No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of the first year experience of teaching secondary agriculture and to explore the relationships between these perceptions, the characteristics of beginning agriculture teachers, and the types of support provided to beginning teachers. An additional focus of the study was to explore the relationship between the level of commitment to teaching and the perceptions of the first year experience. Information was gathered from secondary agriculture teachers across the U.S. who were in their second year of teaching agricultural education during the 2003-2004 academic year. A survey instrument was created specifically for this study through which information about the perceived experience of the first year, the types of support provided to the beginning teacher during the initial year of teaching, the perceived effectiveness of the support provided, demographic characteristics of the beginning teacher, and the perceived likelihood of teaching secondary agriculture in the future was gathered. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics. The 57 variables related to the perceptions of the first year experience were reduced to 14 factors through Principal Component Analysis. Nearly 90 percent of respondents described the overall experience of their first year as very positive, positive, or somewhat positive. The most frequently reported positive experiences included working with students in the FFA, participating in professional development opportunities, and using computers and multimedia in teaching. A majority of respondents also described their relationships with school staff, colleagues, and administrators as positive or very positive. Less than 25 percent of respondents perceived the salary in relationship to the time required as positive or very positive. Most respondents reported negative perceptions of working with students in the classroom who don't want to be there and in dealing with problem student behavior. While nearly three-fourths of the respondents reported they were highly likely to teach secondary agriculture one-year from the time of the survey, less than one-third reported they were highly likely to do so at five years, and only 15% reported they were highly likely to do so twenty years from the time of the survey. / Graduation date: 2004

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Kentucky, 2008. / Title from document title page (viewed on August 21, 2008). Document formatted into pages; contains: ix, 126 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-125).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-114). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 114 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-100).