Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.20/24

Browse

Browsing Dissertations by Discipline "Agricultural and Extension Education"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Assessing the Agriculture Teacher Workforce in New England.
    (2011-10-28) Uricchio, Cassandra; Gary Moore, Chair; Dan Croom, Member; Elizabeth Wilson, Member; Shannon Phillips, Minor
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Characteristics and Motivational Factors of Effective Advisory Leaders.
    (2011-03-15) Spearman, Teresa Joy; Koralalage Jayaratne, Co-Chair; James Flowers, Chair; Mark Kistler, Member; David Jenkins, Member; Wendy Krause, Graduate School Representative
  • No Thumbnail Available
    An Evaluation of the Southern Region Pesticide Safety Education Center at North Carolina State University: Identifying Relationships Between Socio-Demographic, Organizational, and Psychological Factors and the Agent Use and Perception of Clientele Acceptance of Teaching Modules
    (2007-06-20) Skelton, William Lee; R. David Mustian, Committee Chair
    The primary purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Southern Region Pesticide Education Center (SR-PSEC) on use of hands on teaching modules by participating Extension agents. The goal was to explore how frequently the teaching modules presented at the SR-PSEC were adopted for use by the agents, and also to determine which factors affected that adoption. The SR-PSEC director indicated that the Center would be successful if the teaching modules were adopted at a rate greater than 50%. Nine of the twelve teaching modules exceeded this rate. A 75% rate was considered successful regarding the agent's perception of clientele acceptance of the teaching modules. Eighteen factors were explored to determine their relationship with the adoption of the teaching modules. The demographic factors of gender and age were identified as having a relationship to adoption of one or more of the teaching modules; and the organizational factors of tenure, pesticide coordinator responsibility, time as pesticide coordinator, vegetable, crops, ornamental horticulture and other responsibilities all have a relationship to adoption of one or more of the teaching modules. No relationship was identified between race, educational level, turf responsibility, SR-PSEC session attended, agent title, program area, Extension region, time in current position or locus of control and adoption of any of the teaching modules. Relationships were identified between educational level, time as pesticide coordinator, vegetable responsibility, ornamental horticulture responsibility, turf responsibility, SR-PSEC session attended, agent title, and Extension region and agent perception of clientele acceptance of one or more of the teaching modules. Locus of control had no relationship between either adoption of or the agent perception of clientele acceptance of any of the teaching modules.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Higher Order Thinking Skills as Demonstrated in Synchronous and Asynchronous Online College Discussion Posts.
    (2011-10-26) Brierton, Sara; Elizabeth Wilson, Chair; Mark Kistler, Co-Chair; James Flowers, Member; Grant Holley, Graduate School Representative; David Jones, Member
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Identifying Confidence Levels and Instructional Strategies of High School Agriculture Education Teachers When Working with Students with Special Needs.
    (2009-04-20) Stair, Kristin Shawn; Gary E. Moore, Committee Chair; Elizabeth Wilson, Committee Member; Barry Croom, Committee Member; Jay Jayaratne, Committee Member; Susan S. Osborne, Committee Member
    In Agricultural Education, teachers are experiencing increased student diversity within their classrooms. The purpose of this study was to identify the confidence levels of high school agriculture teachers and to determine what strategies they are using when working with students with special needs. The population of this study consisted of secondary agriculture teachers in the United States. One state was randomly selected from each region of National Association of Agriculture Educator (NAAE) regions and a stratified random sampling method was used to ensure representation from all states. A random sample size of 333 was selected with a total response rate of 62%. Participants completed a survey instrument that measured teacher confidence, identified which strategies they used most often, how effective they felt those strategies were and collected demographic information. Analysis of the collected data showed that teachers are using recognized practices in their classes though they are more likely to use techniques associated with good teaching practices rather than strategies that are specifically designed to benefit students with special needs. This research also showed that teachers are confident in their abilities, however they generally disagreed that their teacher training program prepared them to work with students with disabilities. Multiple regression was used to identify predictors of teacher confidence. The best fitting prediction model consisted of three variables: participating in in-service opportunities related to special education, age, and having a friend or family member with a disability. This model had a total R2 of .118 accounting for almost 12% of the total variance in predictors of total confidence Teacher training programs should focus on providing opportunities for teachers to gain experience by working with students with special needs and to learn specific strategies for teaching students within this population.