The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of the Arizona Legislature toward the Vocational Student Organizations operating in Arizona. Respondents were asked their opinions concerning: (1) their familiarity with Vocational Student Organizations; (2) the value of Vocational Student Organizations in relation to other educational opportunities; and (3) the effectiveness of Vocational Student Organizations. Findings of the study included: (1) the awareness of Vocational Student Organizations is relatively high; (2) Vocational Student Organizations are effective in delivering a variety of outcomes; (3) the public education system is supported in several ways by Vocational Student Organizations; and (4) in relation to other educational opportunities, Vocational Student Organizations are comparable in delivering skills and abilities.

This study examines the ways in which staff of communication units in agricultural extension agencies in Malaysia select communication media for the transfer of knowledge from the agencies to their target audiences. As noted in a number of media selection models, several elements would need to be considered when choosing the most appropriate media for a particular communication activity. / Two methods of data collection were employed. First, heads of the communication units were interviewed in order to gather background information about the units. Second, the units' staff-members were asked to respond to a self-administered questionnaire that would generate data to answer the research questions. Mostly closed-ended questions and ratings of items for frequency and applicability on a scale were employed in soliciting answers from the respondents. Ninety-five staff-members from eleven agricultural extension agencies responded to the questionnaire. / Results of this study reveal differences among agricultural extension agencies regarding their methods of selecting the most appropriate media for knowledge transfer activities. However, most of the staff-members of the communication units agree that the two most important elements to be considered in media selection are audience characteristics and the purpose of the communication activity. / An overwhelming majority of staff-members indicated that they preferred media selection to be conducted in four or fewer steps, beginning with audience identification and followed in order by knowing the type of information, knowing the purpose of the communication activity, and knowing the media attributes. With regard to the type of media considered by staff-members to be most appropriate for knowledge transfer, this study finds that the actual objects are thought to be best, followed by media that convey reality with a high degree of fidelity. / Based on the findings of this study, it seems that there is a need to develop a new set of guidelines for media selection in order to better facilitate information and knowledge transfer processes in the nonformal education sector. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2369. / Major Professor: John K. Mayo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

Development assistance has long served as pretext for the transfer of technologies, policies, and strategies from Western industrialized countries to poorer areas of the world. The assumption is that the same successful results reached in the originating context can be replicated. One such cross-cultural transfer is a US adult education policy implemented in the rural areas of the Republic of Niger. / The policy, known as ROD, purports to transform local cooperatives into profit-making private enterprises, and to teach farmers the requisite skills and understandings. This study critically analyzes the intervention in order to (1) assess the viability of the proposed strategy as a "curriculum" for personal and organizational learning in rural Niger, (2) explicate the assumptions about the problems and potentials of the milieu on which it is based, (3) explore ways in which revised adult education practice might serve to better accommodate the policy to its context, and (4) draw some conclusions regarding the feasibility of this sort of transfer. / Results of the study suggest that the intervention strategy is interpreted and assessed in very different ways by stakeholders at different levels, and that it has been modified significantly in the course of implementation. These mostly haphazard modifications have not, however, been such as to ensure its success or acceptance, though they do suggest graphically which aspects of the policy are least accepted in the local context. The data also provide a basis for suggesting ways in which adult education could facilitate a better upfront adaptation and "reinvention" of the strategy in the field. In a more general sense, this study provides insights into the conditions for cross-cultural transfer of adult education-relevant policies between North and South, and the precautions that must be taken. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-08, Section: A, page: 2252. / Major Professor: Peter A. Easton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This educational ethnography describes and examines the training process of the World Bank's sponsored "Train and Visit" agricultural extension method which was introduced to the Peruvian jungle department of San Martin in 1980. The T&V training service attempts to transfer new crop growing technologies to a group of 46 small-scale subsistence and commercial farmers who make up the network of T&V's "contact farmers" in the Bellohorizonte sector of Tarapoto's Agricultural Extension Agency. Farmers who participated in this study live in remote high-jungle valleys of the San Martin province located in Peru's northeastern Amazon region. They also play an important "contact" role in transmitting agricultural information to neighboring farmers who are the beneficiaries in the "modernization" process observed. / Using ethnographic field research methods, this case study tries to reveal the intended and unintended socio-cultural effects produced by the local T&V farmer extension training methodology on some of the "marginalized" farmers of this jungle milieu. Farmers of this area are said to be "marginalized" because they lack access to education, health, arable land, water, credit, and other necessary life-supporting services. / A closer exmination of the interaction of cultural, socio-economic and political factors on the local farmer training process identified important cultural and technical factors which could be included in the redesign of a more appropriate farmer education model for the Peruvian high Amazon. / A major finding of this study is that considerable unplanned learning (informal learning) has already taken place through long-established culturally defined channels, like "reciprocal labor groups" and "father-to-son apprenticeships," and that these may be playing a role in the small-scale farmer development process. As part of this thesis, efforts were made to make "visible" these traditional learning activities and show how they may relate to formal education and contextual factors like each farmer's previous work experience, work style, geographic origin and the availability of important agricultural inputs like land, water, and credit. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: A, page: 1671. / Major Professor: George J. Papagiannis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

