Exploring Pre-Service Teachers' Training Needs Related to Technical Agriculture, Teaching and Classroom Management

Agricultural education teacher preparation programs constantly attempt to keep pace with 21st-century agriculture and provide relevant pedagogical and content training for pre-service teachers. The National Research Council urged land-grant universities to focus on the needs and demands of students. This study aimed to identify Iowa State University pre-service teachers' training needs related to the General Program Standards for Agricultural Education. The General Program Standards for Agricultural Education, developed by the Iowa Governor's Council on Agricultural Education, served as a guide for assessing the areas of pre-service teachers' training needs. The survey instrument was comprised of 37 items; 29 items served to assess the training needs of the pre-service teachers, seven multiple choice and short-answer items sought to determine the demographic (i.e., age, academic classification, and biological sex) and background characteristics (i.e., engagement in secondary-based agricultural education, interest in teaching various content areas) of the pre-service teachers.