Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 14(1): 77-83 (2006) ISSN: 0128-7702© Univen;iti Putra Malaysia Press

Perceptions of Supervisors, Teachers, and Students Regarding the NewAgricultural Science Syllabus for the Malaysian Upper Secondary Schools

MOHD IBRAHIM NAZRIFaculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia,

43400 VPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords: Perceptions, supervisors, teachers, students, agricultural science syllabus

ABSTRAK

Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia telah memperbaharui kurikulum sekolah menengahbersesuaian dengan aspirasi masyarakat umum dan pembangunan ekonomi negara. Kurikulumbaru sekolah menengah telah diperkenalkan secara berperingkat mulai tahun 1989. Matapelajaran Sains Pertanian mempunyai silibus baru mulai tahun 1993. Silibus baru diharapkanlebih berteknologikal dan integratif berbanding dengan silibus sebelumnya. Tujuan kajianadalah untuk mendapatkan maklum balas daripada penyelia, guru dan pelajar terhadappengajaran sains pertanian berasaskan silibus baru. Secara khusus, kajian bertujuan mendapatkanpersepsi responden terhadap pelbagai aspek pengajaran sains pertanian di sekolah menengahatas. Kajian berbentuk tinjauan deskriptif dengan menggunakan soal selidik mel sebagai alatpengumpulan data. Kajian melibatkan semua guru sains pertanian dan penyelia mereka.Responden pelajar dipilih secara rawak bertujuan. Soal selidik telah dikaji rintis dan menghasilkankoefisyen kebolehpercayaan .80. Sejumlah 511 (61 %) soal selidik berguna telah dikumpul dandianalisis. Kadar respons adalah 194 (57.4%) daripada guru, 85 (63.9%) daripada penyelia, dan232 (58%) daripada pelajar. Keputusan membuktikan bahawa semua responden mempunyaipersetujuan persepsi dari segi projek sains pertanian. Bagaimanapun, responden kurang bersetujudalam persepsi mereka terhadap pencapaian objektif, kandungan mata pelajaran, prestasi matapelajaran, pelaksanaan, pelajar, dan penilaian. Kajian juga memperlihatkan perbezaan danperkaitan signifikan antara pemboleh ubah latar belakang terpilih dengan persepsi mereka.Kajian memberi sumbangan penting dengan memberi kefahaman tentang status semasa matapelajaran Sains Pertanian pada peringkat sekolah menengah atas. Dapatan kajian juga bergunasebagai asas untuk pembangunan selanjutnya mata pelajaran Sains Pertanian.

ABSTRACT

The Ministry of Education, Malaysia has reformed the school curriculum in accordance with theaspirations of the general public and economic development of the country. The new curriculumfor secondary schools was introduced in stages beginning in 1989. The agricultural sciencesubject had its new syllabus starting from 1993. The new syllabus was supposed to be moretechnological and integrative as compared to the old one. The purpose of the study was toobtain feedback from supervisors, teachers and students regarding the teaching of agriculturalscience subject based on the new syllabus. Specifically, the study sought the perceptions ofrespondents with regard to various aspects of agricultural science teaching in upper secondaryschools. The research was a descriptive survey, employing a mailed questionnaire as the researchinstrument. The study included all teachers and supervisors of agricultural science. On theother hand, student respondents were purposively sampled. The instrument was pretested,yielding a reliability coefficient of .80. A total of 511 (61 %) usable questionnaires were receivedand analyzed. The response rate was 194 (57.4%) from teachers, 85 (63.9%) from supervisors,and 232 (58%) from students. The results revealed that all respondents were in agreement interm of their perceptions of the agricultural science project. However, the respondents were in

Mohd Ibrahim Nazri

less agreement.in their perc.eptions of the accomplishment of objectives, subject content, subjectperformance, ImplementatIOn, students and evaluation. The study also revealed significantdifferences and associations between selected background variables of respondents with theirperceptions. The research contributes significantly in providing insights regarding the presentstatus of the agricultural science subject at upper secondary schools. The research findings arealso useful as a basis for furthering development of the agricultural science subject.

