Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Taylor, Walter

Committee Member

Newman, Michael

Committee Member

King, Stephanie

Date of Degree

8-6-2011

Original embargo terms

MSU Only Indefinitely

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Major

Agricultural Science

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

School of Human Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the teacher factors which influence the program effectiveness for Agricultural and Environmental Science and Technology (AEST) programs in Mississippi. These factors included educational characteristics of the teachers and suggested instructional strategies from the AEST curriculum framework. During the 2009-2010 school year, a total of 54 AEST teachers participated in the MS - CPAS2 testing. Of the 39 AEST teachers responding to the survey, 32 (82.1%) were male and 7 (17.9%) were female. The mean age of the AEST teacher respondents was 37.93 years (SD = 10.98). The mean years of teaching for AEST teacher respondents was 5.34 (SD = 3.29). This study utilized a correlational design. The alpha level was set at .05. The regression analysis was employed to examine the relationship between program effectiveness and each of the following variables: teachers’ reported level of use of the suggested instructional strategies found in the curriculum framework, teacher-perceived level of effectiveness of the suggested instructional strategies found in the curriculum framework, and teacher-perceived level of competence in using the suggested instructional strategies. When comparing the use and perceived level of effectiveness of the 14 instructional strategies based on the perceived level of use, the perceived level of competence, and the perceived level of effectiveness, the Spearmen rho Correlation Coefficients was used. The coefficients were interpreted using Davis’s conventions for interpreting measures of associations (Davis, 1971). Based on the findings, the AEST teachers level of use and perceived level of effectiveness indicated as the teachers’ level of use of the instructional strategies decreased so did the teachers’ perceived level of effectiveness of the instructional strategy. Based on the findings, the AEST teachers’ perceived level of effectiveness and perceived level of competence indicated as the teachers’ level of effectiveness of the instructional strategies decreased so did the teachers’ perceived level of competence of the instructional strategy. Based on the findings, the AEST teachers perceived level of competence and level of use indicated as the teachers’ level of use of the instructional strategies decreased so did the teachers’ perceived level of competence of the instructional strategy.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16329

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