The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and perceptions of the animal, plant, environmental, and food sciences by the adult residents of Louisiana. This study was conducted using a survey research design. This survey utilized random telephone dialing techniques in order to survey 547 residents of Louisiana. The survey instrument consisted of fifty-five questions divided into three sections: demographic characteristics, agriculture knowledge, and perception of agriculture. The overall mean agriculture knowledge score of adult residents of Louisiana for the twenty items included in the survey instrument equaled 13.60 (SD = 2.743) or 68%. Perceptions of agriculture results reported nine items classified in the agree category, six were classified neither agree nor disagree category, and five were classified disagree. Adult members of the general public of Louisiana have more positive perceptions of agriculture with regard to the Attitude toward Farming (M= 3.81, SD= .73) and Issues Related to Food Supply (M= 3.72, SD= .49). Eighteen significant correlations were reported between the knowledge and perception concept areas. It is concluded that adult members of the general public of Louisiana have a moderately high level of knowledge with regard to agriculture. Adult respondents have the highest levels of knowledge in the Environmental Science. The perception concept areas Attitude toward Farming and Issues Related to Food Supply are more positive, while the perception concept areas Farming Practices and Food Prices are both ambivalent. Due to the reported relationship, an increase in agricultural knowledge may result in a more positive increase in perceptions of agriculture. The researcher recommends continuation and expansion in mass media promotion such as billboards, television ads, newspaper articles, web postings, use of YouTube, blog sites, and group networking sites. Similarly, the researcher encourages the promotion of agritourism endeavors, allowing perceptions to be made based on personal experiences. The researcher further recommends increasing publication of classroom agriculture education materials designed to reach various audiences and expansion to distribute materials to more educators at the school level. The researcher recommends continuation of universal agriculture educational programming such as FFA, 4-H, and general agriculture in university curricula.

The transfer research has evolved to a significant body of works during the last two decades. Many relationships however remain unexplored and unexplained. Among these are dispositional characteristics, which are rarely studied in combination with transfer because of difficulties and inconsistencies in measurement. In addition dispositional characteristic are so numerous that it is often difficult to identify a set of such variable that explain the most variance in transfer of training. This study explores the hypothesized relationship between dimensions of the Five Factor model of personality, goal orientation, self-efficacy and intent to transfer training on the job. Most research articles on the topic focused on a variety of factors influencing transfer. This article attempts to model the complex relationship between these characteristics and intent to transfer using structural equation modeling approach. A set of propositions is presented for each individual variable and its relationship to intent to transfer. Finally, a model of relationships is tested and the results are discussed. The findings revealed that conscientiousness was the only dispositional variable that had a significant relationship to intent to transfer. In addition control variables learner readiness and motivation to transfer were significant in the model. The results suggest that dispositions may not be as important in the transfer system as other constructs like situational, motivational, and ability variables. Recommendations for further research and testing of the model are discussed in the final chapter of the study.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effects of bullying behavior on the affective constructs of self-efficacy, satisfaction and stress of students enrolled in a junior level course at a research extensive university in the southern region of the United States. The sample included 35 undergraduate students at one research-extensive university in the southern region of the United States who were enrolled in a leadership course in the spring semester of 2009. The dependent variables were participants scores on measures of self-efficacy, satisfaction and stress. The independent variable was whether or not participants were exposed to bullying behavior. The measures used to collect data included the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSES) (Chen, et al. 2001) to measure self-efficacy; Global Job Satisfaction Scale (GJSS) (Pond & Geyer, 1991) to measure satisfaction; and the Work Related Depression, Anxiety and Irritation Scale (WRDAIS) (Caplan, et al. 1980) to measure stress. Key findings revealed participants (N=35) had high self-efficacy. This was based on the finding that 33 (94.2%) of the students had scores classified as high or very high, and only 2 (5.7%) had scores lower than high. Study participants also had high satisfaction. This was based on the finding that 33 (94.3%) had high or very high scores, and only 2 (5.7%) had scores lower than high. In addition, study participants had low stress. This was based on 32 (91.4%) having scores classified as low or very low and only 3 (8.6%) with scores higher than low. There was no difference by treatment group on measures of self-efficacy, satisfaction and stress. This was based on statistical analyses which revealed no differences in self-efficacy (t=.423; p=.743; df=33); satisfaction (t=.048; p=.971; df=33); and stress (t=.032; p=.986; df=33) by treatment level. This is inconsistent with the literature. Several possible explanations for this conclusion include IRB restrictions, small sample size and the brief exposure to the treatment. The researcher recommended additional studies which could possibly explain the effects of bullying. Additional variables suggested were: elimination of confederates, increase the sample size, length of the treatment and use of an ex post facto research design.

