Providing students opportunities to travel outside their home country to engage new cultures and perspectives increases global awareness and desirable workplace skills. Students are most influenced to go abroad by cost, course(s), length, and destination, and by family, peers, and advisors. This study examined data from 1,807 students at a U.S. university who participated in faculty-led, exchange, or provider programs over three years. We described students’ personal characteristics, influences on going abroad, value derived, and perceptions of safety. Statistically significant relationships between program type and participant characteristics were found. Principal influencers on students’ pursuit of global experiences included the study abroad website, faculty members, and former student participants. Their perceived value of study abroad was high. Participants believed their experience was a good investment and would recommend it to others. These results may assist education abroad professionals in their engagement with various student populations to encourage and enable global experiences. Abstract in Spanish Brindar a los estudiantes oportunidades para viajar fuera de su país de origen para involucrarse en nuevas culturas y perspectivas aumenta la conciencia global y las habilidades laborales deseables. Los estudiantes se ven más influenciados para viajar al extranjero por el costo, los cursos, la duración y el destino, así como por la familia, los compañeros y los asesores. Este estudio examinó datos de 1.807 estudiantes de una universidad de los Estados Unidos que participaron en programas dirigidos por profesores, de intercambio o de proveedores durante tres años. Describimos las características personales de los estudiantes, sus influencias al viajar al extranjero, los valores derivados y las percepciones de seguridad. Se encontraron relaciones estadísticamente significativas entre el tipo de programa y las características de los participantes. Los principales influyentes en la búsqueda de experiencias globales por parte de los estudiantes incluyeron el sitio web de estudios en el extranjero, miembros del cuerpo docente y ex estudiantes participantes. El valor percibido de estudiar en el extranjero era alto. Los participantes creyeron que su experiencia fue una buena inversión y la recomendarían a otros. Estos resultados pueden ayudar a los profesionales de la educación en el extranjero en su compromiso con diversas poblaciones estudiantiles para fomentar y permitir experiencias globales.

The human and social dimensions of knowledge transfer are essential to understand applied solutions for improving climate, land sustainability, and food production. The lack of knowledge and dissemination mechanisms of precision agriculture (PA) among agricultural Extension professionals hinder widespread PA adoption initiatives. Three theories were adapted to examine the comprehensive structural relationships between the factors affecting intentions to promote PA technologies. We surveyed 255 Extension agents and specialists from three U. S. states' agricultural Extension systems with an instrument using six constructs measured as multi-item scales and demographic items. Data were analysed using SPSS 28.0 for descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that Extension professionals were somewhat knowledgeable about PA but had low self-efficacy in promoting PA. In addition, a significant positive relationship existed between behavioural intention and performance expectancy, social influence, self-efficacy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions. Multiple regression results indicated that performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions significantly predicted behavioural intention to promote PA. The results underscore the importance of enhancing Extension professionals' performance expectancy, social influence, and access to facilitating conditions to foster PA technology adoption. By addressing these key factors, stakeholders can develop strategic initiatives that not only improve PA knowledge transfer but also contribute to the broader goals of sustainable agricultural practices and the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals. We recommend that future research can further evaluate and validate the key factors that have been identified as contributing to the dissemination of PA, thereby improving land sustainability and food security.

Out-of-school time programs are important contexts for youth to gain and grow leadership. The youth leadership development conceptual model (Redmond & Dolan, 2016) identified authentic opportunities, mentor access, motivating endeavors, and mastering endeavors as four core program processes for youth leadership development. Yet few studies have empirically tested the model's applicability to youth-serving programs. To fill this gap, the current study examines the associations between the four program processes and leadership development in youth participating in the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program. The role of program dosage was also examined. Questionnaire data were collected from 290 youth aged between 11 and 19 years from the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program. The levels of the four program processes were positively correlated with each other and with youth leadership. When modeled together as predictors, authentic opportunities and mastery were significant predictors of leadership. However, when program duration was controlled, none of the program processes remained as significant predictors, despite the model's overall significance in explaining variances in youth leadership. Further mediation analysis revealed that program dosage predicted youth leadership through authentic opportunities and mastering endeavors. The findings expanded the understanding of the youth leadership development conceptual model and informed its adapted application to the 4-H Foods and Nutrition program.

