Understanding how farmers prefer to learn is critical for the development and delivery of successful extension programming. Therefore, Michigan State University Extension specialists conducted an interactive hands-on demonstration workshop (Potato University) addressing pressing issues to Michigan potato production at the Michigan Winter Potato…

The Adult Mentoring Assessment for Extension Professionals will help mentors develop an accurate profile of their mentoring style with adult learners and identify areas of proficiency and deficiency based on six constructs--relationship, information, facilitation, confrontation, modeling, and vision. This article reports on the reliability of this…

Extension provides non-formal education and learning activities to people throughout the country. The largest non-formal adult education organization in the world, Cooperative Extension takes knowledge gained through research and education directly to the community to create positive changes. Through the use of paraprofessionals, Extension is able…

This study examines the educational philosophies and teaching styles of Extension agents in the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. The Philosophy of Adult Education Inventory (PAEI) designed by Zinn and the Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) developed by Conti were the instruments used in this study. The PAEI identifies the educator's…

Ohio cooperative extension agents who completed the Principles of Adult Learning Scale had low levels of knowledge of adult education principles and practices; a slightly positive attitude toward being adult educators; a more teacher-centered teaching style; a major in technical subjects, not education; and more experience teaching youth rather…

The factors related to teaching style preference of the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) faculty and program were measured by the Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS). The study also looked at two additional measurements predictive of teaching behavior: sensitivity and inclusion, as measured by the Van Tilburg/Heimlich…

Extension educators can benefit from using a variety of styles when participating in learning and problem-solving coalitions. The first section of this paper describes nine stages of the coalition-building process, which can be grouped into three phases. In the emergence phase, issues and concerns have heated up and risen to the surface, and…

Evaluating extension educator performance is difficult due to the nature of extension education, the variety of educational methods and clientele, and the broad subject matter taught. Some approaches to performance evaluation are classroom visitation, self-appraisal, plan of work review, "student" input, group sampling, and peer evaluation. (MF)

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE FACTORS RELATED TO THE RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING OF VOLUNTEER ADULT LEADERS FOR WORK WITH LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC RURAL YOUTH IN UNIVERSITY EXTENSION YOUTH PROGRAMS. SPECIFICALLY, THE STUDY WAS CONCERNED WITH COMPARING RURAL YOUTH OF DIFFERENT SOCIOECONOMIC STATUSES AS TO THEIR PERCEPTION OF PERSONAL…

A study was conducted to determine what distinguishes the practice of competent educators from that of untrained persons or colleagues who are less skilled. The population for the study was cooperative extension educators. Five individuals identified by district and state leaders as being exemplary in their practice were followed for three days…

A program of inter-university communication was established in England. It explored theoretical possibilities and concluded that the time is ripe to establish a series of experimental exchanges between universities. It explored five major questions. What academic needs did universities feel might be met by co-operation through educational…

This book, which is intended primarily for specialists in the field of adult education (AE) who wish to improve their performance, presents a systematic plan for designing, establishing, and evaluating successful programs for adult learners. The following topics are among those discussed in the book's six chapters: credos and systems (growth of…