predictor of of our outcome variables (i.e. perceived argument strength, post-message GMO concern, perception of what percent of scientists agree). Thus, the results of this study do not support the hypothesis that consensus messaging changes the public’s hearts and minds, and provide more support, instead, for the strong role of motivated reasoning.
13. Globalization amid the cornfields: teaching sustainable practices in the American Midwest
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Salvo, Michael (author)
- Format:
- Online article
- Publication Date:
- 2010-05
- Published:
- USA: ERIC
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10238
- Journal Title:
- The Writing Instructor
- Notes:
- 13 pages., The original website no longer has a copy of the article. Access is available through ERIC database. ERIC Number: EJ890607, Via online source., This article discusses three sites that disrupt accustomed expectations and roles for technical communication. These sites include an agricultural processing site that is requesting tax abatements in exchange for decreased emissions so that it can remain competitive in the global market. The second is also an agricultural manufacturing site that remains globally competitive by increasing efficiencies and expanding the range of products made at the site. Finally, the essay discusses a manufacturing facility that takes finished products-automobiles-and remanufactures them for a niche market of users. Each of these Midwestern sites is globally competitive and challenges expectations for high technology work. Taken together, they gesture toward new definitions of work, in new postindustrial context, and offer insight for defining technical communication in the postindustrial age. The remaining challenge, for scholars and teachers, is to articulate emerging literacy practices supporting postindustrial manufacturing, and to participate in the knowledge management that supports innovation. Here, each site takes something that would have previously been considered either finished product or waste and rearticulates it as an ingredient in a new product. At the least, technical communicators will need to learn to document such organization's innovation and change. At best, such change invites technical communicators, acting as knowledge managers, to articulate opportunities for innovation. Research, a traditional strength of technical writing preparation, allows organizations to better prepare and understand change, turning disruption into opportunity. Postindustrial business practices are no longer the work of futurists, but the reality and structure of the workplace today. Each work site described in this article presents opportunities for basic research into emerging workplaces in need of the expertise of technical and professional writers; each is an example and potential model for knowledge work.
14. How to communicate with farmers about climate change: Farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to increasingly variable weather patterns in Maine (USA)
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Jemison, John M. Jr. (author), Hall, Damon (author), Welcomer, Stephanie (author), and Haskell, Jane (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014-07-23
- Published:
- New Leaf Associates, Inc
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10991
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 4(4):57-70
- Notes:
- 14 pages., via online journal., While dealing with weather variability has always been a source of stress for farmers, a generally warmer, wetter climate with the potential for increasingly intensive precipitation poses a threat to long-term farm viability. Knowing how farmers think about increasingly variable weather patterns (IVWP) is important for educators, agency staff, and others to learn how to work with producers on adaptation strategies to protect natural resources and prevent crop failure. In 2011, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension conducted focus group sessions with farmers from seven different commodity groups, five mixed farmer sessions, and two sessions with consultants, educators, and agency staff who work with growers to learn about grower perceptions of environmental changes, and to learn about changes they may be making to their farming operations to protect their operations from IVWP. Farmers discussed over 40 practices that could be construed as adaptation measures to buffer against IVWP. Fruit (apple and blueberry) growers spent the most time on the subject and expressed the most concern about the effects of IVWP, while dairy and potato growers spent the least. Given the divergence of opinion on the subject of climate change that Maine growers expressed, successful outreach education through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Cooperative Extension should likely emphasize short-term risk management, resilience, and stability of farm operations as opposed to communicating the need to adopt strategies based on climate change.
15. Inclusion of youths with disabilities in 4-H: a scoping literature review
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Taylor-Winney, Jennifer (author), Xue, Caryn (author), McNab, Erin (author), and Krahn, Gloria (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-06
- Published:
- Extension Journal, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 32 Document Number: D10603
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 57(3)
- Notes:
- 12 pages., Article #:3FEA1, via online journal., The Journal of Extension serves as a conduit for the dissemination of current research and practices within Extension and 4-H. We conducted a review of Journal of Extension articles published since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Our purpose was to determine what practices, programs, and studies have occurred regarding inclusion in 4-H of youths with disabilities or special health care needs. The review resulted in detailed examination of 16 articles and revealed information about Extension professionals' attitudes toward inclusion, strategies and program approaches related to inclusion, and specific areas that need to be addressed further to increase inclusion.