A comparative study was performed to identify personal characteristics and motivation of volunteer leaders from two youth groups; 4-H and Campfire. Criteria under study were appraised using questionnaires. Data analysis based on the responses obtained from 64 volunteer leaders. The personal characteristics investigated included expected period of service, support and encouragement, time spent on volunteer activities, satisfaction from service rendered, enrollment of volunteer leaders children, place of residence, length of residence, educational level, employment status, age, gender, and ethnicity. Affiliation, achievement, and power motivation factors were assessed. Most of the personal characteristics investigated were determined to be similar in the two groups. Major differences were found in the place of residence and tenure period. Youth leaders in both groups responded to the motivation inventory in a similar manner, although the two groups originated in rural and urban environments. The 4-H and Campfire volunteer leaders were highly achievement and affiliation motivated.

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a garden-enhanced nutrition curriculum for educators of students in the fourth and fifth grades. The goals of this curriculum were to provide literature related to farm-to-school initiatives, to increase educators&rsquo; and students&rsquo; knowledge about farm-to-school programs through an evidence-based nutrition education curriculum, and to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among the students. </p><p> The curriculum, Let&rsquo;s Grow!, was created addressing perceived barriers that prevent the implementation of school gardens that may further encourage fruit and vegetable intake in children. Though intended to specifically reach students in Los Angeles, the curriculum may be used outside this urban setting. </p><p> The curriculum consists of nutrition lessons and gardening activities relating to topics identified from literature reviews. An expert-review panel reviewed the curriculum, having critiqued the literature, and provided feedback. Evaluation forms for the curriculum were created to assess the overall value of the program.</p>

<p> The economic turmoil of the past decade has reinvigorated the debate over the use of public funds to support local Extension efforts. State Extension groups across the country have begun to demonstrate their worth in a variety of ways, including attempting to show both the behavioral and economic outcomes of Extension initiatives. However, showing the value of the 4-H Youth Development Program has proved challenging. The benefits of joining youth programs tend to be latent, not fully manifesting for years or even decades until participants mature into adults. Studies are starting to provide insights into the social, physical and mental rewards of joining youth development organizations such as 4-H, but these behavioral outcomes are disproportionally reported when compared to economic studies. From 2012-2013 families enrolled in Oklahoma's 4-H Youth Development Shooting Sports Project were surveyed about their recreational spending habits. Economic contributions for the state of Oklahoma, and impacts on local economies are estimated using primary data and an IMPLAN model. These economic analyses provide estimates of the economic worth of one youth project overseen by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Subsequently, policy makers are provided justification of the project not only from a social, physical, and mental perspective, but are additionally provided economic indicators of the project's immediate worth.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 89 p. : col. ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62).

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 26, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Anna Ball. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 85 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-54).