Search

This document contains the following papers: "Cognitive Abilities of Oak Harbor High School Agricultural Education Students" (Mark F. Starkey, Jamie Cano); "Development and Evaluation of Hands-on Learning Activities in Indiana High School Animal Science Classes" (Kendra Koster, Mark A. Balschweid); "Teaching Biology Using Agriculture as the Context: Perceptions of High School Students" (Mark A. Balschweid); "Assessing and Comparing the Scheduling Systems Utilized by Agricultural Education Programs in Illinois" (Andrew J. Baker); "Characteristics of Elementary Teachers Explaining Integration of Agricultural Awareness Activities in the Curriculum" (Neil A. Knoblock, Robert A. Martin); "Stakeholder Perceptions of Their Transition to an Agricultural Magnet School in the Midwest: A Case Study" (Linda Moody, Lloyd C. Bell); "Expert Perceptions of the Future of Agricultural Education in Illinois" (Joe G. Harper, Bret Hitchings); "Leading Like a Woman in a Man's World: Women's Conceptualizations of Leadership in the Agricultural Industry" (Amanda E. Corn); "Structuring Agricultural Education Research Using Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks" (James E. Dyer, Penny S. Haase Wittler, Shannon G. Washburn); "Attitude of Vocational Teachers Towards Teacher Evaluation" (Jamie Cano, Barrett Zimmerman); "The Impact of Participating in Freshmen Interest Groups and Agricultural Youth Organizations on Agriculture Students' Academic Performance and Retention" (Anna L. Ball, Bryan L. Garton, James E. Dyer); "Relationship between Learning Style and Personality Type of Students Majoring and Minoring in Agricultural Education at The Ohio State University" (Tracy Kitchel, Jamie Cano); "Agricultural Extension Educators' Perceptions regarding Teaching Methods and Tools for Educating Farmers about Sustainable Agricultural Practices" (K.S.U. Jayaratne, Robert A. Martin); "Assessing and Prioritizing Present Inservice Needs and Evaluating Past Inservicing Programming Designed for Illinois Agricultural Education Instructors" (Andrew J. Baker); "Job Satisfaction among Agricultural Teacher Educators: New Directions in Measurement" (Jamie X. Castillo, Jamie Cano); "An Assessment of Desktop Videoconferencing's Potential to Enhance Communication and Student Teacher Supervision in Agricultural Education" (John Kessell, Greg Miller); "Characteristics of Learners Explaining the Benefit of Student Interaction in a Distance- and Technology-Situated Environment" (Neil A. Knobloch); and "The Professional Development Needs of Kansas Teachers of Agriculture" (Shannon G. Washburn, Brad O. King, Bryan L. Garton, Steven R. Harbstreit). Each paper is followed by a one-page critique by either Rosemary Gleim, Mark Zidon, R. Kirby Barrick, or Lloyd C. Bell. Most papers include substantial bibliographies. (MN)

A study determined which activities in a capstone course were perceived to be the most beneficial to course completers with regard to their first professional position after graduation. It also compared the quality of selected capstone activities to other junior/senior level courses in the College of Agriculture at Iowa State University. A random sample of 214 students--150 registered agriculture studies majors, 38 agricultural education majors, and 26 other majors--completed a questionnaire after taking a departmental capstone class required of all graduating agricultural studies majors. Part One of the questionnaire identified the benefits of the course to the first agricultural position of the completers. A five-point Likert-type scale was used that ranged from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). Part two contained 10 comparison questions asking respondents to compare selected experiential learning activities from the capstone course with other courses taken. Findings were as follows: respondents felt course activities were beneficial to them in their first professional position; a significant difference was found in the benefits of the capstone course to the respondent's first professional position when grouped by employment area; more recent graduates tended to value the perceived benefits slightly more; and the capstone course provided more or greater than opportunities and interactions than other junior/senior level agricultural courses. (Contains 15 references.) (YLB)

