Using the Delphi Technique to Assess Educational Needs Related to Extensions 4H Beef Program

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Using the Delphi Technique to Assess Educational
Needs Related to Extensions 4-H Beef Program

• By Ching-Chun Shih
• Julia A. Gamon
• Iowa State University

Shih, C.C. Gamon, J.A. (1997) Using the delphi
technique to assess educational needs related to
extensions 4-H beef program. Journal of
Agricultural Education, 38(1), 14-20.
Power Point Presentation Created By Kodi
Havins AED 616 Spring 2007
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Purpose

• Purpose Statement
• The purpose of this study was to identify the
  current needs of youth regarding beef
  subject-matter content and life skills, as
  perceived by adults familiar with the 4-H
  Program.

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Purpose

• The current subject-matter content and life
  skills that 4-Hers should learn through their
  beef projects as viewed by experts was identified
  in this study.
• Experts were broken into four groups
• Parents
• Extension Beef Specialists
• Youth Specialists
• Beef Industry Representatives

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Objectives

• The specific objectives where
• To identify the beef subject-matter content
  important for 4-Hers to learn.
• To identify the life-skills important for 4-Hers
  to learn through their beef projects.
• To identify any differences among the ratings of
  the subject-matter content and life-skills by the
  four groups of adults.

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Objectives Questions

• 1st Round Open Ended Questions
• 2nd Round Experts were asked to rank the items
  or use a Likert-type scale to rate the items
• 3rd Round Final Round Consensus was obtained

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Population

• 4 Groups of Experts
• The parents of the 32 youth involved in the
  program for outstanding 4-H beef project members
  at the 1992 State 4-H Round Up
• The 16 Iowa Extension beef specialists (both
  state and field)
• 21 Youth/4-H Field Specialists
• 25 Industry representatives recommended by the
  Director of Consumer Information at the Iowa Beef
  Council

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Population

• Experts were selected because a needs assessment
  is a great way identify the needs of a target
  group according to McKillip.
• Youth are sometimes limited in their ablility to
  express their needs therefore, instead of asking
  young people directly this study pooled judgments
  from adults knowledgeable about beef projects and
  young people.

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Instrument

• All 3 questionnaires were sent to participants by
  mail

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Instrument Method of Data Collection

• 3 Rounds
• 1st Round
• Consisted of 2 open ended questions that
  solicited the beef experts opinions about the
  subject-matter content and life-skills related to
  the beef project.
• 2nd Round
• Summary of responses from the 1st round
  questionnaire resulted in 65 subject-matter
  topics and 36 life-skill topics, which were
  summarized for the 2nd round questionnaire
• 2nd Round questionnaire was validated with
  Agricultural Education and Animal Science faculty
  members and graduated student at Iowa State
  University.

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Instrument Method of Data Collection

• 3rd Round
• Experts were asked to rate the same topics as the
  2nd round again in light of a summary of the
  ratings on the second round.
• Experts were also asked to comment if they felt
  strongly about an item

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Response Rate

• Sample was defined as all members who agreed to
  participate in the study.
• All 94 members of the population where sent the
  1st questionnaire
• Process resulted in a sample size of 42
• The 2rd round was reduced to 39
• The 3rd round was reduced to 37 resulting in a
  final number of 37 participants

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Analysis of Data

• Data was analyzed using frequencies, mean scores,
  standard deviations, and analysis of variance.
• Any item rated as very important (VI) or
  extremely important (EI) by at least 50 of
  experts on the final round questionnaire was
  considered a necessary one for youth to learn.
• Ratings of topics followed Buriak and Shinn
  (1989), and Steffen (1990) procedures and the
  alpha level was established beforehand at .05.

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Findings

• 31 Subject-matter topics were identified to be
  included in the beef curriculum.
• Some of these included
• Nearly 95 of the experts felt record analysis
  and budgeting are extremely important topics
• 4 other topics (carcass data, rate of gain, feed
  costs, and consumer preferences) were rated as
  very or extremely important by more than 83 of
  experts

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Data

• Based on the results of the study and the
  conclusions drawn from them, many recommendations
  should be considered when developing member
  manuals for 4-H Beef Projects.

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• Thank You!
• Any Questions?