Agricultural education
Bentolhoda Ramezanzadeh
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to develop an educational planning model for the agricultural value chain of citrus orchards in northern Iran. This is a mixed-methods research (qualitative and quantitative), with the qualitative phase based on the Grounded Theory approach. The qualitative study population ...
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The aim of the present study was to develop an educational planning model for the agricultural value chain of citrus orchards in northern Iran. This is a mixed-methods research (qualitative and quantitative), with the qualitative phase based on the Grounded Theory approach. The qualitative study population consisted of experts, including faculty members from the Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension Organization. The quantitative phase involved managers, staff of orchards, producers, and farmers. For the quantitative section, convenience sampling was used, and Cochran’s formula was applied to determine the sample size. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews in the qualitative phase and a researcher-designed questionnaire in the quantitative phase, with a total of 278 completed questionnaires collected. Data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA 2020 for the qualitative part. For the quantitative part, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of the questionnaire, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the SmartPLS 3 software was applied to analyze the research questions. Findings indicated that the path coefficient between strategies and outcomes was 0.781 with a p-value of 0.000, which is less than 0.01, indicating significance. The path coefficient between contextual conditions and strategies was 0.175; between causal conditions and the core phenomenon was 0.864; between intervening conditions and strategies was 0.220; and between the core phenomenon and strategies was 0.531. The results showed that the components of the proposed implementation model have a significant and positive impact on one another, and the overall model demonstrates a good fit.
Negin Fallah Haghighi; Masoud Bijani; Maryam Mahmoudi
Abstract
The higher education system, as the most obvious manifestation of human resource investment, plays a key role in training and providing effective human resources. The agricultural higher education system is no exception to this rule. But, the question is, what should such a system look like for optimal ...
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The higher education system, as the most obvious manifestation of human resource investment, plays a key role in training and providing effective human resources. The agricultural higher education system is no exception to this rule. But, the question is, what should such a system look like for optimal impact on human resource development? This study aimed to analyze the gap between current and desirable situations of agricultural higher education system factors affecting human resources development (HRD) in Yazd province. The statistical population consisted of faculty members of Yazd agricultural higher education and research centers (N=253), 163 of whom were selected based on Krejcie and Morgan table using stratified random sampling method. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire which its face validity was confirmed by a panel of agricultural higher education experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by ordinal theta for both parts of current status (0.81≤θ≤0.87) and desirable status (0.83≤θ≤0.93). In order to process the data using SPSS24 and R software, in addition to descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney test was used to compare faculty members' viewpoints towards the current and desirable situations of agricultural higher education system factors affecting human resources development. The results indicated a significant gap between the current status and the desired status of four factors influencing HRD (respectively increase in gap) including "job and skill competence of human resources", "process of training and educational planning", "balance in supply and demand and interaction with economic sectors "and" development of innovation in agricultural higher education system".