In view of continuing trends in farming and the trend toward increasing farm diversification and specialization, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges and individual researchers have proposed their own lists of the skills that will be needed by farm management researchers in the future. Because farm management research increasingly entails research in the areas of agricultural production, economics, and management, future farm management researchers need the knowledge, skills, and training necessary to ensure their competence in all three fields. Included among the many areas that must be incorporated into programs to train future farm management researchers are the following: economic principles, intermediate economic theory, accounting, agricultural policy, agricultural finance, agricultural marketing, farm and ranch management, agribusiness management, crop production, soils, plant pathology, animal nutrition, livestock production, and animal breeding. Programs to train future farm management researchers should also include an internship component to allow students to learn working skills and gain first-hand knowledge about the industry. (MN)

Papers from the 19th Adult Literacy Conference convened by the Australian Council for Adult Literacy include: "A Little to the Right on Writing" (Brendan Bartlett, Margaret Fletcher); "Deconstructing the 'Australian Language and Literacy Policy'" (Helen Beazley); "Comparing Content-Centered and Learner-Centered Approaches in School Mathematics: Picking Up the Pieces in Numeracy with Adults" (Jennie Bickmore-Brand); "Developing Workplaces as Learning Environments: Towards a Learning Curriculum" (Stephen Billett); "Last CALL for All: Before IT (Information Technology) Races down the Superhighway" (Paula Burns); "Using Key Competencies to Solve the Equation" (Ralph Catts); "Quality and Competency Based Education and Training" (Clive Chappell); "Managing the Competency Based, Multi-level, Literacy Classroom: What Works" (Jean Clarke); "Fractions, Decimals and Adult Learners" (Tom J. Cooper, Shelley Dole); "Computing as Literacy--The Computing Practices of Language and Literacy Teachers" (Chris Corbell); "Chickens, Eggs and 'Access': Untangling Competence and Capability through a Re-examination of Skills, Knowledge, Values, Non-formal and Formal Learning in Agriculture" (Ian Falk, Sue Kilpatrick); "Challenges Facing Training" (William Hall); "Office Discourses: Which Attributes Are Given Authority in Institutional Classrooms?" (Ann Kelly); "Flexible Delivery: One Practitioner's Point of View--What Has to Change When You Go Flexible?" (Anne Kiley); "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Adult Education Histories and Their Relationship to the Development of Academic Writing Skills" (Bill Langlands); "A New Work Order: Some Implications for Being Literate in a Global Economy" (Colin Lankshear); "Assessing Front-line Management the Identification of Personal Constructs in the Workplace" (Irena Morgan-Williams); "The Role of Volunteer Tutors in the History of Adult Literacy in Queensland" (Jean Searle); "Parents and Literacy (PAL)" (Julie Spreadbury); and "Choosing Change through Literacy" (Kath White). (MN)

