Agricultural Science Students Research Articles

Evaluation Of Factors Affecting The Attitude Of Female Agricultural Science Students Using Censored Tobit Regression Model

Evaluation Of Factors Affecting The Attitude Of Female Agricultural Science Students Using Censored Tobit Regression Model

Editorial

This Issue offers lively insights on innovative efforts, carried out at different stages of Higher Education teaching, learning, and research paths. In our May 2016 Issue, we reported about echoes from micro and macro processes, which occur in the epochal paradigm shift regarding Higher Education, from teacher-centred to student-centred education. Here we report about a new set of micro processes and experiences. In more detail, two contributions concern curriculum and course units’ design in the domain of architecture; three deal with teaching and learning experiences within a classroom context; and the last one offers a model approach to employability of students in Agricultural Sciences.

E-books usage by agricultural, engineering and social science students in selected universities of Pakistan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the usage patterns of e-books among the students of social, agricultural, and engineering sciences; demonstrate how e-books are used by students for various purposes; explore the main reasons for using e-books; and uncover the major issues being encountered by students while using e-books in Pakistani Universities. Design/methodology/approach During May to July 2014, a convenient sample technique was adopted, and a close-ended questionnaire was used as a survey tool for 300 graduates (BSc honor) and postgraduate (masters and MS) students in the age group of 21-60 years. In this study, the respondents’ gender, age, educational level and major disciplines were individual contextual variables. The data collection process was successfully completed with a 100 per cent response rate. SPSS-19 was utilized for testing the reliability of the instrument, as well as descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test). Findings The results show that the adoption of e-books has reached a level where they have become an integral component of academic library services. The results of this study verify the previous findings that the students are relying on e-book adoption for various academic and research purposes. Comparatively, male students, postgraduate students and those between the ages of 21 and 40 years are more frequently e-book users. In addition, the percentage of e-book readership among engineering students on a “daily basis” is greater than the students of agricultural and social sciences. They prefer reading e-books because of the following reasons: to support research endeavors and improve academic performance; and the e-format is quick to read and easy to manage. Insufficient e-contents, lack of personal computers and the variety of e-book formats are the major constraints in the effective utilization of e-books for learning, education and research needs. The study has concluded that e-books have a key role in the set-up of academic libraries and information resources in Pakistan, though further development of e-book readership capabilities and building of e-book collections are required to support users’ needs, and a parallel investigation into their most effective usage is also required. Originality/value This empirical research is a first and unique study that systematically and quantitatively compares the relationship between respondents’ e-books usage with their individual contextual variables in the perspective of academic libraries in Pakistan.

Socio-economic Background as Correlates on Academic Performance of Students: A Case of Agricultural Science Students in University of Mpumalanga

The study examined the socio-economic background as correlates on academic performance of students in University of Mpumalanga. The objectives of the study were: i) to investigate the impact of hou...

1756 Impact of a global food security assignment on agricultural sciences students' education and career interests

1756 Impact of a global food security assignment on agricultural sciences students' education and career interests

Socio-economic Background as Correlates on Academic Performance of Students: A Case of Agricultural Science Students in University of Mpumalanga

The study examined the socio-economic background as correlates on academic performance of students in University of Mpumalanga. The objectives of the study were: i) to investigate the impact of hou...

