Research Topical Areas for Agricultural Education in Eswatini
Keywords:
Agricultural Education, research project, research thematic areas, primary themes, secondary themes, topical areasAbstract
The need for a focused Agricultural Education Research Agenda in order to develop the discipline cannot be over-emphasised. Existing literature indicates Agricultural Education has been predominately directed towards primary and secondary themes; no study has been conducted on research topical areas. Hence, this study sought to identify research topical areas in Agricultural Education in Eswatini. This was a descriptive study employing desk review in data collection. Experts (n=5) from the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension (AEE), at the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) reviewed the instrument for validity. Data analysis was performed using frequencies and percentages. Findings of the study revealed that in Agricultural Education, topical areas are special education needs, professional malpractice, funding, dissemination of research findings, innovative instructional technologies, distance / online education, intervention to cater for upgrading students in School Agriculture Programmes, among others. The study concluded that research in Agricultural Education must be reoriented to cater for the topical research areas. It is therefore recommended that a five-year periodic research review in Agricultural Education must be established to assist in identifying emerging topical areas.
References
A. L. Ball and N. A. Knobloch. (2005). A document analysis of the pedagogical knowledge espoused in agriculture teaching method courses. Journal of Agricultural Education, 46(2), pp. 47-57.
J. Crunkilton (1988). Directing future research efforts in agricultural and extension education through a matrix. Proceedings of the National Agricultural Education Research Meeting, St. Louis, MO.
L. H. Newcomb (1993). Transforming university programmes of agricultural education. Journal of Agricultural Education, 34 (1), 1-10.
M. Baker, G. C.., Shinn, and G. Briers. (2007). Doctoral content in 2010: Perceptions of
U.S. scholars engaged in Agricultural Education. Proceedings of the 2007 AAAE Research Conference. Minneapolis, MN. Internet: http://aaae.okstate.edu/proceedings/2007/IndividualPapers/168-Baker_etal.pdf [August 15, 2019]
L. D. Edgar, G. E. Briers and T. Rutherford (2008). Research themes in agricultural education: Future gap analysis of the National Research Agenda. Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research, 58(1), 61-80
P. Buriak and G. C. Shinn (1989). Mission, initiatives, and obstacles to research in
Agricultural Education: a national Delphi using external decision makers. Journal of Agricultural Education, 2(4), 14-23.
J. R. Warmbrod (1986). Priorities for continuing progress in research in agricultural education. Presented to the Southern Regional Conference in Agricultural Education. Little Rock, AR.
A. J. Mannebach (1980). An analysis of the impact of Agricultural Education Research on identified professional concerns. Journal of the American Association of Teacher Educators and Agriculture, 20 (1) 19-25.
B. R. Stewart, G. C. Shinn, & W. B. Richardson (1977). Concerns of the Agricultural Education profession: implications for teacher education. Journal of the American Association of Teacher Educators in Agriculture, 18(2), 19-26. Retrieved from http://jae-online.org.pdf
D. Mathonsi (2000). Analysis of the agricultural education research conducted in Swaziland. Unpublished bachelor’s thesis, University of Swaziland, Luyengo, Swaziland.
R. J. Birkenholz and J. O. Ewing (2005). Research topic areas in Agricultural Education. Proceedings of the 2005 American Association for Agricultural Education National Research Conference, San Antonio, Texas. 32, 225-240. Internet: http://aaaeonline.org [June 12, 2020]
R. Steele (1997). Analysis of the continuing decline in use of Supervised Agricultural Experience (sae) in New York State. Journal of Agricultural Education, 38(2), 49 - 58
J. R. Warmbrod (1987). The future of Agricultural Education in secondary schools: Barriers to change. Agricultural Education Magazine, 60(4), 4.
R. B. Radhakrishna and W. Xu, (1997). A review of subject matter topics researched in agricultural and extension education. Journal of Agricultural Education, 38(3), 59-69.
L. Silva-Cuerrero, & H. D. Sutphin (1990). Priorities for research in agricultural education. Journal of Agricultural Education, 31(3), 1-13.
J. W. Moss (1986). A content analysis of the National Agricultural EducationResearch Meetings (1974-1985). Proceedings of the 13th Annual National Agricultural Education Research Meeting.
A. F. Tsikati, M. P. Dlamini, & M. A. Dube, (2019). Gap Analysis for Future Agricultural Education Research in Eswatini (Swaziland). International and Extension Education, 26(2), 64-74
A. F. Tsikati, M. P. Dlamini, & M. A. Dube, (2019). Gap analysis in post-graduate Agricultural Education research in Eswatini. International Journal of Research in Applied, Natural and Social Sciences, 7(1), 25-36.
A. F. Tsikati, M. P. Dlamini, & M. A. Dube, (2019). Gap Analysis of Agricultural Education Research in Eswatini: A Delphi Study. International Journal of Arts, Science, Humanities and Management Studies. 1(1), 31-42.
K. E. Boulding (1956). General Systems Theory: The skeleton of science. Management Science, 2(3), 197-208.
B. R. Gaines and M. L. G. Shaw (1984). A learning model for forecasting the future of information technology. Internet: http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~gaines/reports/MFIT/FCS_IT/index.html. [April 15, 2017]
B. R. Gaines (1978). Progress in general systems research. In Klir, G. J., (Ed.) Applied General Systems Research, pp. 3-28. New York, NY: Plenum Press. Internet: http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~gaines/reports/SYS/ProgGSR78?index.html. [March 07, 2018]
L. E. Miller and K. Madou-Bangurah (1993). Identification of Research topics on International Agricultural Education: A Delphi study. Education Resource Information Centre [ERIC]. Internet: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED366788.pdf [November 19, 2018]
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 International Scientific Research and Researchers Association (ISRRA)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who submit papers with this journal agree to the following terms.
