Describes an instructional telephone network at Kirkwood Community College (Iowa) which involves a four-wire telephone system allowing two-way conversations between the instructor and an unlimited number of outlying class meeting sites. Discusses the advantages and successes of the program. (AYC)

Examines a major research university's six-year effort to implement a program of cooperative research and extension in education that involved professional intermediaries, key school partnerships, and cooperative research and development projects. Proposes revisions to the cooperative extension model that should increase its capacity for…

Four administrators of the Cooperative Extension System share their views concerning recent substantial changes in the system's focus of programing, sources of funding, and organizational structures; the need for all disciplines involved in extension to grapple with societal problems; and relationships with institutions of higher education. (LP)

Relates how the publication of a book (written in Kikongo, an African native language) designed to raise peasants' awareness in Lower Zaire about desertification and other serious environmental issues had dramatic and surprising implications not only for the environment, but also regarding peasant literacy and the power of reading. (SR)

Describes 1999 federal funding to large general-assistance programs affecting small towns and rural areas (including Housing and Urban Development, federal disaster relief, rural extension activities, and Bureau of Indian Affairs assistance programs); increased funding for Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities; reauthorization of the Economic…

This study aimed to investigate farmers' attitudes and skills of farm management. Two scales were constructed as an instrument for data collection, based on a sample of 100 farm units. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.84 or higher, which indicated that the instrument scales were internally consistent. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze…

Extension (industry training) and VET (the formal Vocational Education and Training system), each vital to Australia's education and training for agriculture, have developed as separate domains. Recent research suggests that the potential of closer alignment should be further explored. Extension provides usually non-certified courses to primary…

Describes the evaluation design employed by the 4-H program in response to the Congressional evaluation mandate of 1977. Discusses difficulties encountered in design integrity and practicality in choosing an appropriate format for the national-scale evaluation. (CS)

Presents an external review of the evaluation process involved in evaluating the national 4-H program. Focuses on issues and lessons relevant to evaluation and research in general. Discusses specific problems encountered in the 4-H national evaluation. (CS)

In the 1940s, the Montana Study focused on engaging the University of Montana in outreach efforts in small towns, developing mechanisms to stabilize the family and small communities and improve the quality of small-town life. Its most popular activity was the creation of over a dozen community study groups aimed at community cultural renewal. (SV)

Discusses forces promoting privatization of agricultural extension. Discusses experiences of privatization and commercialization of extension and related problems in various countries, particularly developing countries. Suggests that the state will continue to play an important role in agricultural extension in many countries and that…

The education of farmers would be result oriented if among other things the learning enhancement situations are created. Farmers' receptivity to training largely depends on the use of several educational methods by extension agents to reach farmers in Mezam division of Northwest province of Cameroon. Data were collected from May to August 2000…

Increased opportunities for undergraduate students in agricultural and natural resource disciplines to write for diverse audiences besides their instructor may increase motivation to write and improve student writing skills. The objectives of this teaching research were to determine and compare the initial writing experience of students enrolled…

A study was conducted to examine possible problems in the information dissemination of social aid programs for the poor. Two samples of 141 community leaders and 143 low-income families were selected from a New York county with a high percentage of households in relative poverty and a low percentage in relative affluence. Data gathered from the…

Discusses the conceptual development of a cooperative multi-state delivery network created in the intermountain states to provide informational and educational resources for rural residents. Open universities, the rural library as a Community Learning and Information Center, and problems of distance and small, scattered populations are noted. (EJS)