Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Critical Thinking Skills And 4-H Judging Activity Success Among Nebraska 4-H Program Participants, Susan J. Kowalski

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of the critical thinking score as measured by Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal score and subscores (Inferences, Recognizing Assumptions, Reasoning by Deduction, Drawing Conclusions and Evaluating Arguments), and mastery of judging activities between 2 groups (upper and lower quartiles) of participants in the 1990 Nebraska 4-H Senior Livestock Judging Activity. The study was descriptive-correlational in nature and was designed to gather data concerning the strength of relationships between variables.

Data were collected to:

1 ) describe the sample according to gender, age, and mastery of the judging activity; and describe the …

Determining If Self-Guided Demonstration Tours Are An Effective Method To Inform Farmers And Ranchers About Conservation Practices, Larry L. Andelt

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the "Conservation Neighbor to Neighbor" program was an effective method of delivery to inform farmers and ranchers about conservation practices in Nebraska. A survey instrument was developed with the help of a committee of experts. The instrument asked respondents to rate the degree of agreement, quality and interest in the Conservation Neighbor to Neighbor program and the effectiveness of the delivery method. The population for the study included all the program hosts and a random sampling of all farmers and ranchers in Nebraska. The following conclusions were drawn from the …

National Trends In Programming, Preparation And Staffing Of County Level Cooperative Extension Service Offices As Identified By State Extension Directors, David M. Agnew, Richard Foster

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

A variety of technical, economical, and social changes are rapidly altering the lives of people served by the Cooperative Extension Service (CES). At the same time Extension has been undergoing the difficult task of evaluating its effectiveness in addressing the needs of society. Reorganizing Extension programs to address the changing clientele directly affects the jobs of field-based faculty in the CES. As Extension responds to the Futures Task Force Report (COP, 1987) and moves to issues programming, a high degree of change will be required. “As we approach the year 2000, Extension is caught in the rapids of change” (Geasier, …

Perceptions Of Agribusiness Leaders Toward Agricultural Education In Nebraska, Allen G. Blezek, Roy D. Dillon

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

The need for change today is perhaps no greater than within the ranks of public programs in agricultural education. Technological advancements coupled with the need for even greater economic efficiency not only continues to encourage and force change, but suggests that the pressures for even better educational programs in agriculture will continue until change actually occurs or most importantly is actually perceived to occur.

Miller (1983), stated that “other teachers also often perceive our students (agricultural education) as the less talented and our instructional content as less than rigorous.” He further indicated that “our image with legislators is best characterized …

Introgression Of Coyote Mitochondrial Dna Into Sympatric North American Gray Wolf Populations, Niles Lehman, Andrew Eisenhawer, Kimberly Hansen, L. David Mech, Rolf O. Peterson, Peter J. P. Gogan, Robert K. Wayne

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genotypes of gray wolves and coyotes from localities throughout North America were determined using restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Of the 13 genotypes found among the wolves, 7 are clearly of coyote origin, indicating that genetic transfer of coyote mtDNA into wolf populations has occurred through hybridization. The transfer of mtDNA appears unidirectional from coyotes into wolves because no coyotes sampled have a wolf-derived mtDNA genotype. Wolves possessing coyote-derived genotypes are confined to a contiguous geographic region in Minnesota, Ontario, and Quebec, and the frequency of coyote- type mtDNA in these wolf populations is high (> 500%). The …