INTRODUCTION

Presently, the Ministry of Education, Malaysiadivides the upper secondary education into twostreams - academic and vocational stream. Theacademic stream prepares students for furtherstudy whereas the vocational stream preparesstudents for gainful employment. Generally, theacademic stream is associated with the secondaryacademic schools. On the other hand, thevocational stream is associated with secondarytechnical and vocational schools. However, thetwo streams are not totally exclusive. Thevocation-oriented subjects such as agriculture,home economics, commercial studies andengineering are still offered at the academicschools. Similarly, the academic-oriented subjectssuch as mathematics and science are offered atthe technical and vocational schools. This patternof subject offering is in consonant with theeducational philosophy upheld by the country,i.e., to produce well-balanced and harmoniousindividuals and at the same time to establish anequality in the educational opportunity.However, there is a clear distinction betweenthe offers of agriculture in the two schoolsystems. The academic schools offer agricultureas a subject whereas the vocational schools offerit as a course.

Agriculture has been included in theMalaysian educational system for a long time.Agriculture was among the early practicalsubjects taught in academic schools. It was firsttaught as a gardening activity in elementaryschools during colonial days. After Malaysiabecame an independent nation and throughthe passage of the comprehensive educationalpolicy, agriculture was offered as an electivesubject at the lower and upper secondary levels,covering the period of three and two years,respectively.

The secondary education in Malaysia entersits new era with the inception of the IntegratedCurriculum for Secondary Schools or shortlynamed as ICSS since 1988. The ICSS representsthe effort of the Ministry of Education, Malaysiain reforming the school curriculum so as to

achieve the educational goal of producing well­balanced and harmonious individuals. As a partof the reformation process, a new agriculturalscience syllabus was developed and put intopractice for lower secondary students.Subsequently, the agricultural science subject atthe upper secondary level also had its newsyllabus.

At the lower secondary level, agriculture istaught as an integrated component of a newsubject called Living Skills. The teaching ofagriculture takes 20% of the total time allottedfor the Living Skills subject. Meanwhile, at theupper secondary level, agriculture is taught asan independent subject. However, agriculturalscience at the upper secondary level is offeredas an elective subject.

In any new educational program such asthe reformed agriculture subject, a real,concerted effort is needed to evaluate thesubject. This appraisal can be done by obtaininginformation from those people involved in theimplementation of the program. Theinformation gathered is very useful in assistingplanners in determining the effectiveness of theprogram and in making decisions regardingprogram improvement. Studies of perceptionsof teachers, students, and administratorsregarding new agricultural education programshad been reported by Duncan (2004), Warnickand Thompson (2004), Connors and Elliot(1994), Newman and Johnson (1993), Norrisand Briers (1989), Birkenholz (1987) andThompson (1986). The respondents studiedgave their positive responses toward newagricultural education programs in the schools.Such studies have contributed significantly indetermining the status and value of agriculturaleducation programs. However, such studies arenot well-addressed in Malaysia.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the study was to obtain feedbackfrom supervisors, teachers and studentsregarding the teaching of agricultural scienceat the upper secondary academic schools based

78 PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. & Hum. Vol. 14 No.1 2006

Perceptions of SupeIVisors, Teachers, and Students

on the new syllabus. Specifically, the study soughtto accomplish the following objectives:a. To gather background information on

supervisors, teachers, and students ofthe agricultural science subject at the uppersecondary schools.

b. To determine the perceptions of therespondents regarding the new agriculturalscience syllabus for upper secondary schools.

c. To determine the difference in perceptionsof respondents regarding the newagricultural science syllabus.

d. To determine the variables which haverelationship with the perception ofrespondents.

METHODOLOGYDesign

The study was designed to be a descriptive­correlational type of research study. Thevariables studied were respondent category,selected background characteristics and theirperceptions. The research utilized a surveymethod to meet the purpose of the study.

Study Papulation

The study population consisted of supervisors,teachers and students of agricultural sciencesubjects in the upper secondary academicschools of Malaysia. The study took a censuspopulation of 133 supervisors and 338 teachers.However, the students were selected by using apurposive sampling technique. Twenty schoolswere sampled by region and 20 students wereselected by teacher from each school. The listof supervisors, teachers and schools were securedfrom State Department of Education so as tocontrol any frame error.

