The purpose of this study was to determine if agriscience teacher integration of instructional technology was related to student achievement. Knowledge of these correlations will assist teacher educators in offering more appropriate professional development opportunities for agriscience teachers. This information will also assist secondary schools in making decisions regarding technology purchases for agriscience departments. Instructional technology researchers have worked since the 1960s to gain a better understanding of the role that instructional technology plays in student achievement. Many researchers have found that instructional technology influences student learning. In the early 1980s Richard Clark published controversial findings that media has no influence on student learning. These conflicting findings led to the development of this study. A survey was developed to collect information on the level at which teachers integrate technology into their instruction. The instrument was pilot tested, and a reliability measure of .95 was found for the 42 items measuring the technology skills of teachers. Section three of the instrument had a reliability of .93 for the nine items that were used to measure teacher integration of technolo gy. Teachers' demographics, teachers' technology integration skill levels, teachers' administrative use of technology skill levels, and teachers' technology integration levels were collected from a random sample of 150 agriscience teachers in Texas. Student achievement was measured using the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. Student data were collected on 10th grade students in classes taught by the 150 teachers selected to participate in the study. The Texas Education Agency provided all TAAS data in a single data file. The primary student variables used in the study to quantify math, reading, and writing achievement were the total number of multiple choice items correct for each of these three subject areas. A low positive correlation was found between student achievement in math and teacher instructional technology integration level (.14). Negligible positive correlations (r < .10) were found between teacher instructional technology integration level and student achievement on the writing portions and reading portions of the TAAS.

A challenge faced by agricultural educators across the country is a lack of qualified teachers entering the profession. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between student teacher perceptions of the student teacher/cooperating teacher relationship and the decision to enter the teaching profession. Background/demographic characteristics were also examined to determine if relationships existed with the decision about entering teaching. These characteristics included gender, age, academic classification, race/ethnicity, previous agricultural work experience, and semesters of high school agricultural science courses completed. The target population of this study consisted of preservice agricultural education students at Texas A&M University. The sample consisted of 33 student teachers who completed their student teaching in the fall semester 2004. The instrument consisted of three parts. Part I of the instrument contained six background/demographic variables (gender, age, semesters of high school agricultural science courses completed, academic classification, race/ethnicity, and agricultural work experience). Part II of the instrument contained 14 items measuring student teacher perceptions of the student teacher/cooperating teacher relationship. For each item, participants were asked to indicate the importance of each characteristic and the current level of their cooperating teacher using a modified five point Likert-type scale. Part III of the instrument consisted of a single item, “Do you plan to teach agricultural science when you graduate?” accompanied by a seven point response scale ranging from definitely yes to definitely no. There was no relationship found between the student teacher/cooperating teacher relationship and the decision to teach. However, a relationship was found between previous agricultural work experience and the decision to teach, as well as a relationship between the semesters of high school agricultural science courses competed and the decision to teach. By knowing how many high school agricultural science courses a student had completed, one could better predict the decision to teach. As a result of the study, the researcher recommends that agricultural education programs recruit students who have completed high school agriculture courses. High school agricultural science teachers should encourage their students to pursue careers in agricultural education.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [241]-252). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-217). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-217). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-93).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 93 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-79).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [241]-252). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-194). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.