Validez de instrumento para medir el aprendizaje creativo

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>El artículo presenta la validez y fiabilidad del instrumento CREA, cuyo objetivo es medir el aprendizaje creativo de estudiantes que cursan programas académicos de pregrado en el municipio de Cúcuta, Colombia. Sigue un diseño de estudio descriptivo de validación de escalas multidimensionales a través de análisis factorial, validez de constructo, y facial. La población estudio la constituyen 23564 estudian tes de programas de pregrado ofertados por universidades del municipio de San José de Cúcuta, constituida la muestra por 595 estudiantes con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 25 años. Se obtuvo una escala de 35 ítems. El análisis factorial arrojó dimensiones de práctica pedagógica orientada al liderazgo, pensamiento creativo, satisfacción emocional, independencia, actitud creativa, productividad, competencias en liderazgo, motivación; la consistencia interna fue adecuada (alfa de Cronbach 0,72-0,95), coeficiente de correlación intraclase global de 0,967 (IC del 95 %, 0,933-0,984), promedio de diferencias en sumatoria de ítems -1,3 (DS: 8,5) e índices de Kappa superiores a 0,9, lo cual muestran un alto acuerdo entre expertos. Se concluye que CREA es un instrumento válido y confiable para el contexto Cúcuta, Colombia. </span></p></div></div></div>

Gender Differences in Attitude towards the Learning of Agricultural Science in Senior High Schools in the Assin South District of the Central Region, Ghana

<p>Agriculture has predominantly been observed as the activity of men with little or no interest by women hence this study was conducted in two public senior high schools in the Assin South district of the Central region of Ghana aimed to investigate gender differences in attitude towards the learning of agricultural science. A sample of 198, comprising of 188 students and 10 teachers of agricultural science took part in the survey. The research instrument used for the data collection was questionnaire which was developed by the researchers in two different forms, one for the agricultural science students and the other for the agricultural science teachers. Research findings from the study indicated that gender had no significant influence on students’ attitude towards the learning of agricultural science. Also, the attitude of female students towards agricultural science as a profession is not different from that of the male students. The study again concluded that teachers and parents play a key role influencing students to pursue related science courses. However students should be given the room to express their choice of programme to pursue at the senior high level. It must be reiterated that teachers have a major role to play in increasing and sustaining the interest of students in the study of agricultural science. The study recommends that students especially females should be encouraged, towards building a positive attitude in learning of agricultural science to take up major future roles related to the field.</p>

Agricultural experiences as correlates of secondary school students’ achievement and career decisions in agricultural science

This study examined agricultural experiences as correlates of secondary school students’ achievement and career decisions in agricultural science. The study adopted a survey research design. Simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting six hundred (600) senior secondary schools (SS II) Agricultural Science Students. Instruments used were Career Decision Questionnaire, Agricultural Experience Questionnaire and Students Achievement Test in Agriculture. Four research questions were raised to guide the study. Data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple regression. The results revealed that poultry, fishery and cashew farming had significant correlation with students’ achievement (r=-0.093, -0.127 and -0.127) and career decision (r=-0.155, -0.136 and -.132) in Agricultural Science respectively. The findings showed that there were significant joint contributions of agricultural experiences to students’ achievement (F(3,600) = 3.992; P < 0.05) and career decision (F(3,600)= 22.807; P < 0.05) in Agricultural Science. The findings further revealed that fishery (β= -0.79) was the greatest predictor of students’ achievement in agriculture while poultry (β = -0.333) mostly predicted students career decision in Agricultural Science. It was recommended that curriculum planners should systematically introduce agricultural science experiences (poultry, fishery and cashew farming) into the curriculum content of all the Secondary School Students and it should not be streamlined to only science students alone because of its educational value and it relevance to the needs of the learner and society as a whole.Keywords: Agricultural experiences, achievement, career decision in Agricultural Science

Social Computing Values: As Perceived by Students of Agricultural Sciences

Social computing is an information and communication technology tool with a new direction in computing and a field for researchers both in information and social sciences. The history of social computing or social software is deeply entangled with the evolution of the computer and Internet. The actual term ‘social software’ had surfaced in the 1980s but took off after 2002 when it is used to describe the new kind of social networking tools that seem to drive a new generation of web communities. Social computing has exhibited a prolific growth since its genesis in 2003 and, since 2005, has achieved unprecedented levels of global usage. Over the past two decades, social software, from email to blog, has fundamentally changed our ways of living, working and interacting with each other. This research study explores the core human values of students towards using the Internet sources of information in their academic as well as social life. To answer the question ‘What are the values the students associate with social computing?’, a study was conducted with the specific objective to study the values associated with social computing among the students of agricultural sciences. The study was conducted in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. One university, two colleges and 210 agricultural students, pursuing UG, PG and PhD, doing social computing formed the sample of the study. According to the responses, sharing (9.51%), selfsupport (8.97%) and openness (8.35%) were the major core values, whereas dedication (2.94%), acceptation (3.02%) and empathy (3.02%) were the minor values associated with social computing among the students of agricultural sciences.