Precision farming provides one of the most important solutions for managing agricultural production to advance global food security. Extending professionals' competencies to promote precision farming practices can increase the adoption rate, ultimately impacting food security. Many studies have addressed barriers to the adoption of precision farming technologies from the farmers' perspective. However, few are available data on the perspectives of extension professionals. Agricultural extension professionals play an important role in innovative agricultural technology adoption. Thus, this study applied four constructs from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to investigate behavioral intentions to promote precision farming among extension professionals from two extension systems. In total, 102 (N = 102) agricultural extension professionals were surveyed. The results indicated that performance expectancy and social influence were individually significant predictors of extension professional behavioral intentions to promote precision farming technologies. There were no significant differences between the professionals of two extension systems. Gender, age, and years of service did not affect extension professionals' intention to promote precision agriculture technologies. The data suggested the need for training programs to develop advanced competencies to promote agricultural innovation. This study contributes to the future professional development programs for extension professionals on communicating innovations to address food security and sustainability issues.

The purpose of our research was to determine if attending a U.K. livestock show changed attendees’ attitudes about agriculture and to compare those changes in attitudes to attendees of a U.S. state fair similar in size and dynamic. The sample was livestock show attendees at the Great Yorkshire Show (GYS). The mixed-method design included a then and now semantic differential scale with bipolar adjective pairs to measure attendees’ attitudes about agriculture before and after the experience and qualitative interviews with photo elicitation to learn about how attendees developed attitudes about agriculture. Participants had positive attitudes about agriculture before they attended the Show and had more positive attitudes after attending. Participants had more positive attitudes before and after attending the Show than did California State Fair attendees. In addition, participants lacked prior experiences with agriculture, but attending the GYS provided them the opportunity to develop positive attitudes through cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors. Fair attendance should be promoted because they provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and U.S. fairs should adopt experiential tactics used at the GYS. Further research is needed to better understand how GYS attendees developed positive attitudes about agriculture prior to attending the Show and what elements of the GYS experience were most influential to attendees’ attitude development.

Sub-Saharan Africa will accommodate more population this century by having a multitude of births across the continent. Family planning methods provide women with techniques to manage their health and wellbeing. This study investigated how radio communications in family planning changed the perception of Ghanaian, Liberian, and Senegalese mothers toward having fewer children. Univariate and multivariate linear regression results after coarsened exact matching (CEM) with selected covariates for 15- to 49-year-old mothers from demographic and health survey (DHS) data implied the effectiveness of radio communications. This effort supports the need for further research on tailored communication methods for West African mothers over time.

This article investigated household-level food security for Ghana, Liberia, and Senegal. Different agroclimatic, ecological, social, and farming conditions in West Africa were represented. Using data-driven Random Forest and Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) decision tree methodology, this study classified 644 Ghanaian, 323 Liberian, and 510 Senegalese households for comparison and interpretation on food security. The predictors growing Liberian and Senegalese decision trees imply community support, diverse selling channels outside villages, resolving the dispute over farmland, and increasing community-level investment for food availability and access demonstrate household food security. Predictor importance on food security for Ghana highlighted the role of independent producers and food suppliers toward stability. Household food security or insecurity was distinguished by location-specific and gender-led households in Liberia and Senegal. Practically, the results presented a need to step-up agricultural education and extension based on an empirical field survey and its interpretations. The results can add considerations to the role of farming households as independent and individual suppliers and consumers to long-standing dimensions of food security, i.e., food availability, access, and stability.

