Do Workshops Work for Building Evaluation Capacity Among Cooperative Extension Service Faculty?

A case study used survey design (pre-test, satisfaction, and post-test) to determine if a 1-day workshop affected participants\u27 skills and self-efficacy in regard to conducting evaluation and if workshop participants applied evaluation skills afterwards. Findings indicate that the workshop was effective in building self-efficacy; however, it did not sustain evaluation practice. Formal training may be necessary to develop skills such as logic modeling, data collection and analysis, and reporting findings to solidify evaluation competencies among participants. It is recommended that Extension faculty engage in continuing education in program evaluation as part of a career development ladder to build evaluation capacity

The Sharpening Stone: A Phenomenological Study of the Impact of a 4-H State-Level Leadership Role on Youth Leadership and Life Skills Development

4-H is the largest youth organization in the US, with six million participants. 4-H contributes to developing positive leadership and life skills (LLS). This research examined the essence of LLS development of 4-H youth while serving as an officer for the Georgia State Board of Directors. The population was 4-H state-level leaders who served from 2016 to 2018 (N = 18, n = 12). A qualitative phenomenological research design was used to describe what and how participants experienced being in a state-level leadership role, resulting in the essence of participants’ lived experiences in the context of LLS development. Face-to-face interviews led to textural and structural descriptions of participants\u27 experiences, resulting in the essence of the experience as a sharpening stone. Participants gained LLS in serving others, building confidence, open-mindedness, self-awareness, motivation, communication skills (speaking, listening, writing), personal agency, transfer of learning, and solidified college and career goals. Peer-influence was the most important factor in shaping participants’ choices to belong to 4-H and strive for leadership roles. A peer affiliated with 4-H and serving as a leader deeply inspired youth to run for a state-level leadership role. Adult and peer influence served as the “honing process” to cultivate and sharpen LLS

Understanding Authentic Assessment in a Secondary Agricultural Mechanics Laboratory: An Instrumental Case Study

The instrumental case study reported here adds to the literature on authentic assessment by illuminating how one secondary agricultural education instructor employed authentic assessment in the agricultural mechanics laboratory. The study was underpinned by the constructivist notion of authentic learning and assessment, or allowing students to perform what they can do. Multiple sources of data regarding assessment practices were collected from an exemplary secondary agricultural mechanics instructor who demonstrated model authentic assessment behavior by (1) setting high and fair expectations for students, (2) establishing a progressive hierarchy of skills for students to master, (3) providing continuous feedback so that students had knowledge of their progress, and (4) being committed deeply to students’ success. The four themes resonated with previous literature and provided the foundation for a pragmatic model of authentic assessment in the secondary agricultural mechanics laboratory. Future research should focus on refining the model of authentic assessment in agricultural mechanics for a larger audience, as case studies are limited in their ability to generalize. Additionally, research should be conducted to determine how authentic assessment impacts student performance on Oklahoma Agricultural Power and Technology competency examinations

A Phenomenological Inquiry into Producers\u27 Experiences Growing Organic Produce

Global population growth necessitates increasing food production while reducing the environmental impact of intensive agriculture. Organic production can address this need; however, organic producers lack the Extension support needed to advance their practice. Using phenomenological design, we explored how organic producers experience growing organically. We report factors relevant to producers\u27 decision to grow organically, their experiences with adopting organic practices, and the alignment of their philosophical stances with the concept of growing organically. Participants would benefit from Extension programs targeted toward organic agriculture. We propose an Extension model to support producers in becoming more effective and efficient at growing organically

Leadership and Life Skills Development among 4-H State-Level Youth Leaders

This mixed-methods study sought to determine the impact of a 4-H state-level youth leadership program on participants’ leadership and life skills (LLS) development. Youth who participated in the study served as a state-level leader for one year. Two cohorts, 2017 and 2018 (N = 18), participated in the study. Twelve youth completed the survey and interviews. Results from the Youth Leadership Life Skills Development scale (YLLSD) and interviews revealed participants gained LLS in the areas of understanding self, decision-making, strengthened oral communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills. Participation in 4-H positively built LLS among participants. Long-term engagement in 4-H was found to increase and deepen LLS development among participants by reinforcing lessons learned and through positive role-modeling between peers. Further research should explore the relationship between assigning youth leaders with titles such as president, vice-president, and secretary and associated LLS outcomes as previous research indicated that those given these titles benefited more than youth without titles in spite of all youth receiving similar formative experiences

The Producers\u27 Stake in the Bioeconomy: A Survey of Oklahoma Producers\u27 Knowledge and Willingness to Grow Dedicated Biofuel Crops