The construction industry is one of the largest providers of jobs in the United States. Between 2009 and 2013, approximately 20% of the 7.7 million Americans employed in construction related jobs (Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2009) would be eligible to retire. The industrial construction industry must attract, train, and retain a significant number of people to the construction industry. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected personal demographic characteristics and academic behaviors of individuals participating in craft training courses offered by a large organization of member construction companies who successfully completed or left the construction training courses prior to its completion. The study used descriptive, comparative, and discriminant analytical statistical procedures to achieve the primary purpose. The population was defined as adult students who were enrolled in craft-training courses offered by one large organization of member construction companies during the 2008 Fall semester. Data was transferred from the training provider into a researcher design spreadsheet for analysis. The descriptive analysis found 96.6% of the respondents were male and 74.8% respondents were classified as non-metropolitan residents. Welding and Electrical crafts had the largest numbers of students enrolled. The comparative analyses found that crafts, craft levels, attendance, and grades tended to be related to course completion rates. Due to the findings that not all courses awarded grades, two discriminant analyses were used to identify substantively and statistically significant models that increased the researchers ability to explain the completion status of students enrolled in the craft training courses. The discriminant model for graded courses correctly classified 89.4% of the original grouped cases (completers and non-completers), which was a 64.8% improvement over chance. The discriminant model for non-graded courses correctly classified 83.0% of the original grouped cases (completers and non-completers), which was a 66.03% improvement over chance. The variable attendance had the greatest impact in both models. Since attendance was found to be related to completion status, the researcher recommended further studies on determining why students were absent from classes. Additionally the researcher recommends reviewing other possible variables that may influence students completion status.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the self-esteem and academic success of African American students in the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) at a research-extensive university in the Southern portion of the United States. The nature of the study required the use of descriptive, comparative, and correlational research methods. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory Adult Form (CSEI-A), a 25-item dichotomous self-report questionnaire was used to measure the level of self-esteem of all respondents. CSEI-A data was collected through the use of an on-line survey program, called Zoomerang©. Data on the specific demographic and academic variables related to the objectives of this study was collected from the Universitys official records in the College of Engineering. The target population of this study was defined as African American students enrolled in a Minority Engineering Program at a research extensive university in the Southern portion of the United States. A census of 260 African American engineering students was selected to participate in the study, and a total of 121 completed the on-line survey resulting in a 46.5% response rate. Overall high levels of self-esteem were demonstrated. The mean CSEI-A score was determined to be 71.64/100. Findings of the study indicated that there was a positive relationship between level of self-esteem and demographic variables, such as parents highest educational level completed, year of classification, cumulative GPA, and engineering major GPA. Furthermore, findings revealed that respondents with high cumulative and engineering GPAs were found to have higher levels of self-esteem. Stepwise multiple regression analysis of dummy coded variables gender, age, year of classification, and parents highest educational level completed as possible predictors of CSEI-A scores revealed that year 1 students reported lower CSEI-A scores than all other students. However, year 1 students who reported their parents highest educational level completed as a bachelor degree or higher scored higher on the CSEI-A than year 1 students who reported their parents highest educational level completed as an associate degree or lower. Results from this study support the need for the inclusion of a self-esteem building component into the retention efforts of the program. The researcher also recommended that the study institution develop first-generation college student retention strategies, such as individual and group counseling, intensive orientation programs, first-year experience courses, and learning communities.

