A Comparison of Early Career Agricultural Teacher Training Received, Current Practices and Perceptions of Instructional Methods

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine early career agricultural teachers’ preparation and practice of various instructional methods in agricultural education. Training received in instructional methods and percentage of time spent using instructional methods were examined. Two-thirds of the participants of this study reported receiving training in all 10 of the identified instructional methods through their teacher certification program. Cooperative learning, demonstration, and lecture emerged as the most frequently used instructional methods while field trips, role play, and guest speakers were reported as the least used instructional methods. Participants only reported high confidence in using two instructional methods, demonstration and cooperative learning. Teachers identified only demonstration and cooperative learning as effective instructional methods for their classrooms. All other methods were reported as moderately effective. It was recommended that teacher preparation programs teach pre-service teachers how to select the appropriate instructional method for the environmental factors at hand.