Agricultural education
Fahimeh Zahedi; Ali Shams
Abstract
The environment, as the fundamental basis of life for all living organisms, has been profoundly impacted by human activities, highlighting the critical need for reevaluating the attitudes and behaviors of future generations. University students, as future leaders and decision-makers, can play a pivotal ...
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The environment, as the fundamental basis of life for all living organisms, has been profoundly impacted by human activities, highlighting the critical need for reevaluating the attitudes and behaviors of future generations. University students, as future leaders and decision-makers, can play a pivotal role in environmental conservation. This descriptive-correlational study aimed to examine the relationship between environmental knowledge and attitudes among university students in Zanjan Province, Iran. The statistical population included all students enrolled in universities across Zanjan Province during the 2023–2024 academic year. Using Cochran’s sampling formula, a sample size of 380 students was determined, and participants were selected via multistage random sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire, with items adapted from validated domestic and international studies. Content validity was confirmed by expert review, and reliability was established using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (0.81 for knowledge and 0.79 for attitude). Findings revealed that 79.7% of students exhibited a high level of environmental knowledge, while 59.7% held positive environmental attitudes. Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated a significant positive relationship (r = 0.429) between environmental knowledge and attitudes. Based on the results, implementing targeted educational programs to enhance students’ environmental knowledge and attitudes is strongly recommended
Agricultural education
Maryam Babapour Vajari; Ali Shams; Kourosh Fathi Vajargah
Abstract
The current study was conducted through an exploratory mixed method with the aim of creating a questionnaire regarding the reasons for choosing the field of agricultural engineering. The statistical population of the qualitative research involved studies related to the choice of majors as well as undergraduate ...
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The current study was conducted through an exploratory mixed method with the aim of creating a questionnaire regarding the reasons for choosing the field of agricultural engineering. The statistical population of the qualitative research involved studies related to the choice of majors as well as undergraduate students of agricultural faculties. 91 studies were selected by the enumeration method and through purposeful snowball sampling 12 students were recruited based on the theoretical saturation index. The qualitative data were extracted through interviews and processed and analyzed using the qualitative content analysis method. Out of the given population, 382 people including undergraduate students of the agricultural faculties were also selected using stratified random sampling representing statistical population sample. The quantitative data were driven through the implementation of a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis using SMART PLS3. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated and confirmed by piloting. On the other hand, factor loading and the divergent validity test, and the reliability of the questionnaire was also evaluated and confirmed using Cronbach's alpha test and composite reliability method, respectively. And finally, an 84-item questionnaire was obtained containing six factors related to major (the strongest relationship with the main structure), individual, organizational, economic, and social factors, and family status (the weakest relationship with the main structure). Each factor i.e. major, individual, organizational, economic, social, and family status included 10, 26, 8, 9, 26, and 5 items respectively.
Seyed Abolghasem Barabadi; ali shams
Abstract
Social Network Sites (SNSs), as a tool for conveying educational messages, have a high position in the agricultural education system. The use of SNSs can affect different aspects of the educational system. Numerous studies have examined the relationship between the use of SNSs and various variables of ...
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Social Network Sites (SNSs), as a tool for conveying educational messages, have a high position in the agricultural education system. The use of SNSs can affect different aspects of the educational system. Numerous studies have examined the relationship between the use of SNSs and various variables of educational system outputs. However, an important question in this area is the relationship between students' use of SNSs and their academic performance. This study seeks to identify the factors affecting the educational use of social media and then, to clarify the relationship between educational use of SNSs and students’ academic performance (total GPA). The statistical population included 111,528 students of public agricultural colleges across the country, of which 400 students from eight universities were surveyed using Morgan table and multi-stage random sampling method. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire using Likert Scale whose apparent validity was confirmed by a number of professors in the field of agricultural extension and Persian literature, content validity was confirmed by AVE and reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha and CR. The data were analyzed by t, f and Pearson tests. The results showed that the most common use of SNSs among students is related to communicating with friends and family. There is a significant difference between the educational use of these networks by male and female students and also between students of different educational levels, but no significant difference was observed between different disciplines. It was also found that the rate of educational use of social networks among students who used these networks for educational purposes, has a positive effect on their academic performance, so it is suggested that educational administrators and planners as well as university professors pay more attention to the inclusion of these media in the curriculum.
Agricultural education
Esmail Akhbar; Ali Shams; Gholamreza Mojarradi; Shadali Tohidloo; Halimeh Razmi
Abstract
The statistics of recent years indicate a decrease in the desire of students to continue their education in secondary agricultural fields and also the lack of finding suitable jobs by the graduates of vocational agricultural schools in the agricultural sector. Knowing the current state of the secondary ...