Effects of social computing on students of agricultural sciences

With the advance of internet and web technologies, the increasing accessibility of computing resources and mobile devices, the prevalence of rich media contents, and the ensuing social, economic, and cultural changes, computing technology and applications have evolved quickly over the past decade. They now go beyond personal computing, facilitating collaboration and social interactions in general. As such, social computing, a new paradigm of computing and technology development, has become a central theme across a number of information and communication technology (ICT) fields. It has become a hot topic attracting broad interest from not only researchers but also technologists, software and online game vendors, web entrepreneurs, business strategists, political analysis, and digital government practitioners, to name a few. This research study explores the aftereffects or consequences of using the Internet sources of information as perceived by the students in their academic as well as social life. To answer the question, ‘What are the aftereffects of social computing on the students? ’a study was conducted with the specific objective to analyze the effects of social computing as perceived by the students of agricultural sciences. The study was conducted in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. One university, two colleges and 210 agricultural students, pursuing UG, PG and PhD, doing social computing formed the sample of the study. It was found that the students made new contacts, learnt new study techniques and had more reliance on self-study through social computing without having less contact with teachers or offline friends and less time for physical exercises.

Teaching Agricultural Science with Instructional Materials in Secondary Schools; What the Standard Deviation Explains about the Mean Achievement Scores

This quasi-comparative-experimental study explained student achievements scores based on the level of disparity in the means within the control and experimental groups. Four secondary schools (two-government and two-private owned) were studied in Enugu State. The study was comprised of 182 Agricultural Science students in 4 intact classes drawn from four secondary schools in Enugu state. A Student Achievement Test (SAT) was used for data collection. The instrument was faced and content validated. Kuder-Richardson formula (K-R21) was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument after trial testing, which yielded a reliability index of 0.79. Mean and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Findings of the study strongly supported the use of instructional materials in content delivery but cautions on the diverging effects that could arise among student as revealed in the widening gap between the highest and lowest mean achievement scores.

Challenges in the Teaching and Learning of Agricultural Science in Selected Public Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis

The study was conducted in selected Public Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis aimed at investigating the challenges in the teaching and learning of Agricultural Science. In all a sample of 78 respondents involving 60 Agricultural Science students and 18 Agricultural Science teachers were involved. The research instrument used for the data collection was questionnaire which was developed by the researcher in two different forms, one for the Agricultural Science students and the other for the Agricultural science teachers. Research findings from the study indicated that the major challenges facing the teaching and learning of Agricultural Science include frequent use of lecture method in teaching, large class size and poor remuneration of teachers. Others include inadequate teaching and learning materials and their availability, difficulty in planning field trips as well as laziness and truancy on the part of teachers. However, it must be emphasized that motivational factors such as one’s own interest, having a role model, future ambitions and the supply of adequate textbooks positively affect the teaching and learning of Agricultural Science in Public Senior High Schools in the Metropolis. The study recommends that parents must be educated to understand the important role and prospects the learning of Agricultural Science contributes to the development of a country. Also the Government, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and other stakeholders must help to improve the service of Agricultural Science Teachers.