Instrumentation

The study made use of questionnaire to gatherdata. Three different questionnaires were used,one each for supervisor, teacher and studentrespondents. Each questionnaire differed onlyin the items of securing the background data ofrespondents. They had identical items formeasuring the perceptions of respondents.These items covered eight aspects - objectiveattainment, general perception, subjectcharacteristics, subject performance, subjectimplementation, evaluation and agriculturalproject. There were 66 perception items

included in the questionnaire. The perceptionwas measured on a five-point Likert scale rangingfrom 1 point (strongly disagree) to 5 points(strongly agree). The content validity of thequestionnaire was assessed by a selected panelof teacher educators and serving teachers. Thequestionnaire was pretested to a group ofpreservice teacher education students. Theresulting reliability coefficient was .80 for allitems. The reliability coefficient by category ofitems was as follows: objective attainment (.90),general perception (.80), subject characteristics(.80), subject peformance (.70), subjectimplementation (.90), students (.70), evaluation(.80) and agricultural projects (.80).

Data Collection and Analysis

The questionnaires were mailed directly to thesupervisor and teacher respondents. The studentquestionnaires were mailed to the respectiveteacher. An adequate instruction was given eachof the teachers in the selection of students,administering and mailing back thequestionnaires. A few selected non-respondentswere contacted through personal visits andtelephone calls. No statistically significantdifference was observed in the responses ofearly and late respondents.

The data were analyzed by a softwarepackage, SPSSPC+. The descriptive statistics wereused as a measure of central tendency ofresponses. The F statistic was used to analyzethe differences in perceptions of respondents.An appropriate coefficient of correlation was

used to describe the relationship of variables. Inanalyzing the degree of perception, mean value3.5 and above were considered as indicatingagreement whereas the mean value below 3.5was considered as indicating disagreement.

FINDINGSTabulation of Respondents

A total number of 511 (61 %) usablequestionnaires were received and analyzed. Theresponse rate was 85 (63.9%) from supervisors,194 (57.4%) from teachers and 232 (58%) fromstudents.

Data on Supervisors

Based on the responses provided by 85supervisors, it was found that a great majority ofthe supervisors were Malay males holding

PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. & Hum. Vol. 14 No. I 2006 79

Perceptions of Supervisors, Teachers, and Students

on the new syllabus. Specifically, the study soughtto accomplish the following objectives:a. To gather background information on

supervisors, teachers, and students ofthe agricultural science subject at the uppersecondary schools.

b. To determine the perceptions of therespondents regarding the new agriculturalscience syllabus for upper secondary schools.

c. To determine the difference in perceptionsof respondents regarding the newagricultural science syllabus.

d. To determine the variables which haverelationship with the perception ofrespondents.

METHODOLOGY

Design

The study was designed to be a descriptive­correlational type of research study. Thevariables studied were respondent category,selected background characteristics and theirperceptions. The research utilized a surveymethod to meet the purpose of the study.

Study Papulation

The study population consisted of supervisors,teachers and students of agricultural sciencesubjects in the upper secondary academicschools of Malaysia. The study took a censuspopulation of 133 supervisors and 338 teachers.However, the students were selected by using apurposive sampling technique. Twenty schoolswere sampled by region and 20 students wereselected by teacher from each school. The listof supervisors, teachers and schools were securedfrom State Department of Education so as tocontrol any frame error.

Instrumentation

The study made use of questionnaire to gatherdata. Three different questionnaires were used,one each for supervisor, teacher and studentrespondents. Each questionnaire differed onlyin the items of securing the background data ofrespondents. They had identical items formeasuring the perceptions of respondents.These items covered eight aspects - objectiveattainment, general perception, subjectcharacteristics, subject performance, subjectimplementation, evaluation and agriculturalproject. There were 66 perception items

included in the questionnaire. The perceptionwas measured on a five-point Likert scale rangingfrom 1 point (strongly disagree) to 5 points(strongly agree). The content validity of thequestionnaire was assessed by a selected panelof teacher educators and serving teachers. Thequestionnaire was pretested to a group ofpreservice teacher education students. Theresulting reliability coefficient was .80 for allitems. The reliability coefficient by category ofitems was as follows: objective attainment (.90),general perception (.80), subject characteristics(.80), subject peformance (.70), subjectimplementation (.90), students (.70), evaluation(.80) and agricultural projects (.80).

Data Collection and Analysis

The questionnaires were mailed directly to thesupervisor and teacher respondents. The studentquestionnaires were mailed to the respectiveteacher. An adequate instruction was given eachof the teachers in the selection of students,administering and mailing back thequestionnaires. A few selected non-respondentswere contacted through personal visits andtelephone calls. No statistically significantdifference was observed in the responses ofearly and late respondents.

