ERIC Number: EJ1450185
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-0149-4910
Locus of Control and Pedagogy in Skill-Based Agricultural Mechanics
NACTA Journal, v67 p257-261 2023
Teachers of agriculture have used project-based learning as a primary teaching method in agricultural mechanics since the 19th century. These methods teach the information and motivate students to engage the content. Locus of Control (LOC) categorizes the relationship with decision-making and motivation. Internal LOC have a higher level of internal motivation and desire a central role in decision-making processes. External LOC typically do not seek out opportunities for decision making. A student with an internal LOC acts on the world and a student with an external LOC believes the world acts on them. This research was to determine if students' LOC differentiated between hands-on compared to lecture-based teaching. Students in an agricultural mechanics course at Auburn University (N = 38) were neither internal nor external (f =16) LOC, those with a tendency towards one or the other were more internal (f = 15) and (f = 7) were external LOC. Most students felt slightly positive toward project-based learning (M = 3.61, SD = 0.70) and slightly negative toward lecture-based learning (M = 2.78, SD = 0.85). Either LOC plays no role in students' feelings toward project-based methods or there are so few internal students that no correlation could be detected.
Descriptors: Agricultural Colleges, Agricultural Education, Agricultural Engineering, Undergraduate Students, Locus of Control, Active Learning, Student Projects, Experiential Learning, Student Motivation, Learner Engagement, Decision Making, Lecture Method, Comparative Testing, Teaching Methods, Skill Development
North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. 1014 6th Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701. Tel: 208-957-7001; e-mail: support@nacta.org; Web site: https://nactateachers.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Alabama
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A