Utilization Evaluation of ICTs Based Climate Change Information Sourcing for Households Agricultural Adaptation Practices in the Cross River Basin, Nigeria

This study evaluated the use of ICT for climate change information sourcing among secondary school students and how it Influences their household agricultural practices in Cross River Basin, Nigeria between January, 2013 and November, 2013. The survey research employed multi-stage sampling technique in the selection of the respondents. Secondary schools in the two states Original Research Article Inyang et al.; AJAEES, 5(1): 29-39, 2015; Article no.AJAEES.2015.036 30 constituting Cross River Basin (Akwa Ibom and Cross River States) were clustered into three senatorial districts in each of the state. Thereafter, simple random sampling technique was used to select both the schools and students in each of the senatorial district. Well designed Questionnaires were administered on the 200 Senior Secondary School Students selected for the study. Frequencies, percentages, independent T-test and simple regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. On the extent to which the respondents sourced for climate change information, findings indicated that 31% of the respondents lowly sourced for climate change information, 36% averagely and 33% highly sourced for climate change information. The results also revealed that the respondents mostly (71%) used textbooks, newsletters (57%), newspaper/magazines (52%) and radio/television (67%) to source for climate change information. Thirty three percent of the respondents provided low level advocacy on climate change adaptation farming practices to their households, 34% provided average level of advocacy and 33% fell into the high advocacy level. Findings from the study also revealed that female students did more advocacy on climate change adaptation farming practices to their households with a mean index of 0.6956 more than male students with a mean index of 0.6478 and the difference was statistically significant at P=.001. Extent of utilization of climate change information sources significantly influenced on the family advocacy on climate change. This study revealed that utilization of ICT to source for climate change information and students’ gender in some ways influence contributions to household agricultural practices among senior secondary school agricultural science students in Cross River Basin. Students need to be strongly exposed to the usage of more information tools so as to improve their degree of climate change information sourcing.

‘Visual Learning – Agricultural Plants of the Riverina’ – A New Application for Helping Veterinary Students Recognise Poisonous Plants

AbstractStudents studying either animal or veterinary science at Charles Sturt University are required to be competent in recognising a range of plants that are potentially poisonous to domestic grazing animals. In 2013 these students used a newly developed application ‘Visual Learning – Agricultural Plants of the Riverina’ (VL-APR) for their poisonous plant recognition training. VL-APR has two main advantages over poisonous plant books or other computer-based applications. Firstly, an average of nine images per species is available, so a range of growth stages and variation in structure is shown. Secondly, multiple interactive quizzes and tests are available so students are actively engaged in the learning process. At the start of session the animal and veterinary science students obtained an average class mark (for recognition of 40 species) of 11.9%, with a wide range of individual student marks (0.0 to 40.0%). A class of first year agricultural science students was also tested and scored a similar ave...

CRITICAL REVIEW ESSAY: Sustaining native biodiversity through conservation and nature-friendly farming

Growing populations, farming into virgin lands and industrialisation over the last two centuries have led to relentless destruction of native biota on land and sea and there is growing awareness that this process of extinction of species could be accelerated by human-induced climate change. Farming virgin lands poses the risk of destroying unique native species while agriculture and conservation appear to be two diametrically opposed endeavours. This approach is undergoing serious rethinking by scientists, farmers, policy makers and other interested groups who argue for cooperation in finding a solution. Two recent books underline this change in thinking. Linking Australia’s Landscapes (Fitzsimons, Pulsford, & Wescott, 2013b) and Nature and Farming (Norton & Reid, 2013) demonstrate how careful management of farms and conservation areas could be mutually beneficial. For this to be fully realised, there is need for greater cooperation between farmers and conservationists so that knowledge is shared and common goals and vision identified. Social workers and other social scientists also have an important role to play as conservation and sustaining biodiversity is a concern for all humanity as we deal with the consequences of climate change, industrial pollution, species extinction and diminishing protected conservation reserves due to human encroachment. These two publications are, therefore, very timely and useful resources for agricultural and environmental sciences students, academics, policy makers and researchers as well as farmers and general readers in Australia and New Zealand.