The study reported here found that producers were familiar with the biofuel industry through mass media channels and were willing to convert cropland to energy crops. Producers were motivated by patriotic reasons, but overall profitability was the greater motive for converting cropland to dedicated biofuel crops such as switchgrass. Barriers to energy crop production were a lack of markets (biorefineries) and information about biofuel crop production. It is recommended that an educational campaign regarding biofuel crop production best practices, especially cellulosic crops (switchgrass) and marketing, be implemented. A statewide leadership campaign to attract biorefineries to the state is also recommended

Prospect Evaluation as an Emerging Pre-Evaluation Technique in the Case of Great Plains Wheat Producers’ Use of Web 2.0 Technology

We introduce a pre-evaluation technique, prospect evaluation, in the case of Great Plains wheat producers’ practices with Web 2.0. We emerged prospect evaluation as a pre-evaluation technique, expanding the role of evaluative logic and reasoning into the ideation phase of project and product development to close the risk gap between project idea and implementation. Prospect evaluation serves as a prequel to the well-established developmental, formative, and summative evaluation models. We implemented the prospect evaluation technique in the context of iWheat, a USDA-funded Web 2.0 project (currently known as myFields, http://myfields.info/dashboard). Wheat producers were comfortable using computers; however, they conceptualized the Internet with a Web 1.0 mindset that depends on a centralized model of development and delivery of content. Wheat producers were not comfortable actively co-creating useful information for the betterment of community, a fundamental underpinning of Web 2.0 advancement. Extension specialists and educators should focus on the rewards of contributing to Web 2.0 sites and proceed in diffusing Web 2.0 tools to the wheat producers. Prospect evaluation was sufficient for helping project leaders bridge the risk gap and move forward with the project

A Case Study of Stakeholder Needs for Extension Education

The 1998 Farm Bill mandated collecting stakeholder input for land-grant universities. The study described here developed a model for collecting stakeholder input when developing educational programming priorities using qualitative case study methods. The study found that communication barriers existed between university faculty and stakeholders. Stakeholders were not getting the information they needed to solve daily problems. Extension agents generally lacked appropriate content knowledge and printed communications were ineffective. The article offers recommendations based on the study\u27s findings

Increasing Educational Impact: A Multi-Method Model for Evaluating Extension Workshops

Extension professionals are increasingly being asked to account for their activities through formal program evaluation. Many models of evaluation have been developed to accomplish the goals of evaluation (judge the merit and worth of a program, improve the program, ensure oversight and compliance, or develop theory). This article presents a unique model that combines formative and summative techniques in addition to Stufflebeam\u27s Context, Input, Process, and Products model to successfully evaluate a series of Integrated Pest Management workshops presented to horticultural professionals. The evaluation process resulted in increased learning among the program providers and more educationally effective workshops for stakeholders

Creating a dual Ph.D. degree program between Oklahoma State University & Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla, Mexico

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (11th : 2013 : Columbia, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP University) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) have developed a strong international academic relationship since 1992. Both institutions share and understand the importance of educating students to live in a global and multicultural society (Bhawuk & Brislin, 1992) and have developed, among other academic exchange opportunities, 25 dual degree programs at the Masters level. As part of the dual degree, students have the opportunity to earn two Masters Degrees, in two different countries, in approximately two years (Fabregas-Janeiro & Nuno de la Parra, 2011). American, Canadian, and Mexican students have benefited from these innovative international Master programs. Overall, students' evaluation of the dual Masters Degree program has been very positive. Participating students perceived these programs as an opportunity to experience cultural immersion and language development in a challenging and international learning environment (Brandhorst, 2011). Due to the extraordinary outcomes of the dual degree programs, UPAEP University and OSU expanded the degree to the doctoral level. The Department of Agricultural Education, Communications, and Leadership, OSU and the Department of Education of the Centro Inter-disciplinario de Postgrados at UPAEP finalized a Memorandum of Understanding to offer a dual Ph.D. program. Students will earn two Ph.D. degrees, one in Agricultural Education at OSU and one in Education or Economic Development and Strategic Sectors at UPAEP (Oklahoma State University, 2010; UPAEP, 2011). The purpose of the Ph.D. dual degree program is to provide students the opportunity to study in, and benefit from, the academic and cultural environment of OSU in the United States and UPAEP in Puebla, Mexico. Students enrolled in the dual Ph.D. program will earn 75 credit hours equating to 15 more than the current Ph.D. program at OSU. The students will have a home institution that awards the degree, and a host institution where the student studies abroad, taking courses in partial fulfillment of the host institution's degree requirements. All students enrolled in the dual degree should have the academic background and language skills to enable them to benefit from participating in regular university classes at each institution (English and Spanish proficiency). Each student must meet applicable admission requirements at both OSU and UPAEP (UPAEP & Oklahoma State University, 2011). This presentation provides details on the successful relationship between OSU andUPAEP, how the degree plan will be executed at each institution, including the development of the agreement (Appendix A), and how students will progress toward completion of the degree, as well as the resources required to implement such a program at other institutions