Providing support for the agricultural development of small farmers is the main goal of the project Agriculture in Guatemala: Technology, Education and Commercialization (AGTEC). To accomplish this, it is necessary, to identify the characteristics and needs of participants, as well as their environmental, social, and farming conditions. Through this study, two case studies were conducted to identify and analyze the context of small farmers of the region. This research study used qualitative and participative methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and observation, to gather data about the participants' thoughts and opinions concerning their situations. The case study systemically gathered information about the conditions and needs of small farmers to provide a better understanding of the people and their interactions within the farm systems. This needs assessment showed how the farmers' decisions about adoption are related to their interactions on their farms. Therefore, this study analyzed the system, as a whole, to identify priorities among different critical components that will provide optimum results for beneficiaries. These priorities will allow the identification of appropriate technologies that will satisfy the needs of small farmers according to their local, cultural, and economic conditions. The appropriate technologies need to be diffused among the farmers for adoption. Rogers observed that technologies that are diffused by opinion leaders are adopted by their peers. Thus, the second case study analyzed the social networks and their leaders to observe their potential to support the diffusion process of technologies. The study revealed the presence of diverse social networks, one provided by the political structure, others based on organized groups of farmers and other informal networks formed by independent farmers. Data also showed that opinion leaders have desired roles and characteristics among their networks. Therefore diffusion of innovations through formal and non-formal leaders represents a promising strategy as they are recognized and respected by peers. The diffusion of innovations through opinion leaders promotes the active participation of local members, validates the innovations, and sustains adoption over time. Therefore, the analysis of the social networks and selection of opinion leaders supports the diffusion process of the AGTEC project in Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate perceptions and needs of the primary school teachers&rsquo / in 4th and 5th grade public schools in Yenimahalle and &Ccedil / ankaya districts related to the teaching and assessment methods based on individual differences in science and technology classes. Furthermore this study investigated the teachers&rsquo / perceptions on new science and technology curriculum in Turkey and their perceptions on individual differences. The research type of this study include survey, causal-comparative, and also qualitative research in nature which are non-experimental research methods. The study was conducted in the 2005-2006 academic year in Ankara. Three data collection methods were used to collect data from primary school teachers. First, a needs assessment questionnaire was administered on 155 primary school teachers. Then, the researcher carried out in depth interviews with 13 primary school teachers. Furthermore an observational case study including video typing in two science and technology classes was carried out. Quantitative part of the study was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics by using SPSS (e.g., frequences, percentage analysis, and analyses of variance). Qualitative part of the study was analyzed by using qualitative methods (Generating categories, themes, patterns and coding the data). The findings from quanitative and qualitative data indicated that primary school teachers have various needs to apply teaching and assessment methods based on individual differences related to knowledge, experience, students, parents, administrators, resources, opportunities, time, and science books. Also teachers mostly use new approaches in new Science and Technology Curriculum such as individual presentations.

ABSTRACT AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS WORKING AT A STATE UNIVERSITY Eksi, G&uuml / l M.S., Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Yesim &Ccedil / apa Aydin December 2010, 88 pages The main purpose of this study was to assess the professional development needs of the English language instructors working at a state university in Istanbul. Ninety-two instructors teaching preparatory classes constituted the population of the study. Within that needs assessment, the instructors&rsquo / perceptions of professional development, the most common professional development activities instructors practice, factors that hindered instructors from attending professional development activities, the most difficult skill to teach and assess, the areas of teaching English where instructors needed a professional development program, and the instructors&rsquo / preferences for delivery methods and formats of the professional development programs were identified. This study also examined the role of year of teaching experience, workload of the instructors, department the instructors graduated, and instructors&rsquo / perceptions of professional development programs in predicting the professional development needs of the instructors. Findings indicated that participants had positive perceptions of professional development. The most common professional development activity type was found to be &ldquo / Sharing experiences with colleagues.&rdquo / The most important factor which hindered participants from attending professional development was determined as &ldquo / inconvenient date/time.&rdquo / The most difficult skill to teach and to assess was reported as &ldquo / Writing.&rdquo / It was found out that the area where the degree of need was the highest was &ldquo / New theories and practices of English language teaching.&rdquo / Most of the participants reported that they preferred professional development activities to be optional workshops at their own institutions. A trainer or an expert from an outside institution was the most preferred speaker type. Findings also showed that instructors preferred sessions which took up to 60 minutes, held on weekday mornings once a month. The result of the regression analyses indicated that only year of teaching experience was significant in predicting professional development needs of the instructors. Year of teaching experience was negatively correlated with the needs indicating that as the teachers got more experience, their degree of professional development needs decreased.

<p><p>The purpose of this study was to study and analyze in order to increase understanding of how social-secretaries choices and assessments described in the hypothetical situations that relate to families receiving social assistance welfare. The main issues we searched answer to each Mainly, we sought to answer the following questions: What considerations are made regarding the child's best interests in the handling process relating to social assistance and in what way is a childperspective taken into account in decision justification. Problem formulation can be summarized in the variety of decision making on welfare and vulnerability of poor children. In our approach to collecting empiri we used out of vignette-studies and interviews. We interviewed seven social secretaries from a social welfare unit. For our help in the analysis of the collected material, we have made use of Michael Lipskys streetlevel bureaucracy. The conclusion we came to was that the social secretaries agreed that there is disagreement how a child perspective is taken into account but all agree that the child's perspective must be addressed in some form in the management of social welfare.</p></p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-199). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-199). Also available on the Internet.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 8 Conference, April 23-24, 2012, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / This poster will describe the process and role of the University of Arizona's Access Services and frontline public service staff in needs assessment and user service evaluation, specifically in understanding the voice of the customer. We will include information on our strategic planning process, resources required, data sources, methodology, analytical tools, and the outcomes of this process. Information in this poster was first presented at the 2010 Access Services Conference and has subsequently been updated for publication.

