Department of Agricultural Education & Studies

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Graduate Programs: Greg Miller 515-294-2583 / Undergraduate Programs: Mike Retallick 515-294-4810

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Graduate Student Scholarly Work

Dollisso, A.D. (1998). Perceptions regarding motivation to participate in educational programs. Doctoral dissertation.

The main purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of young farmers regarding motivation to participate in educational programs and to draw implications to program planning in agricultural education.

Respondents perceived that motivation to learn was driven by multiple factors. Farmers were motivated by intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors.

Regardless of demographic differences, respondents were motivated by the following factors to participate in educational programs: desire to increase profitability, desire to learn the latest technology, relevant material, and accessibility of the educational programs.  Respondents wanted educational programs to help them increase their profitability.

Respondents used a variety of sources for obtaining agricultural information.  This study confirmed that magazines were the favorite source for agricultural information by farmers followed by the Extension Services.

The findings show that farmers in this study preferred to learn by hands-on activities and through trial and error whether it is individually or in-groups.  For tours, the respondents preferred breaking down into smaller groups.  Over all, the participants of this study preferred to learn through a variety of methods.

The study revealed that many respondents were leading extremely busy lives, working full-time or part-time jobs besides operating their farms.  For farmers, lack of time was a major barrier to participation in educational programs.  Respondents had to make day to day decisions whether or not to engage in various activities based on priorities.  Participation in educational programs was not perceived as an immediate need or a high priority for many respondents. Lack of time, inaccessibility, irrelevant programs and poor advertisements were found to be barriers to participation in educational programs by farmers.