Identification of Researchable Topics on International Agricultural Education. A Delphi Study.

A modified Delphi technique was used to identify topics in international agricultural education considered by eight experts on agricultural education to be areas needing research. All eight (100%) of the experts completed the first-round mail questionnaire, and seven (87.5%) completed the second and third rounds. Survey category areas were as follows: administration/supervision; curriculum development; communications/delivery methods; pedagogy/instructional methods; evaluation/accountability; youth/adult organizations; personnel staff development/inservice/preservice; community resource development; supervised occupational experience programs; research/development activities; facilities/equipment; women in agriculture development; and funding. A summary of topics receiving unanimous acceptance is as follows: role of technical assistance; nonformal programming factors; comparative studies; public/private linkages; effective institutional structures; developing nations' resource constraints; linkages with developing nations' agricultural universities; international agriculture knowledge of secondary students; foreign language requirements; indigenous practices and new subject matter; primary agricultural education in developing nations; internationalizing curricula; experiential international ag ed; human resource development; international agricultural knowledge in degree programs and K-12; developing nations' communication linkages; mass media; using indigenous knowledge; agriculture texts for developing nations; technology transfer; follow-up of innovative programs; analysis of ag ed in developing nations; evaluating adoption of ag innovations; case studies of successful programs; youth leadership skill needs; young and adult farmer skill needs; foreign graduate student research; supplemental experiences for foreign students; alternatives to long-term degree training; cross-cultural teaching; motivators of extension workers; participation of all segments in agricultural development; role of ag ed in institution building; ties between domestic and international ag students in U.S. universities; and involvement of women in development. (Contains 17 references.) (MN)