FORECASTING DOCTORAL-LEVEL CONTENT IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION: VIEWPOINTS OF ENGAGED SCHOLARS IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

In this study, the researchers used a classical Delphi method to re-examine the conceptual framework, definition, and knowledge base of the field. Seventeen engaged scholars, each representing the expert agricultural education community, reached consensus on defining the field of study, 10 knowledge domains, and 67 knowledge objects. The Delphi panel agreed, “Agricultural education–2010, as a field of study, integrates social and behavioral sciences with the natural and applied science of agriculture, renewable natural resources, and environment. The knowledge base for agricultural education–2010 includes planning and needs assessment; curriculum development; learning theory; instructional design; delivery strategies; evaluation; research methods and tools; scholarship and writing; history, philosophy, and ethics; and contextual applications, culture, and diversity—all effecting continual improvement. Agricultural education empowers people to think more critically, to perform more skillfully, to communicate more clearly, to plan and affect change more efficiently, to solve problems more creatively, and to act based on principles—all of which involves vital choices and consequences in a global society.” The Delphi panel concurred on 10 knowledge domains composed of 67 core knowledge objects consisting of fundamental and powerful concepts, knowledge, paradigms, skills, and/or theories that are essential for building professional practice in agricultural education.