Identifying the Agricultural Mechanics Knowledge and Skills Needed by Iowa School-based Agricultural Education Teachers

Abstract

A historical portion of many school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs, agricultural mechanics remains popular in schools across the nation. As such, pre-service and in-service teachers should be prepared to effectively deliver agricultural mechanics instruction (Burris, Robinson, & Terry, 2005). Agricultural education researchers (McKim & Saucier, 2012; Pate, Warnick, & Meyers, 2012) have identified many laboratory management competencies and welding skills that teachers should have; however, few knowledge and skill areas in other components of agricultural mechanics (e.g., woodworking, electricity, etc.) have been identified. Through the lens of Roberts and Ball’s (2009) content-based model for teaching agriculture, we used the Delphi technique to identify the agricultural mechanics knowledge and skills that Iowa SBAE teachers should possess to provide quality instruction. A panel of 10 expert Iowa SBAE teachers provided the data for the present study. After three rounds, a total of 85 items reached consensus, which included 35 technical skills (e.g., plasma cutting, etc.) and 49 “teacher skills”/laboratory management skills (e.g., ordering consumables). We concluded that SBAE stakeholders in Iowa should ensure that teachers are prepared to teach agricultural mechanics via coursework and professional development opportunities. We recommend that this study be replicated in other states.