Agricultural education is responsible for preparing future generations to advance agriculture in a rapidly changing world. How can agricultural education best prepare students to be innovative problem-solvers who can keep up with these changes? Perhaps educators can create learning experiences that allow students to uncover material through their own questioning and experimentation using inquiry-based learning (IBL). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects personal agricultural educators’ beliefs about agricultural education, self-efficacy, and context have on adopting IBL. Agricultural educators’ adoption of IBL was significantly affected by degree obtained and the agricultural pathway in which they taught. A positive relationship was demonstrated between both IBL adoption and the orientation to teach substantive and procedural knowledge, with the higher correlation between procedural knowledge and the adoption of IBL. A positive relationship existed between agricultural educators’ perceived ability to implement IBL and the perceived abilities of their students to complete IBL activities. More than 26 percent of the variance in the adoption of IBL among agricultural educators was explained by variables in the structural equation model of this study. Adoption of IBL by agricultural educators needs further research. However, this study indicates beliefs about education, self, and context do affect the adoption of IBL by agricultural educators. Agricultural educators with higher self-efficacy in creating IBL lessons and greater orientation toward teaching procedural knowledge are more likely to adopt IBL in their classrooms. Programming should be developed that impacts beliefs in a way to encourage adoption of IBL.

Previous researchers found that youth in 4-H were four times more likely to actively contribute to their communities, two times more likely to be civically active, and five times more likely to graduate from college than non-4- H members. In addition, youth who were more actively involved in community engagement tended to perform at an increased academic achievement level and were more likely to go to college, according to previous studies. The results of the research reported here described participants’ community service and engagement activities both in and outside of 4-H and their attachment to their home communities. Respondents were mostly residents of rural areas, farms, or small towns and cities. They were satisfied with where they lived, and they reported that contributing to their community was important to them and believed it made a positive influence on their life. Most participants also indicated that the community in which they lived and the people closest to them were important parts of their lives and contributed positively to their development. By determining current 4-H members’ level of community attachment, Extension professionals can better understand the influence a community and its stakeholders have in a young person’s leadership development and aspirations.

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a widespread exotic, invasive species that pose ecological, agricultural, and human health risks in their invaded range. Wildlife managers must manage wild pig abundance and range expansion to mitigate these risks. The diversity of stakeholders involved in the issue of wild pig management complicates efforts to manage the species, and, to be successful, wildlife professionals must consider the human dimensions associated with wild pig management. The prevalence of privately owned lands in Texas, USA necessitates cooperation to enact effective management policies. In this study, we investigate the impact of hunter motivations on wild pig harvest quantity. Motivations driving wild pig hunting are diverse. While the majority of wild pig hunters in Texas are motivated by trophy value, meat-motivated hunters harvest more wild pigs per day afield. Wildlife managers should develop plans that include various management techniques to control wild pig population growth and damage. Education and outreach will continue to be important for involving private landowners in effective wild pig management.

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a widespread exotic, invasive species that poses ecological, agricultural, and human health risks in invaded areas. Wildlife managers often manage wild pig abundance and expansion to mitigate these risks. The diversity of stakeholders involved in the issue of wild pig management complicates efforts to manage the species, and, to be successful, wildlife professionals should consider the human dimensions associated with wild pig management. The prevalence of privately owned lands in Texas, USA necessitates cooperation to enact effective management policies. In this study, we investigate the factors that affect a hunter’s likelihood to participate in wild pig hunting. Multiple factors affect participation in wild pig hunting activities. We found that participation in other types of big game hunting increased the likelihood of participation in wild pig hunting and that wild pig hunting does not deter individuals from participating in other types of hunting activities. Additionally, hunters’ attitudes toward wild pigs are important in determining the likelihood of participation in wild pig hunting. Finally, our results suggest that hunters are largely uninformed about wild pigs and do not hold the same perceptions, values, or tolerance levels of the species. The diversity of preferences among wild pig hunters necessitates that wildlife managers consider the desires of the public as well as natural resource needs in creating socially acceptable management plans for the species.

