ارزيابي نيازهاي آموزشي حرفه اي مربيان كشاورزي مراكز آموزش كشاورزي استان هاي مازندران و گلستان با استفاده از مدل بوريچ

Assessing the Professional Educational Needs of Agriculture Instructors of Agricultural Training Centers of Mazandaran and Golestan Provinces Using Borich Model

The purpose of this study was to assess the professional educational needs of agriculture instructors. The research method was a descriptive-correlation one. The target population consisted of agriculture instructors of agricultural training centers of Mazandaran and Golestan provinces, Iran (N=104). In total, 89 questionnaires agriculture instructors were gathered and analyzed. Validity of the instrument was verified by a panel of experts consisting of faculty members specialized in agricultural extension and education. A reliability analysis being conducted resulted in a Cronbachʹs alpha value of 0.81. Based on Borich needs assessment model, a number of 24 modified professional competencies from previous researches were developed to assess the educational needs of agricultural instructors. Overall competencies were analyzed and ranked using Mean Weighted Discrepancy Scores (MWDS). Findings in the study revealed a number of four educational needs by agricultural instructors including: getting to know internet application in classroom teachings, getting to know different evaluational methods, how to motivate students to learn, and the teaching of problem-solving skills, respectively. Results obtained from Spearmanʹcorrelation indicate that there is a significant correlation between the age, the factors of years of agricultural teaching experience, number of participations in in-service courses and the dependent variable of in-service needs rate. It is worth noting that significant differences were observed among educational need rates of respondents as regards the suggested season for in-service courses.