Preservice and inservice agricultural mechanization/engineering needs for first-year agricultural science teachers in Texas

Agricultural science teachers in Texas have the responsibility of teaching the basic principles of agricultural mechanization/engineering to secondary and intermediate level students. It is imperative that agricultural science teachers and teacher educators stay current with the technological and methodical advances in this area to ensure that instruction is at a premium level. If agriculture science teachers are not competent in the area of agricultural mechanization/engineering the will not be able to deliver an acceptable quality of instruction to their students.

For this reason, beginning agriculture science teachers in Texas were evaltiated to determine if any skill, ability, or scientific application deficiencies existed in the areas of agricultural mechanization/engineering. This was done for two reasons. First, in order that the nine universities in Texas who certify agriculture science teachers may use the information gathered to assess and improve their agricultural mechanization/engineering course work. Second, the identified deficiencies will serve as a foundation for a distance education curriculum in the area of agricultural mechanization/engineering.