Vocational agriculture student benefits from agricultural activities on school farms

209 Pages·2017·2.97 MB·English

Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and
Retrospective Theses and Dissertations
Dissertations
1981
Vocational agriculture student benefits from
agricultural activities on school farms
David Albert McCarthy
Iowa State University
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Recommended Citation
McCarthy, David Albert, "Vocational agriculture student benefits from agricultural activities on school farms " (1981).Retrospective
Theses and Dissertations. 6927.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/6927
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Universi^
MioOTlms
International
300 N. ZEEB RD., ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106
8128838
MCCARTHY, DAVID ALBERT
VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE STUDENT BENEFITS FROM
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES ON SCHOOL FARMS
Iowa State University PH.D. 1981
University
IVIicrofilms
i h tsrnâ t i 0n âl
300 N. Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Vocational agriculture student benefits
from agricultural activities on
school farms
by
David Albert McCarthy
A Dissertation Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Major: Agricultural Education
Approved:
Signature was redacted for privacy.
In Charge of Major Work
Signature was redacted for privacy.
Signature was redacted for privacy.
For the Graduate College
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
1981
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1
Statement of the Problem 4
Need for the Study 5
Purpose of the Study 10
Definition of Terms 17
Assumption 18
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 19
The Role of the School Farm in the High
School Vocational Agriculture Program 19
Considerations for the Implementation of
a School Farm in the High School Voca­
tional Agriculture Program 33
Procedural Considerations for the Use and
Operation of a School Farm in the High
School Vocational Agriculture Program 57
CHAPTER III. DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 69
Design of the Study 69
The Population and Sample 70
Instrumentation 72
Data Collection 73
Statistical Analyses 74
CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 75
Respondent Background Information 75
Student Enrollment Information 81
School Farm Information 85
iii
Page
Student Benefits from Agricultural
Activities on the School Farm 95
Pearson Product Moment Correlations 131
Analysis of Variance by the Six Objectives
of Vocational Education in Agriculture 149
CHAPTER V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND 152
RECOMMENDATIONS 152
Statement of the Problem 152
Purpose of the Study 152
Procedure 154
Summary of Findings 156
Conclusions 161
Recommendations 162
BIBLIOGRAPHY 163
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 168
APPENDIX A: INFORMATIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE 170
APPENDIX B: SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY 172
APPENDIX C: LETTERS AND QUESTIONNAIRES MAILED
TO VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE INSTRUC­
TORS AND ADMINISTRATORS 177
APPENDIX D: FOLLOW-UP LETTERS MAILED TO ADMIN­
ISTRATORS AND VOCATIONAL AGRICUL­
TURE INSTRUCTORS 188
APPENDIX E: CODING INSTRUCTIONS FOR TRANSFERRING
ADMINISTRATOR AND VOCATIONAL AGRI­
CULTURE INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION TO
DATA CARDS 191
iv
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Number and percentage of vocational
agriculture instructors in the school
system 76
Table 2. Number and percentage of vocational
agriculture instructors indicating
the number of years they had taught
vocational agriculture 76
Table 3. Number of vocational agriculture
instructors and percentages regarding
the number of years the vocational
agriculture instructor has been
responsible for the operation of a
school farm 78
Table 4. Characteristics of school administra­
tors in the sample 80
Table 5. Administrator involvement in agricul­
ture/agribusiness independent of
the role of administration 81
Table 6. High school enrollment (grades 9-12) 82
Table 7. Number of departments and percentages
regarding the number of high school
vocational agriculture students in
the department 83
Table 8. Number and percentage of farm stu­
dents in the vocational agriculture
program 84
Table 9. Number and percentage of non-farm
students in the vocational agricul­
ture program 84
Table 10. Number and percentage regarding the
distance the school farm is located
from the vocational agriculture
classroom 86
V
Page
Table 11. Number of acres and percentage
regarding the size of the school farm 86
Table 12. Number and percentages of vocational
agriculture department school farms with
livestock 88
Table 13. Number and percentages of vocational
agriculture department school farms in
which a person other than the vocational
agriculture instructor supervises
students on the school farm 88
Table 14. Number and percentages of high school
vocational agriculture instructors who
believe that the school farm is an
important teaching resource for the
vocational agriculture department 88
Table 15. Number and percentages of high school
vocational agriculture instructors who
would be responsive to initiating the
school farm concept if their department
did not presently operate a school farm 89
Table 16. Administrative perceptions of the school
farm concept 89
Table 17. Rank order regarding the use of the
school farm by the vocational agricul­
ture department 90
Table 18. Percentage of departments utilizing
common agricultural activities on the
school farm 92
Table 19. Ways in which vocational agriculture
students are involved in agricultural
activities on the school farm 93
Table 20. Percentage of vocational agriculture
students with their primary means of
obtaining supervised occupational
experience 95
vi
Page
Table 21. Means, standard deviations, and
mean rankings of the benefits
vocational agriculture students
receive from agricultural activities
on a school farm 97
Table 22. Twenty most important student benefits
as perceived by vocational agriculture
instructors 107
Table 23. Twenty most important student benefits
as perceived by high school adminis­
trators 109
Table 24. Sixteen student benefits common to
both vocational agriculture instruc­
tors and high school administrators
from their ranking of the twenty most
important benefits 111
Table 25. Twenty most important student benefits
as perceived by combined scores of
vocational agriculture instructors and
high school administrators 113
Table 26. Twenty least important student benefits
as perceived by vocational agriculture
instructors 116
Table 27. Twenty least important student benefits
as perceived by high school administra­
tors 118
Table 28. Sixteen student benefits common to both
vocational agriculture instructors and
high school administrators from their
rankings of the twenty least important
benefits 120
Table 29. Twenty least important student benefits
as perceived by combined scores of
vocational agriculture instructors and
high school administrators 123
vii
Page
Table 30. Major advantages of a school farm as
perceived by vocational agriculture
instructors attained by means of
their responses to an open-ended ques­
tion 127
Table 31. Major advantages of a school farm as
perceived by the high school adminis­
trators attained by means of their
responses to an open-ended question 128
Table 32. Major disadvantages of a school farm
as perceived by vocational agricul­
ture instructors attained by means of
their responses to an open-ended
question 129
Table 33. Major disadvantages of a school farm
as perceived by high school adminis­
trators attained by means of their
responses to an open-ended question 130
Table 34a. Coefficients of correlation between
student benefits as perceived by
vocational agriculture instructors
and selected continuous instructor
variables 135
Table 34b. Variables used in Table 34a 138
Table 35a. Coefficients of correlation between
student benefits as perceived by
high school administrators and selec­
ted continuous administrator
variables 142
Table 35b. Variables used in Table 35a 144
Table 36. Coefficients of correlation between
student benefits from agricultural
activities on the school farm as
perceived by combined scores of voca­
tional agriculture instructors and
high school administrators 146