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of two alternative instructional strategies for teaching basic construction surveying concepts. The basic concepts of construction surveying, office, field, angles, distance and elevation must be thoroughly understood before complex construction surveying applications can be performed. Instruction in applied science courses such as construction surveying is constantly being impacted by advances in technology. Technological developments require an evolving pedagogy incorporating change while maintaining the integral basics. The dynamics of change require an instructor to maintain basic construction surveying concepts consideration while developing authentic experiences which can be incorporated into the new technologies. This experiment was performed using two different instructional formats, integrated and separated, for instructing study participants in basic construction surveying. The integrated format presented the related collaborative instructional components, theoretical and practical, during the same class while the separated format presented the related instruction, theoretical and practical, in a traditional manner with separated lecture and lab. Pre and post achievement tests were given to all four intact classes used in this experiment for measuring the study participants pre-instruction and post-instruction knowledge. The experimental results indicated that the designed curriculum was effective in teaching the basic construction surveying concepts. The two alternative instructional treatments, integrated and separated were both found to be statistically similar. Additionally, class time and class size were determined to have no measurable effect on achievement. This research provides applied science instructors the flexibility to design courses which can be used for a variety of different situations. Based on the results of this experiment, traditionally large classes can utilize the separated lecture-lab format with the expectation that student achievement will be the same for the small classes which can be instructed using the integrated format. These findings can also be used as the basis for a distance education class which can present the lecture portion in a self directed web-based format while keeping the lab portion in a context which utilizes the typical instructor student lab.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of military deployment or activation of reserve and National Guard soldiers on civilian employers. Understanding how activation affects the operations of civilian employers will increase awareness of the effects of labor stability on organizations. The study utilizes survey methodology to measure changes in organizational output, customer satisfaction, and employee behavior. In addition, number of employees supervised, strategies employed to adapt to the effects of activation on operations, organizational types, and the amount of time required for the organization to return to pre-activation levels of performance were measured. The sample was randomly selected from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) database in Louisiana. The conclusion of this study is that the majority of organizations were not affected by activation. The distribution of strategies to adapt to the absence of the reserve employee was not independent from the organization type transportation and material moving. The strategy most used by respondents in the transportation and material moving sector to cope with the loss of the reserve employee was overtime, the second most used strategy was increasing employee workload without adding additional hours worked. The strategy least used by respondents in the transportation and material moving industry sector was reducing the organizations output. Finally, the strategy using contract labor was found not to be independent of the number of months required to return to a normal level of performance. Government agencies may use the information from this research to formulate policies to counter the effects of activation on the minority of organizations affected by activation. In addition, the results from this study may enable human resource practitioners to create overtime and work load polices to counter the effects that employee absences have on organizations. The results from this study ran counter to past research on employee turnover and organizational performance, as well as recent research performed on troop activation and organizational performance. Finally, the study highlights the need for further research in the area of troop activation by exploring divergent and often conflicting views in the current literature.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) is essential in providing eligible households with the right tools to adopt healthy eating and active lifestyle practices which are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid. Education in the OFS, where SNAP eligibility is assessed, is one means to preventing adversities which those in poverty often face. Out of concern for the lack of nutrition education being conducted in the OFS, along with the many distractions limiting clients ability to absorb and retain educational messages, the Food Stamp Office Resource Kit (FSORK) was developed. The FSORK includes a 20 minute video covering a vast range of nutrition topics, along with an informational kiosk including bilingual recipe cards and brochures. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if visitors to the OFS would be influenced by educational videos and printed materials to select, purchase, prepare and consume healthier foods. A total of 32 clients interactions with the materials were observed in two OFS locations. Additionally, a total of 30 patrons were interviewed upon exiting the office. The FSORK is a potentially effective tool for SNAP-Ed. The environment of the OFS plays a significant roll in the successful delivery of the education. Extremely large offices may not find this tool as useful, but the kit could still be utilized by implementing multiple videos or by expecting weaker results. Future changes to OFS assessments such as moving towards interviewing applicants over the phone warrant exploration of innovative nutrition education delivery methods.

Individuals, institutions, and society are affected by whether or not students persist in college; therefore, persistence and retention on college campuses is an important topic for higher education systems. However, little research has been done on program retention. Since engineering as a profession is expected to increase, it is imperative to have students persist in the major. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics in the decision of first time in college (FTIC) traditional-age undergraduates who declare engineering as their major at admission to persist in the curriculum from second to third year at a small private university in the southeastern portion of the United States. The target population for this study was defined as the first time in college (FTIC) traditional-age undergraduate students who declared engineering as their major when they were admitted in the fall 2005 and 2006 semesters. For the research instrument, 20 independent variables were collected from Admissions, Student Financial Services, the Registrars, and Academic Services databases and transferred to a computerized recording form. Using stepwise multiple discriminant analysis, the researcher identified a significant model that increased the researchers ability to accurately explain the persistence of FTIC traditional-age undergraduate students who declared engineering as their major when they were admitted. The model correctly classified 79.1% of the cases, which was a 58.2% improvement over chance. The researcher recommended further studies to increase the percentage of correctly classified cases by integrating these variables with others to further explain persistence/non-persistence. Variables she suggested were the amount of the students financial aid portfolio, as well as high school math courses taken by the student and the grades he/she earned. The researcher found that many of the non-persisting students had pre-college academic success, and so the researcher recommends that the institution conduct exit interviews to find out why these students chose to not persist in Engineering. She also recommends the implementation of a learning community, a living and learning environment that combines social and academic integration for the students.

The purpose of this study was to describe what a sample of registered nurses in the state of Louisiana, who are members of the Louisiana State Nurses' Association (LSNA), identify as deterrents to participation in web-based graduate nursing programs. Two hundred and eighty one RNs participated in the study. The 54 item four point Likert - type interval scale Deterrents to Participation in Web-Based Graduate Nursing Programs Survey Instrument was utilized to measure what LSNA member RNs identified as deterrents to participation in web-based graduate nursing programs. Eighteen items assessed demographic information about the respondents. A factor analysis revealed a three factor solution that explained 55.436 % of the total variance in deterrents to participation in web-based graduate nursing programs. The factors were labeled concerns about quality, cost, and time, concerns about access to resources: technological and personal, and concerns about electronic mediated communication. There were four significant findings when comparisons were made with the overall scale mean of the deterrents survey tool. A significant difference was found between computer literacy, current educational status, employment status, and annual household income and the overall scale mean. No significant differences were found between respondents age, ethnicity, gender, years of being a registered nurse, marital status, number of children, or parents educational status when compared to the overall scale mean of the deterrents survey tool. Multiple regression analysis revealed an overall model of three predictors of deterrents to participation in web-based graduate nursing programs: no computer literacy, annual household income between 20,000 and 50,000 dollars, and having the current educational status of graduating from a diploma RN program. This model accounted for 21% of the variance in the deterrents to participation scores.