Selected papers are as follows: "Member Perceptions of the Association for International Agricultural & Extension Education" (Eaton et al.); "Historical Review of U.S. Involvement in International Agricultural Education between World War II and Enactment of Title XII" (Thuemmel, Meaders); "Educational Needs of International Graduate Students as Perceived by Graduate Faculty" (Miller, Ng); "Rethinking the Landscape" (Beilin); "Personal Networks and Agricultural Extension" (Armonia); "Extension Staff Development Program" (Trail, Malindi); "Learning Styles of Extension Personnel and the Implications for Designing Inservice Computer Training Programs" (Park, Gamon); "Agricultural Education and Global Sustainability" (Vahoviak, Etling); "Importance of Extension Education in the Post Harvest Activities of Soybean in Nigeria" (Osho); "Perceptions Regarding Agricultural Extension Education in Swaziland" (Dube, Martin); "Philosophy, Mission, and Focus of Agricultural Extension in Africa, Asia, and Latin America" (Mohamed et al.); "Educational Needs for Enhancing Non-Farm Activities and Entrepreneurship" (Singh, Comer); "Assessment of the Use of Contact Farmers in Training and Visit Extension System in Nigeria" (Omotayo, Arokoyo); "Village Extension Workers (VEWs), Agricultural Extension Officers, and Contact Farmers Perceptions of VEW Visits under the Training and Visit (T&V) System" (Radhakrishna, Yoder); "Expert Identification of Inservice Training Needs of Field Agents Working in T&V Systems of Extension" (Alawy, Safrit); "Creating a Stronger Model for International Youth Exchange" (Etling); "Perceptions Held by Secondary School Agricultural Educators in Iowa Regarding Adding a Global Perspective to the Agriculture Curriculum" (Perez-Morales, Miller); "Development of Vocational Agriculture in Swaziland" (Mndebele, Crunkilton); "Extension Serving Women Farmers" (Morrone); "Nonformal Education for Empowerment" (Nti, Etling); "Factors Influencing Rural Women Cassava Processors' Intended Participation in an Agricultural Extension Education Program" (Ojomo, McCaslin); "Cooperative Efforts for Agricultural Extension and Rural Development" (Brewer, Meaders); "Need for U.S. and International Collaborative Rural Leadership Education for the 21st Century" (Dhanakumar et al.); "University's Role in Agricultural Development" (Cristovao, Koehnen); "Educational Needs of International Graduate Students of Extension Education" (Mohamed et al.); "Review and Synthesis of Extension Problems in Africa and Asia" (Ukaga et al.); "Development of Rural Youths through Farmers' Training and Education" (Auta, Akpoko); and "Mobilizing Rural Youths for a Career in Farming" (Arokoyo, Omotayo). (YLB)

In this paper we illustrate the architecture of the °'°Kobi system, which is aimed at supporting students' education in artistic or design activities. We will outline the scientific and methodological foundations of the educational approach aimed at enhancing the artistic conception and the design ideation. The functional requirements and the system architecture for implementing the °'°Kobi system are outlined. Finally, the paper discusses some relevant aspects concerning the system application in a real educational context and briefly reports about its preliminary assessment.