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The statistics of recent years indicate a decrease in the desire of students to continue their education in secondary agricultural fields and also the lack of finding suitable jobs by the graduates of vocational agricultural schools in the agricultural sector. Knowing the current state of the secondary agricultural system is a prerequisite for any policy and planning in this field, and this research was conducted with the aim of analyzing the state of the agricultural education system at the secondary level. The statistical population included 1000 teachers and managers in 107 vocational agricultural schools, as well as technical and vocational education experts under the Ministry of Education in the whole country. In this qualitative data-based research (Grounded Theory), using the purposeful sampling method (snowball), the process of selecting and studying the studied samples continued until reaching theoretical saturation, and finally 68 people from 22 provinces of the country were selected as a sample. To verify the reliability of the data, careful note-taking was used during data collection, and the important things were recorded and noted during the interview by the researchers. Repetition of contents and concepts by experts indicated the appropriate reliability of the collected data. The results showed that during the data analysis process, 246 concepts were identified in the open coding stage, which were located around 52 axes; The core categories were also categorized into 12 broad and optional categories that include all the components of the secondary education system.
Seyed Abolghasem Barabadi; Ali Shams; Nicholas Wise
Abstract
Identifying the obstacles limiting the level of use of social network sites (SNS) in educating activities by the stakeholders of the educational system can help in informed decision-making and planning in this field. The aim of this study was to identify the barriers to the use of SNSs in agricultural ...
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Identifying the obstacles limiting the level of use of social network sites (SNS) in educating activities by the stakeholders of the educational system can help in informed decision-making and planning in this field. The aim of this study was to identify the barriers to the use of SNSs in agricultural higher education from the perspective of faculty members and students. The statistical population included 1215 faculty and 36132 students of public agricultural colleges of Iran. Using multi-stage random sampling method, 211 faculty and 400 students from different universities were selected and studied. Data were collected by a questionnaire taken from the results of previous studies with a five-level Likert scale. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed discriminately and reliability with a composite reliability coefficient. Data were analyzed by t-test, Mann-Whitney, and structural equation modeling using partial least squares method. The results showed that the rate of educational use of SNSs by students is more than professors and their attitude towards the use of these networks in teaching and learning is more positive than faculty members. The modeling results also indicate that the factors related to students, type of lessons, and characteristics of SNSs have a negative and significant relationship with the educational use of faculty members of these networks. Also, factors related to faculty members, educational organizations, and software and hardware inhibitors show a negative and significant relationship between students' use of social networks in education.
Abstract
The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate effective factors on the educational needs of friute growers. The statistical population consists all 1575 fruit growers in Shazand Township as one of the poles of garden production in Markazi province in 1395, which 150 of them were selected ...
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The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate effective factors on the educational needs of friute growers. The statistical population consists all 1575 fruit growers in Shazand Township as one of the poles of garden production in Markazi province in 1395, which 150 of them were selected based on Cochran sampling formula and applying randomized stratified sampling method. The research tool had several sections which its validity was confirmed by a panel of related experts. A pilot study was conducted and calculated ordinal coefficient thetas were at the appropriate level (θ= 0.9). Data were analyzed with Spsswin21 by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that educational needs of 86.7 percent of fruit growers were high and correct time for chemical control of pests and diseases, identification of suitable pesticides to control and combat pests and diseases and diagnosis of types of harmful and unharmful pests and insects to the garden were ranked first to third respectively in terms of their needs. There was a negative significant correlation between education level, number of participated classes, number of trees, social trust, social participation, social status, using extent of information resources, using extent of media with educational needs of fruit growers but the correlation for two variables of age and family size were positive. Ordinal regression analysis showed that three variables named as education level, using extent of information resources, using extent of media affect on the level of probability of the training needs of fruit growers.
Abstract
Several factors affect academic achievement of agricultural high school students and by identifying these factors, the possibility of effective educational planning could be achieved. The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate the impact of creativity, achievement motivation and ...
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Several factors affect academic achievement of agricultural high school students and by identifying these factors, the possibility of effective educational planning could be achieved. The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate the impact of creativity, achievement motivation and emotional intelligence on the academic achievement of students. The statistical population consists all 187 agricultural high school students in Zanjan Province which 135 of them were selected based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table and applying randomized stratified sampling method. The research tool had four sections which its validity was confirmed by a panel of related experts. A pilot study was conducted and calculated ordinal coefficient thetas were at the appropriate level (θ= 0.79- 0.82). Data were analyzed with Spsswin21 by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there was a significant correlation between mother’s education level, interest toward major, daily hours of study, emotional intelligence, achievement motivation and creativity with academic achievement of students. There was a significant difference of students of different majors in terms of academic achievement and student of medicinal plants was in first rank of academic achievement. Results of logistic regression analysis revealed that interest toward major; achievement motivation and creativity in equation are able to predict academic achievement of students in either of the good, or weak to an extent of more than 80.7% correctly.
Abstract
Environment conservation by people is related to their awareness regarding environment and peoples’ awareness is affected by several factors. Agricultural high school students would play an important role in the agriculture and natural resource sector in the future. The purpose of this cause- correlational ...
