Attitudes of students at College of Food and Agricultural Sciences toward agriculture

Abstract

The primary purpose of the study was to determine the attitudes of students at the College of Agriculture toward agriculture programs and the field of agriculture in an effort to better identify, recruit, and retain students in the College of Agriculture. The population of the study was 110 students from the College of Agriculture freshmen enrolling in course 203 Ag. ext. Communication skills in 2009 and 60 students who transferred from the College of Agriculture to another College. Questionnaire was reviewed for content and face validity by a panel of experts from the department of Agricultural Extension at the College of Agriculture, King Saud University. A five-point Likert-type scale was used. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be 0.89, which indicated the internal consistency of the scale. Ninety-six of the students were from cities and do not have a farm background. Many of them indicated that they were not happy in the College of Agriculture. Only 31.18% of the respondents (53) indicated that more students should be encouraged to enroll in the College of Agriculture, whereas nearly 69 disagreed or were uncertain. The attitudes of students toward the field of Agriculture were positive. Seventy-one of respondents viewed Agriculture as a scientific area of study, nearly 66% of respondents viewed the field of Agriculture as a blend of scientific principles and agricultural practices. Significant differences at the level of 0.01 were detected, in means of students who had been enrolled in Agricultural program and those students who had not. Students who had enrolled in Agriculture program displayed different attitudes toward the field of Agriculture than did students who were in non-Agriculture program. Generally, students who were studying Agriculture programs possessed attitudes, which were supportive of Agriculture as a career field. Freshmen of the College of Agriculture viewed agriculture as being both scientific and technical. It was recommended that a counseling program should be implemented to better identify and retain students who are interested in pursuing degrees from the College of Agriculture.