Department of Agricultural Education & Studies

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Graduate Student Scholarly Work

 

Fullenkamp, A.K.H. (2001). Faculty perceptions regarding the integration of communication-intensive activities into the College of Agriculture curriculum. Master’s thesis.

The purpose of this study was to assess and analyze the perceptions of faculty in the College of Agriculture regarding the use of communication activities and assignments in their courses. The study had three objectives: (1) Identify the extent to which undergraduate teaching faculty in the College of Agriculture at Iowa State University agreed or disagreed with perception statements regarding communication and its integration into technical courses within the agriculture curriculum; (2) Identify the communication content areas and concepts that were critical for students to know; and (3) Identify the demographic characteristics of the undergraduate teaching faculty in the Iowa State University College of Agriculture.

Overall, respondents held very favorable perceptions regarding the integration of communication in technical courses. Although faculty did maintain that they expect students to know and understand communication strategies prior to entering their courses, they also indicated they realize it is also their responsibility to help teach those communication strategies. Of the possible modes of communication, written activities and assignments were the primary vehicles used to integrate communication. Other modes of communication were used far less in the classroom at Iowa State University.

Most demographic data did not have a significant impact on how respondents perceived the integration of communication into the curriculum in the College of Agriculture. However, respondent who had attended AgComm workshops were more likely to agree with the perception statements.