Preparation of Pre-Service Teachers in Agricultural Mehanics

Teacher education programs face a myriad of challenges in preparing secondary agricultural education teachers. One challenge is providing preparation in technical content areas including agricultural mechanics. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of preparedness of agriculture teacher education program graduates in the area of agricultural mechanics. The target population for the study was certifying institutions for agriculturaleducation teachers in the United States. Data were collected with a mailed questionnaire sent in the fall of 2003. A total of 69 completed surveys were returned for a response rate of 78.4%. More than 90% of respondents indicated that six of the nine content areas were included in their state's secondary curriculum. Respondents identified the level of importance as "important" for each of nine competency groupings. Respondents identified the level of preparation for hand/power tools as "prepared." The remaining eight competency groupings were rated as "somewhat prepared." More than 97% of respondents indicated that some agricultural mechanics credits were required for program completion. The average number of credits required for program completion was 9.13. A majority (58%) of institutions indicated that at least one required course was taught within the department housing the teacher preparation program.