Recent research has shown that student affairs practitioners are characterized as leadership educators by experts in their field, but leadership education traditionally is not part of a student affairs preparatory program, nor is leadership education a commonly discussed professional competency. Using two simultaneous Delphi panels, Group A: Student Affairs Practitioners/Managers (n=17) and Group B: Student Affairs Preparatory Program Faculty/Directors (n=20), this study sought to ascertain the competencies required of entry-level student affairs leadership educators. Between the two panels, 128 unique competencies were identified. Four recommendations are provided to strengthen the professional development of student affairs leadership educators.

Although leadership education typically is not explicitly incorporated into student affairs preparatory programs, student affairs practitioners are expected to facilitate the leadership development of their students. Thus, through two simultaneous Delphi panels, Group A: Student Affairs Practitioners (n=17) and Group B: Student Affairs Preparatory Program Faculty (n=20), this study explored the places or experiences where student affairs practitioners should learn and practice the professional competencies needed to be a student affairs leadership educator. Both expert panels agreed the graduate assistantship was the most important place to learn and practice how to be a leadership educator. Yet these findings demonstrate a gap between research and practice within student affairs preparatory programs. Four recommendations are provided to strengthen the professional preparation of student affairs practitioners as leadership educators.

Purpose: This study explores female-headed households in Grand Bassa, Lofa and Nimba counties to discern Liberia's smallholding, subsistence agriculture. Amid environmental and communal dynamics, addressing factors causing challenges of farming is imperative.Methodology: Using explanatory sequential methods this study collects, explains, and organizes farming and household situations qualitatively through field notes, observations, and extensive communications with 44 female farmers. Subsequently and quantitatively, Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) verifies aforementioned information, accompanied by 112 observations.Findings: Stories encapsulate female farmers in Grand Bassa, Lofa, and Nimba counties. They provide evidence of marginalized, progressive, and emerging farming in order. Children (n>3) and inadequate support of Kuu (informal labor) and of community make food stability, availability and access insecure. Insufficient crop revenue further exacerbates the issues. Moderate- and mild food-insecure households need not worry about the problems above. However, their earnings notwithstanding, new challenges appear in credit practices and land conflict.Practical Implications: Extension agents should provide timely services for each community, with special attention to women-headed households. Findings imply ex-post evaluations to ex-ante extension services should be cyclical.Theoretical Implications: A gender-inclusive, gender-sensitive framework is vital to enhance food security and community resilience, transform subsistence agriculture into agribusiness and achieve fairness, gender equity and social justice for agrarian Liberians - especially women and children.Originality/Value: This study captures distinctive phases of farming and family life - yielding qualitative and subsequent quantitative validation of predictors of food insecurity in rural, women-headed farming households/operations. It should guide us to tailor ex-ante extension services.

Currently, more students receive leadership education from student affairs offerings than academic leadership courses. Using two simultaneous Delphi panels, Group A – 17 student affairs managers and Group B – 20 student affairs preparatory program faculty members, this study sought to identify the characteristics of a student affairs leadership educator. While there was agreement (93.8%, n = 32) that student affairs practitioners are leadership educators, there was a disconnect between the two panels in how leadership education should be demonstrated within the context of student affairs. These findings support previous research that student affairs practitioners and preparatory program faculty disagree on the characteristics needed to be a successful student affairs practitioner and expands the impact of these findings into the area of leadership education.

In the fourteen years since the end of Liberia’s civil war, Liberian women have experienced many adversities because of continued civil conflict. Empirical studies are lacking; this article fills that gap. Analysis of the 2007 and the 2013 Liberia Demographic and Health Surveys (LDHS) reveal a vast disparity between rural and urban populations. This study focuses on 15 to 19-year-old women in five regions in the 2013 LDHS. The population’s Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to identify the nutritional status of Liberian mothers and categorized for ordered logistic regressions. Also, a Monte Carlo (MC) Simulation is performed to show the effect of wealth (based on years of education). Age, literacy, and wealth have positive relationships with BMI. The Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) Graph after 500 iterations shows a huge wealth gap between the South Central and other four regions of the country. Implications arise from the results that young rural Liberian mothers have been the most disadvantaged in health, education, and wealth. The prevalence of ‘traditional’ agricultural techniques in rural Liberia causes households to remain impoverished and malnourished. These circumstances might not differ from the pre-war period. They were and remain helpless decision makers in Liberia. This paper will illuminate the possible future impacts of the prevailing conditions in Liberia on not only the country itself but also in other surrounding and far away countries, e.g., internally displaced persons, refugees, and asylees.