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Environment conservation by people is related to their awareness regarding environment and peoples’ awareness is affected by several factors. Agricultural high school students would play an important role in the agriculture and natural resource sector in the future. The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate factors affecting high school student’s awareness toward environment. The statistical population consisted of 187 agricultural high school students in Zanjan Province, from those 135 students were selected based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table and applying randomized stratified sampling method. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire which its validity was verified by a panel of experts. A pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability of the research instrument and theta reliability coefficient was calculated (θ= 0.8). The finding revealed that majority of students (66.7%) had a high level of awareness. there was a positive significant relationship between students’ awareness and their average grade point, education level of their father, extent of studying books, magazine and watching TV programs regarding environment. Logistic regression analysis showed that watching TV programs regarding environment and place of living explained 66.6 percent of probability of the students’ awareness.
Abstract
Due to high rate of unemployment among agricultural graduates, improving students' entrepreneurial capacity plays an important role in solving mentioned problem and also would improve economic condition of the society. The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate factors related ...
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Due to high rate of unemployment among agricultural graduates, improving students' entrepreneurial capacity plays an important role in solving mentioned problem and also would improve economic condition of the society. The purpose of this cause- correlational study was to investigate factors related to M.Sc. students' entrepreneurship capacity. The statistical population consisted of 482 M.Sc. agricultural students at the University of Zanjan, from those 200 students were selected based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table and applying randomized stratified sampling method. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire which its validity was verified by a panel of experts. A pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability of the research instrument, and calculated ordinal coefficient theta was at the appropriate level (CR= 0.85). The finding revealed that majority of students (76.5%) had an average level of entrepreneurship capacity. Analysis of data revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between students’ entrepreneurship capacity and their B.Sc. GPA, M.Sc. GPA and their interest toward agricultural major. Mann Whitney test applied revealed that students with job occupation had higher entrepreneurship capacity in comparison with students of no job occupation. Also, male students had a high entrepreneurship capacity in comparison with female students. Ordinal regression analysis showed that the interest towards major explained 24.2 percent of probability of the entrepreneurship capacity variance.
Abstract
Educational achievement of Students is influenced by several factors, including their learning style and creativity. By knowing the type of learning style, creativity and their relationship with educational achievement, purposive learning is happened which Consist the purpose of this descriptive- correlational ...
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Educational achievement of Students is influenced by several factors, including their learning style and creativity. By knowing the type of learning style, creativity and their relationship with educational achievement, purposive learning is happened which Consist the purpose of this descriptive- correlational study. Research tool was a questionnaire, including personal and academic characteristics of students, Index of Kolb Learning Styles and Index of Torrance Creativity. Validity of indexes was approved because of their frequent use in previous studies. A pilot study was conducted and calculated ordinal coefficient theta was at the appropriate level (ϴ≥0.85) for different parts of questionnaire. The statistical population consist 724 undergraduate students in the faculty of agriculture, University of Zanjan from which 217 students were selected randomly as sample using Cochran formula under stratified randomized sampling method. Results showed that learning styles of assimilation (39.6 percent), accommodation (34.6 percent), divergent (14.5 percent) and convergent (11.5 percent) were the first to fourth dominant learning style among students, respectively. The majority of students (81.6 percent) had average and lower than the average of creativity in total. According to Kruskal Wallis test, there was no significant meaningful deference between students of different learning styles regarding their creativity. Results of logistic regression analysis revealed that creativity, significantly and positively affect the educational achievement, while learning style had no meaningful effect on educational achievement. Creativity, in equation, is able to predict educational achievement of students in either of the good, or weak to an extent of more than 77.9 percent correctly.
ali shams; zahra Hooshmandan Moghaddam Fard
Abstract
Integrating issues related to agriculture and environment (AE) in the curriculum of elementary school provide real life learning experiences to students and form a positive attitude in respect to AE. Elementary teachers' decision and readiness to ...
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Integrating issues related to agriculture and environment (AE) in the curriculum of elementary school provide real life learning experiences to students and form a positive attitude in respect to AE. Elementary teachers' decision and readiness to teach non-required topics like AE are influenced by their personal attitude and ministry of education policy. The purpose of this descriptive- correlational study was to investigate effective factors on the teachers' attitude toward integrating AE in the curriculum. The statistical population consists all 4359 elementary teachers in Zanjan city which 343 of them were selected based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table and applying randomized stratified sampling method. The validity of research tool was verified by a panel of related experts. A pilot study was conducted and calculated ordinal coefficient theta was at the appropriate level (equals with 0.75). The finding revealed that 78.4% of respondents had a positive attitude toward integrating AE in the curriculum. There were no meaningful correlation between teachers' attitude with their age, education attained, and total teaching experience. But, there was a positive correlation between teachers' attitude and their teaching experience in rural area. Mann-Whitney test applied revealed that teachers with agricultural work experience hold more positive attitude in comparison with teachers of nonagricultural work experience. Also male teachers hold a more positive attitude in comparison with female teachers. Logistic regression revealed that three variables of age, having previous agriculture work experience and teaching experience in the rural area explained 30.8 percent of probability of teachers’ attitude
ali shams
ali shams