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference on Mobile Learning 2013, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society, in Lisbon, Portugal, March 14-16, 2013. The Mobile Learning 2013 International Conference seeks to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of mobile learning research which illustrate developments in the field. Papers in these proceedings include: (1) Common Mobile Learning Characteristics--An Analysis of Mobile Learning Models and Frameworks (Umera Imtinan, Vanessa Chang and Tomayess Issa); (2) Walking towards Instrumental Appropriation of Mobile Devices. A Comparison of Studies (Maria José Hernandez Serrano and Lingling Yang); (3) Twitter Micro-Blogging Based Mobile Learning Approach to Enhance the Agriculture Education Process (Uvasara Dissanayeke, K. P. Hewagamage, Robert Ramberg, and G. N. Wikramanayake); (4) Designing Mixed Reality Mobile Games for Crisis Management Training (Ines Di Loreto, Simone Mora, and Monica Divitini); (5) From Learning Object to Learning Cell: A Resource Organization Model for Ubiquitous Learning (Shengquan Yu, Xianmin Yang and Gang Cheng); (6) Lingobee--Crowd-Sourced Mobile Language Learning in the Cloud (Sobah Abbas Petersen, Emma Procter-Legg and Annamaria Cacchione); (7) Media Creation and Sharing in Informal, Situated, Authentic Mobile Learning for Local Cultural Diversity Investigation (Jacek Walinski); (8) Text Messaging for Out-of-Class Communication: Impact on Affective Learning (Paul Hayes, Stephan Weibelzahl and Tim Hall); (9) Prisma-Mar: An Architecture Model for Data Visualization in Augmented Reality Mobile Devices (Mauro Alexandre Folha Gomes Costa, Bianchi Serique Meiguins, Nikolas S. Carneiro and Aruanda Simões Gonçalves Meiguins); (10) What Do Context Aware Electronic Alerts from Virtual Learning Environments Tell Us About User Time & Location? (Laura Crane and Phillip Benachour); (11) Tablet Computers on Trial: A Transformative Force in Education? (Skúlína Hlíf Kjartansdóttir and Sólveig Jakobsdóttir); (12) Development and Use of an EFL Reading Practice Application for an Android Tablet Computer (Yasushige Ishikawa, Craig Smith, Mutsumi Kondo, Ichiro Akano, Kate Maher and Norihisa Wada); (13) Mobile Learning Application Interfaces: First Steps to a Cognitive Load Aware System (Robin Deegan); (14) "Mobile Phones and Other Disturbing Objects..." (Torbjörn Ott); (15) Role of Passive Capturing in a Ubiquitous Learning Environment (Hiroaki Ogata, Bin Hou, Mengmeng Li, Noriko Uosaki and Kousuke Mouri); (16) Android Based Mobile Environment for Moodle Users (Gisela T. de Clunie, Clifton Clunie, Aris Castillo and Norman Rangel); (17) A Mobile Platform for Administering Questionnaires and Synchronizing their Answers (Maria Germana Ginardi and Giordano Lanzola); (18) Future Educators' Explaining Voices (Janaina Minelli de Oliveira, Pablo Buenestado Caballero and Mar Camacho); (19) A Framework for the Creation of Mobile Educational Games for Dyslexic Children (Juan Haladjian, Daniel Richter, Paul Muntean, Damir Ismailovic and Bernd Brügge); (20) Mobile Learning 4All (Secundino Correia, Paula Medeiros, Mafalda Mendes and Margarida Silva); (21) Location-Aware Mobile Learning of Spatial Algorithms (Ville Karavirta); (22) Learning with Smartphones: Students' Lived Experience of Using Smartphones (Nee Nee Chan, Alan Walker-Gleaves and Richard Remedios); (23) Investigation of Using Analytics in Promoting Mobile Learning Support (Videhi Visali and Niraj Swami); (24) Tablet Use within Medicine (Rebecca J. Hogue); (25) Benefits and Financial Impacts of Adopting Technology in Learning (Katri Grenman, Minna Isomursu, Maija Federley and Anu Seisto); (26) m-Learning for Qur'an Memorization and Teaching its Sciences (Ahmed Sameh); (27) Learning Potentials of the Ubiquitous Internet: Using Mobile Devices to Support the Individual, Social and Physical Context of the Learner (Christian Dalsgaard, Nicholai Friis Pedersen and Janus Holst Aaen); (28) Smartphones in Clinical Nursing Practice: A Multi-Phased Approach to Implementation and Deployment (Brad Johnson, C. J. Davison and Lisa Moralejo); (29) Transmedia Storybuilding in Sloyd (Annika Wiklund-Engblom, Kasper Hiltunen, Juha Hartvik and Mia Porko-Hudd); (30) Mobile Learning in Secondary Education: Perceptions and Acceptance of Tablets of Teachers and Pupils (Hannelore Montrieux, Cédric Courtois, Frederik De Grove, Annelies Raes, Tammy Schellens and Lieven De Marez); (31) Ondigita: A Platform for the Management and Delivery of Digital Documents (Riccardo Mazza, Andrea Baldassari and Roberto Guidi); (32) From Radio, to Satellite, to mLearning: Interactive Distance Education in Australia (Stephen Crump); (33) Flipped Approach to Mobile Assisted Language Learning (Junko Yamamoto); (34) Mobile Pedagogy (Lee Schlenker); (35) Context and Concepts in Mobile Learning (Jimmy Jaldemark); (36) m-Learning Systems Design--Technology and Pedagogy Aspects (Elissaveta Gourova, Asya Asenova and Pavlin Dulev); (37) The Potential for Mobile Learning in English as a Foreign Language and Nursing Education (C. J. Davison); (38) Promoting STEM Education through Mobile Teaching and Learning (Murali Krishnamurthi and Stephanie Richter); (39) A Learning Community Explores the Potential of Mobile Apps in Higher Education (Joan Van Duzer and Kathy D. Munoz); (40) Mobile Learning Application Based on RSS Feed Technology (Mahmoud Mohanna and Laurence Capus); (41) Mobile Learning Using Mobile Phones (Paula Vicente); (42) Suitability of m-Learning to Enhance Learning English Language (J. F. Fazeena, Y. Ekanayaka and K. P. Hewagamage); (43) Integrated Authoring Tool for Mobile Augmented Reality-Based E-Learning Applications (Marcos Fermín Lobo, Víctor Manuel Álvarez García and María del Puerto Paule Ruiz); and (44) Enhancing Mobile Working Memory Training by Using Affective Feedback (Kristina Schaaff). [Individual papers contain references. An author index is included. Luís Rodrigues is an associate editor of these proceedings.]