The highland Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia has historically suffered significantly from drought shock events. These events, coupled with a high poverty rate- have left a severe impact on the agricultural output and community survival of the region. Several development interventions have been implemented in Ethiopia to address the effects of drought and poverty, the largest being the recent Food for Work Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). The purpose of this study was to assess the food security and drought survival needs of Ethiopian communities, more specifically, communities in the Northern Tigray Region. The main research questions were: (a) what are major themes from the permanent literature on the PSNP's management policies' impact at the beneficiary level; and (b) what are common needs of drought prone villages in the Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia? Research Question (a) was approached through content analysis of six purposely chosen peer reviewed journal articles related to the implementation of the first five years of the PSNP. Data was analyzed through the constant comparative method and two major themes emerged: Targeting Policy, and Transfer Policy. To address Research Question (b), the researcher traveled to four drought prone villages in the Tigray Region and facilitated a combination of Participatory Rural Appraisal and Rapid Rural Appraisal techniques to assess community-level needs. Interviews with Non-Governmental Agency employees, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development employees, and University faculty provided institutional perspective to the research question. Data was analyzed using the constant comparative method and inductively formed into 11 themes, housed in three sectors: Economic Diversification, Environmental Management, and Social Coping Mechanisms. The results of this study concurred with food security literature; namely that mechanisms for selecting intervention beneficiaries (i.e., targeting policy) and the process for distributing benefits (i.e., transfer policy) are practical concerns at the village level in Ethiopia. Analysis of participatory data formed a framework of community drought survival needs in the context of the Tigray Region. Asset building, water management, and human capacity are example needs which emerged from this study and should be addressed for the long term improvement of Ethiopia's resilience to drought shock events.

The purpose of this descriptive study, "The Needs Maze: How Adult Educators Assess Needs," was to identify the relationship between Adult Basic Education (ABE) planners' theory (espoused) and what practitioners really did or did not do (theory-in-use) in assessing needs. The study examined the extent to which particular patterns, theories or models of needs assessment in adult education were actually used by practitioners in planning adult education programs. This study employed a predominately descriptive research design. The purpose of this study was to investigate how adult education practitioners conducted needs assessment. Among the questions that this study addressed were the following: What models of needs assessment are available for educators to consider? Do program planners use these models in planning programs? What do educators actually do in practice when they conduct a needs assessment? What can those who are facing the maze of needs learn from adult education planners who have gone through the process of conducting needs assessment for their particular programs?Since few studies have focused on how adult education planners really did needs assessment, the lack of sufficient information on what practitioners really did or did not do in the name of needs assessment left a large gap in our understanding of "theory-in-action" with respect to needs assessing. When adult educators talked about needs, they seemed to mean different things. Needs assessment appeared to have multiple meanings and modes of implementation. Needs assessments were conducted in a variety of ways. As a result of this ambiguity and diversity ofpractice, there were few studies conducted to discover ways practitioners conducted needs assessment. Since there existed a gap between what was known about needs assessment and what practitioners did, this study helped to uncover data that could narrow the gap in understanding how practitioners really used needs assessment and possibly can help practitioners chart a course between theory and practice that would make the use of needs assessment of value to them.The general methodology of this study was to survey through questionnaire, 83 Indiana Adult Basic Education (ABE) planners about the connection between their espoused theory and their "theory-in-use" (Argyis & Schon, 1974). Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire, 5 interviews, and 5 document reviews. The researcher had the ABE directors identify theories, principles, assumptions and beliefs from prominent adult education models that they might have encountered previous in doing their own assessing. They identified actual models and techniques/activities they used. The researcher then followed up with a structured interview with 5 respondents to check the validity of the survey findings and gain added clarity and motivation for why they did needs assessment in a particular way. During the interview session the researcher asked to examine a local needs assessment document to see if the methodology or techniques described by the participants were found in the documentation as evidence of their practice.A general picture which emerged from the study was that ABE directors surveyed had inadequate training in needs assessment. On the whole they understood needs assessment techniques; but there was a gap in what they perceived they were doing and what they were actually doing. As a rule, very little relationship between theory and practice existed. Respondents most frequently used techniques which were general and common to many of the models. They avoided techniques which required in-depth study of existing social systems or which put them into contact with learner populations. Respondents preferred techniques which could be done by a single person. Respondents did not generally use a single model for needs assessments, but chose different models in different situations or developed their own models. Needs assessment was found to be a maze through which educators wandered while planning programs. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the English teaching program at G&uuml / lhane Military Medical Faculty and suggest a new program based on the Monitor Model. The study, as an example of a systematic study of a language program and that of a proposed syllabus, is expected to aid the practice of English Language Teaching in Turkey. The data sources were 230 students, 25 doctors and 7 teachers. The data analysis showed that students do not like the contents of the course books. Students reported speaking and reading as priority skills. To understand and translate medical material, to get an overseas assignment, to talk to foreigners and to follow lectures were the common language-related goals. Students&amp / #8217 / , institution&amp / #8217 / s and doctors&amp / #8217 / needs and goals and available resources were surveyed and a new second language teaching program was suggested for Phase 1. A general curriculum model and a program design model were also suggested together with the syllabuses for Phase 1. In the suggested program, grammar, writing and other conscious learning activities are separated from comprehension or (subconscious) acquisition-based activities. The suggested design has three topic-based syllabuses organized in modular format for three levels: Advanced, intermediate and elementary. For the majority advanced level classes new materials need to be developed and for elementary and intermediate levels new course books are suggested. A sample module was prepared, piloted and the results are discussed. The piloted module was found better than the previous form of the lessons both by the students and the teachers.