AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES: A COMPARISON OF MASTERS STUDENTS AT TEXAS TECH AND TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITIES

This study was designed to describe Texas Tech and Texas A&M universities agricultural education masterʹs students ʹ perceived competencies. A survey of active and continuously enrolled masterʹs students was conducted. A 60% response rate was achieved. Data for the study were collected by mailed and online questionnaires. Study findings showed that students at both institutions had similar levels of competencies. Students had highest levels of theories, techniques, and processes that enhance the teacher-learner process for adults and youth; content skills such as reading comprehension and mathematics that provide a foundation for the acquisition of more specific skills; communication abilities such as oral comprehension, written expression, speech clarity, and auditory attention that are needed to focus attention and deliver information and communicate effectively. Students had lowest levels of theories, principles, and practices related to agricultural development in cross-national settings; technical skills such as technology design and operations analysis that are needed to use information technologies effectively; and perceptual, spatial, and memory abilities, such as speed and flexibility of closure, visualization, and recollection, that are needed to identify and make sense of complexly related material and systems. Recommendations include increased professional conversations about our philosophical basis, knowledge bases, and contextual applications.