Teaching strategies, their use and effectiveness as perceived by teachers of agriculture: A national study

Abstract

<p>The primary purpose of this study was to identify perceptions of agricultural education teachers in the United States of America regarding selected principles of teaching and learning, the current use of selected instructional methods and tools and their effectiveness. A secondary purpose was to determine the relationship between the selected variables and to develop a model for guiding successful use of selected teaching and learning strategies in secondary agricultural education programs;Teachers responding to the questionnaire rated most of the principles of teaching/learning fairly high on the scale. The highest rated principles were "individual differences exist among students," "Importance of feedback for student learning," "importance of teaching strategy," and "Using a variety of evaluation procedures." The lowest rated principles were "a student's grades should be based on what the student has learned," and "the student's learning style is related to the teacher's teaching style," and "directed learning is more effective than undirected learning.";The methods and tools used most by teachers included demonstrations, discussions, laboratories, projects, contests, using real objects and supervised experience;The most effective teaching methods and tools included using laboratories, demonstrations, contests, using real objects, discussion and supervised experience;Teacher characteristics influencing the use of selected to perceive of the selected teaching methods included the number of courses taken focusing on teaching and learning, length of teaching contract, school location, school size, academic background and gender. The number of courses taken focusing on teaching and learning most influence on the perceived effectiveness of selected teaching methods and tools;A model was developed for selecting appropriate teaching methods and tools in secondary agricultural education programs. There were several important components identified in the model. These components included the type of subject matter, resources available in the school and community, instructional units, skills, facts, concepts, processes, and principles, analysis of the student-teacher activities for the units and using selected teaching-learning principles.</p>