The objectives of this paper are to present some approaches for using computers to aid in the teaching of students in colleges of agriculture and also to share some ideas for improving instruction in the rapidly changing computer environment. The paper first outlines a conceptual relationship among students, learning, and computers in university instruction. It examines student characteristics, teaching goals and the available means to achieve them, and educational applications of computers. The "ideals" and the "realities" of microcomputing in an instructional environment are then discussed in order to enhance the understanding of the alternative uses of computers in instruction. To illustrate one approach to moving from the reality toward the ideal, the recent efforts in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Arizona to use computers as a component of instruction are described. A summary and conclusion provide some keys to surviving the rapidly changing microcomputer instructional environment, given in the form of brief rules of thumb. They include: know your students and your instructional goals, know and use your computers, use student-friendly applications software, keep it simple but push the student, let the students do the work, know the limitations, and always look for something new. (YLB)

This paper describes the progress to date of a project to develop an educational environment to train farmers, ranchers, and staff in the use of microcomputers and economic and financial management. The project is located at the Stiles Farm, a 3,300-acre foundation farm in central Texas. A training center has been built at the farm to facilitate educational and demonstration efforts. Between May 1984 and November 1985, seven short (three-day) courses in such computer applications as farm and ranch accounting and beef cattle performance record systems were conducted; farmers who participated rated them very highly. Participants had hands-on use of the computer and a low pupil-teacher ratio. However, the level of attendance at the short courses has been somewhat disappointing, perhaps because the audience for such in-depth courses is relatively limited. The center has also been used as a demonstration and training ground for Extension agents. The center has a microcomputer software library, with software donated by vendors for topical areas where large numbers of programs are available, such as accounting, livestock performance records, and crop record systems. A management information system (MIS) was created for the Stiles Farm and is in the process of being implemented. Further study of the MIS is needed to determine how much integration will be cost efficient. (KC)

The Cooperative Extension Service faces the challenge of helping United States farmers and ranchers use microcomputers in managing their farms. Farm management extension education programs are delivered to farmers and ranchers through such activities as (1) local meetings and workshops organized by county agents and producer advisory groups, (2) regional meetings, (3) published information in the farm press or from the extension communication divisions, (4) radio and television, and (5) limited use of computer networks. A majority of the agricultural clientele for on-farm microcomputers have looked to the Cooperative Extension Service for guidance on software and hardware purchasing. Extension services provide this information through large regional meetings, smaller in-depth courses, and the development and distribution of software, particularly decision aid software or software to address specific problems. Part-time consultants in finance, computing, and other fields are used to help farmers gain more farm management skills using microcomputers. The future role of on-farm microcomputer extension programs will focus on user education and the use of electronic technology to access relevant information more effectively. The farm management extension specialist will play a major role in defining needs, designing systems, and providing educational support. Extension programs will focus on describing decision processes and information needs and communicating these to researchers and software developers. (KC)