16. Information behaviour of migrant Hispanic farm workers and their families in the Pacific Northwest
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Fisher, Karen E. (author), Marcoux, Elizabeth (Betty) (author), Miller, Lupine S. (author), Sanchez, Agueda (author), and Ramirez Cunningham, Eva (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2004-10
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 152 Document Number: C24567
- Journal Title:
- Information Research
- Journal Title Details:
- 10(1) : Paper 199
- Notes:
- 13 p.
17. Information communication technology needs of small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ajani, E. N. (author) and Agwu, A. E. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2012
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10483
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
- Journal Title Details:
- 13(2): 144-156
- Notes:
- 14 pages., via online journal., This study sought to identify the information communication technology (ICT) needs of small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data from a sample of 108 farmers. Results revealed that the majority used radio and television and owned mobile phones and video machines. Constraints to use included capacity, infrastructural/technical and logistical problems. The study recommends that the Nigerian government reorient its policies in order to harness the potential of ICTs to contribute to agricultural development and highlights the need to raise awareness of the agricultural uses of ICTs among the government, other national stakeholders, and rural communities.
18. Information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in developing countries: A case study of rural smallholder farmers in Malawi
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Phiri, Austine (author), Chipeta, George T. (author), and Chawinga, Winner D. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D11003
- Journal Title:
- Information Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 35(3): 421–434
- Notes:
- 14 pages., via online journal., The purpose of the study was to investigate the information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in Mzimba North in Malawi. A mixed methods approach was adopted for the study and the Wilson’s Model of Information Behaviour (1996) guided the study. A questionnaire and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data from 202 rural smallholder farmers. The study found that the major information need of rural smallholder farmers was crop husbandry as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 149 (77.6). The study found that majority of rural smallholder farmers 180 (94.8%) were aware of information sources. The study also found that the predominant information sources consulted by rural smallholder farmers were personal experiences as indicated by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 185 (96%). The major challenge faced by rural smallholder farmers was lack of mobility as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 147 (76.6). The study recommends that the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (DAES) should empower the social structures such as families in rural settings with agricultural information.
19. Information needs and information-seeking behaviors of urban food producers: implications for urban extension programs
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kumudu P. P. Kopiyawattage (author), Laura A. Warner (author), and T. Grady Roberts (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- USA: The American Association for Agricultural Education
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 149 Document Number: D10111
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Education
- Journal Title Details:
- 59(3) : 229-242
- Notes:
- Via Online Journal, Extension is challenged with meeting the needs of a variety of stakeholders. As the country becomes more urban, Extension may need to adapt programming to reach new clients. Having an understanding about what, when, and how urban food producers gather information is important to address their needs. Information that is relevant, up-to-date, and meets clients’ needs, enables their ability to adopt new ideas and innovative technologies, providing more opportunities for success. A mixed-method research design explored the information needs and information-seeking behavior of urban food producers in Columbus, Ohio. Urban food producers in this study most needed information to increase food production. Respondents preferred to receive information from the Internet and other electronic media over conventional information sources. This group of urban producers trusted information from university and Extension sources, but expressed mixed opinions about their personal experiences with OSU Extension.
20. Intergenerational environmental communication: child influence on parent environmental and behavior
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Straub, Crista L. (author) and Leahy, Jessica E. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-09-07
- Published:
- USA: American Society of Agronomy
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10249
- Journal Title:
- Natural Sciences Education
- Journal Title Details:
- 46(1) : 1-9
- Notes:
- 9 pages., Via online journal., Intergenerational environmental communication (IGEC) was examined using pre- and post-survey research after child participation in a groundwater environmental education (EE) program. The EE program increased child knowledge, but did not significantly increase parent knowledge. There was also a significant difference between perceived levels of environmental communication (EC) between child and parent, with parents indicating higher levels of EC than their children. Participants reporting low EC levels had significantly less interest in, concern for, or knowledge about environmental issues. Several key factors initiated IGEC between children and their parents, including saving household money by changing environmental behaviors, exposure to media sources that reported environmental news, and school activities such as homework related to environmental issues. Environmental educators should be cautious when implementing EE programs, as additional considerations are essential to determine what influence, if any, child participants have beyond the classroom. Continued research is needed to increase EC between children and their parents with the hope of improving intergenerational approaches to environmental issues.
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