Secondary Agricultural Education Teachers as Agents of Change in Oklahoma and the Adoption of Precision Agriculture.

摘要

Research indicates that precision agricultural education (PAE) in Oklahoma affects environmental quality, water conservation, and crop yields. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the nature and perceived effectiveness of PAE in Oklahoma secondary agricultural education classes. The study was framed by the diffusion of innovations theory, which describes teachers' roles as agents of change. A stratified random sample of 250 educators was selected from the population of secondary agricultural educators in Oklahoma for a quantitative and qualitative web survey, which was tested for validity by an expert panel review and through pilot testing. The guiding qualitative question investigated teacher perceptions of the programs and discovered that most teachers wanted and needed more training in order to properly teach PAE. The quantitative research questions measured the relationship between teacher training hours, funding, and PAE. Results from Chi-square statistics demonstrated a significant relationship (p <.001) between previous training and precision agriculture in the classroom, suggesting that increased hours of precision agriculture training coincided with more frequent precision agriculture instruction. A Pearson correlation indicated a positive correlation between funding and the number of classroom hours of PAE, suggesting that an increase in funding accompanied a stronger depth of PAE. This study contributed to social change by illuminating the training needs of secondary agricultural educators. Precision agriculture education is particularly important to educators, as well as society, due to the need for increased food production and decreased environmental pollutants while creating a sustainable system of agriculture.