Student Perceptions of Agricultural Education Programme Processes at Selected High Schools in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Purpose: This study investigates student perceptions of different aspects of Agricultural Education and Training (AET) programme processes that have been offered in secondary schools by the formal educational sector in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study seeks to identify the existing shortcomings in the implementation of the agricultural education curriculum by gathering important information considering three different types of agricultural science schools. The intention of this study is to inform education policy-makers, programme organizers and teachers at all levels and thereby assist them in the identification of those areas in which improvements can be made.Design/methodology/approach: The sample population of 375 pupils was selected from high schools in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research was arranged in nested concurrent mixed sampling designs. The response rate for this sample was 97%. The survey was conducted by using a pre-tested structured interview schedule.Findings: The results show that in the teaching and learning process there is sufficient agricultural lesson coverage, notes for each lesson and time compatibilities in covering agricultural textbooks within the allocated teaching times. However, problems do exist, namely, wasted uncovered class lessons, inadequate teaching aids and materials, and a shortage of trained agricultural science teachers. The majority of agricultural science students indicate the unavailability of sufficient infrastructure and support.Practical implications: It is recommended that the responsible bodies should give serious consideration to the improvement of teaching aids and teacher training within the system. Throughout the system, thoughtful consideration should be given to the teacher-student-teaching-learning infrastructure.Originality/value: The article presents actual data collected from the province. Analysing the educational processes and taking appropriate action could help to solve the existing teaching and learning problems in the system.

Students’ English language proficiency and academic performance in vocational education in College of Education (Tech.),Lafiagi,Nigeria

This paper investigated the influence of English language on students' performance in vocational education, majorly on Agricultural science and Economics education courses, respectively. 120 graduating students of 2012/2013 academic session were sampled for the study. Four research hypotheses were tested and formulated upon this study. T-test was a statistical tool found suitable for this study. Results indicated that English language influenced students' academic performance in vocational education. Students' academic performance based on gender in English and in the English of Agricultural science and Economics education students has shown that there was no significant difference. Recommendations were put to the fore based on the findings of this study.

Padrões tipológicos da função interpessoal modalidade em artigos científicos de ciências agrárias: diferenças e similitudes entre português e inglês

Pautando-se pelo propósito de subsidiar o ensino de inglês para fins acadêmicos para pós-graduandos de ciências agrárias, as autoras identificam padrões tipológicos de modalidade entre o inglês e o português brasileiro, especificamente em artigos científicos de ciências agrárias. Os artigos são processados no software AntConc 3.2.1w para identificação de estruturas modalizadas. Em seguida, categoriza-se os itens foco para que, então, se contraste o uso e frequência em uma língua e outra. Os resultados mostram uma grande convergência de uso, o que indica a possibilidade de abordagens de ensino baseadas em familiaridade com o gênero. Concluindo, as autoras refletem sobre a contribuição da Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional ao ensino-aprendizagem de inglês como língua estrangeira no contexto acadêmico.

Effect of Democratized Teaching Method on Secondary School Students Academic Achievement in Agricultural Science

The study was carried out on the relative effectiveness of discovery (democratic) and lecture teaching methods on enhancing student’s achievement in agricultural science. Four co-educational schools in Orumba South of Anambra State were purposively selected through random sampling. A total of 125 SSI agricultural science students were drawn from these schools. The assignment of intact class to both the discovery method group and lecture method group was done randomly. Quasi-experimental was the design adopted. The agricultural topics were taught by their teachers for a total of four periods of 35 minutes each per group. The experimental were taught with discovery method while the control group were taught using lecture method. A 40 – item agricultural science achievement test developed by the researchers was used to assess the subjects achievement Data Collected were analyzed using percentage, mean and ANOVA. The finding revealed that the experimental group (discovery method) achieved higher than the control group (Lecture). Based on the finding, the researchers recommended that democratic teaching method should be employed in teaching agricultural science. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n5p187