Texas has the largest wild pig population in the nation, estimated at 2.6 million animals. Damage to agronomic enterprises was conservatively estimated in 2004 at $52 million annually with total economic damage to agriculture and the environment in urban, suburban, and rural Texas possibly reaching 10 times that figure. In response to damage caused by this invasive exotic species, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service increased educational programming efforts of wild pigs and damage abatement. From 2006-2014, project funding from multiple sources facilitated the development and deployment of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service-led landowner education via one-on-one contacts, group meetings, demonstrations, and publications. Website availability and mass media contacts, including television and radio interviews and newspaper and magazine articles, were also utilized to increase public awareness and education on wild pigs and damage abatement. Participants (n = 21,752) attending Extension educational events were surveyed (n = 13,054) to characterize damage and control efforts as well as measure the impacts of education efforts. The most commonly reported negative impacts by landowners were pastures/hay meadows (72%) and owner/employee time (38%), while the most commonly used control technique prior to participation in an educational event was trap and destroy (51%). The average amount of losses attributable to wild pigs in the year prior to attending an educational program was $4,764 each and their predicted loss after participation decreased to $3,565. Over 98% of respondents indicated they increased their knowledge of wild pigs and damage abatement and planned to adopt an average of three new management practices each, with the most commonly cited new practices being using larger traps and pre-baiting wild pigs. A Net Promoter Score of 60.4% indicated that survey respondents were very pleased with the information they received by attending an Extension educational event directed at wild pigs and the abatement of their damage. This educational model can serve as a template for other states dealing with wild pigs as an emerging issue whenever their negative impacts on agriculture, the environment, and human health and safety occur.

An increasing global demand for food security and sustainability places substantial responsibility on higher agricultural education institutions. Quality assurance, accreditation, and innovation are central elements for the development of agricultural curricula. Most scholars agree that student learning is core to the role of the university. Quality judgements are framed around four criteria-academic scholarship, demands of the subject matter, relevance to society, and viability. Quality assurance is enhanced by peer-evaluation, rigorous research, and confirmation by student evaluation data. Quality assurance also recognises the contributions that research makes to the growing body of scientific knowledge. Accreditation strengthens trust affirming the purpose, experiences, organisation, and measured scalable learning outcomes. Policies for accreditation should recognise internal and external standards, provide user protection, provide independently-verified information, and im pro ve and enhance the culture and values of the people. The proposed framework fits national qualifications into a comprehensive common system of quality assurance, learning outcomes, recognised programme standards, cultural values, and accreditation. Innovation is crucial for curriculum viability. Measurement is essential for an improvement strategy in education. Faculty reward systems must match the academic functions. Six crucial concepts underpin the development and execution of innovative agricultural curricula.

Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) is a well-documented, valuable, and integral part of agricultural education programs (Bryant, 2003; Cheek, Arrington, Carter, & Randall, 1994; Deyoe, 1953; Dyer & Osborne, 1996; Moore, 1988; Roberts & Harlin, 2007). Cole and Connell (1993) found that there was little research regarding the economic value of SAEs; they suggested that measuring the cost and economic benefits of SAEs would provide valuable information in communicating additional benefits of SAE programs. Hanagriff, Murphy, Roberts, Briers, & Lindner (2010) suggested economic values are best derived from measuring spending and that research should be undertaken to understand the economic value of educational programs, especially in high cost areas such as agricultural mechanics. This study found that 45% of agricultural education program are involved in agricultural mechanics show projects, which potentially relates to $5.5 million in direct spending and $10 million in economic impacts. Additionally, programs with agricultural mechanics show projects recognize greater participation in agricultural mechanic SAEs, are more active in using record books, are larger in program size, and recognize greater financial support.