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Article
Teacher Beliefs About Sustainable Agriculture: A Self-made Measurement Scale
Asian Social Science
  • Mathew Muma, Iowa State University
  • Robert Martin, Iowa State University
  • Mack C. Shelley, II, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
10-31-2020
DOI
10.5539/ass.v16n11p115
Abstract

The study’s purpose was to analyze the validity of the construct of a self-made Alternative-Conventional Agricultural Paradigm scale using the teacher population teaching high school agriculture in the North Central Region of the USA. A random sample of 844 teachers was drawn. Teachers were self-administered questionnaires with 5-point Likert-type scales. Instrument inter-item consistency and item coherence were determined. The relatively high coefficient alpha (.82), mean item total correlation (.40), and unrotated first factors with modest number of items loading on the factor means that the scale has mainly one underlying construct. The teacher population holds consistent views and attitudes about SA constituting an agricultural paradigm. The instrument items are coherent as components of a whole and are related. However, the teacher population did not hold stronger paradigmatic views on the scale as can be expected because of their relatively low mean score item-total correlation and coefficient alpha for the instrument compared to what was found for the scale in the Beus and Dunlap (1991) study. This should be expected because agriculture teachers are not strong adherents of the two agricultural paradigms who can be expected to make extreme and polar scores on the scale. The instrument can therefore be used to preliminarily gauge the paradigmatic orientation of agriculture teachers in the region. Further research with the instrument with known groups supporting the two paradigms is necessary to establish its validity.

Comments

This article is published as Muma, Mathew, Robert Martin, and Mack Shelley. "Teacher Beliefs About Sustainable Agriculture: A Self-made Measurement Scale." Asian Social Science 16, no. 11 (2020): 115-122. DOI: 10.5539/ass.v16n11p115. Posted with permission.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
The Author(s)
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Mathew Muma, Robert Martin and Mack C. Shelley. "Teacher Beliefs About Sustainable Agriculture: A Self-made Measurement Scale" Asian Social Science Vol. 16 Iss. 11 (2020) p. 115 - 122
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mack_shelley/76/