The data were analyzed by a softwarepackage, SPSSPC+. The descriptive statistics wereused as a measure of central tendency ofresponses. The F statistic was used to analyzethe differences in perceptions of respondents.An appropriate coefficient of correlation wasused to describe the relationship of variables. Inanalyzing the degree of perception, mean value3.5 and above were considered as indicatingagreement whereas the mean value below 3.5was considered as indicating disagreement.

FINDINGS

Tabulation of Respondents

A total number of 511 (61%) usablequestionnaires were received and analyzed. Theresponse rate was 85 (63.9%) from supervisors,194 (57.4%) from teachers and 232 (58%) fromstudents.

Data on Supervisors

Based on the responses provided by 85supervisors, it was found that a great majority ofthe supervisors were Malay males holding

PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. & Hum. Vol. 14 No.1 2006 79

Perceptions of Supervisors, Teachers, and Students

TABLE 2Level of agreement of perception regarding selected statements

Composite0 Statement Mean (rank) s.d.

1. Agricultural science subject ought to be given due respect 4.6(1) 0.7by the university of agriculture in the process of screeningapplicants for the diploma program.

2. Agricultural science subject is suitable only for students 4.3(2) 1.0who are weak in science.

3. Agricultural science subject enables the students to identify 4.3(2) 0.6factors influencing plant and animal production.

4. Agricultural science subject makes use of elements from other 4.2(4) 0.8subjects such as mathematics, basic sciences, social sciences,and commercial studies.

5. Agricultural science subject should be retained whenever 4.2(4) 0.8the government reforms the public education.

6. The effectiveness of teaching agricultural science is greatly 4.2(4) 0.8dependent on the competence of the agriculture teacher.

7. Agricultural project carried out by students is beneficial in 4.2(4) 0.7inculcating positive work habits.

8. Agricultural project carried out by students enables the 4.2(4) 0.6teacher to identify students' interests and aptitudes towardagriculture.

9. Agricultural science subject has succeeded in creating 4.1 (9) 0.7awareness among students with regard to the contributionof agriculture toward economic development in Malaysia.

10. The teaching unit on agriculture in Malaysia gives adequate 4.1 (9) 0.8exposure to students with regard to various crops, livestocks,and their importance to the country's economy.

9 was about objective accomplishment. Clearly,the respondents were in agreement in mostcategories of the agricultural science subject.However, particular attention should be givento the level of agreement of respondentsregarding the suitability of agricultural sciencesubject. In the perception of the respondents,agricultural science subject was meant for thosestudents who were weak in science. It could beinterpreted

Difference of Perceptions

The differences of perceptions of respondentsregarding the agricultural science subject arereported in Table 3. The perceptions ofrespondents were found to be significantlydifferent with regard to three variables;respondent category, race and school location.Student respondents had more positiveperceptions compared to the supervisor andteacher respondents in six categories of theagricultural science subject. Malay respondentshad positive perceptions compared to other

races in the category of subject characteristics.Respondents from rural schools had morepositive perceptions compared to therespondents from urban schools in the categoryof objective accomplishment and subjectperformance.

Relationship of Perceptions

The relationship of variables in the study isreported in Table 4. The variables that hadsignificant relationships with perceptions wererespondent category, race and gender.Respondent category recorded a significantcoefficient of correlation with six categories:objective accomplishment, subjectcharacteristics, subject performance, students,evaluation and agriculture project. The variable,race had a significant correlation with threecategories: objective accomplishment, evaluationand agriculture project. The gender variablehad a significant relationship with only twocategories: subject performance and students.

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Mohd Ibrahim Nazri

TABLE 3

Difference in respondents' perceptions

No Characteristics' Mean F Value

1. Respondent Category

Objective accomplishmentSubject characteristicsSubject performanceStudentsEvaluationAgricultural project

2. Race

Subject characteristics

3. School Location

Objective accomplishmentSubject performance

'Domain where differences were observed

Supervisors Teachers Students(n=85) (n=194) (n=232)

3.7 3.5 4.23.2 3.2 3.73.5 3.4 4.13.1 3.1 3.33.3 3.3 3.63.9 3.8 4.1

Malay Chinese Indian Others(n=419) (n=24) (n=18) (n=47)

3.4 3.1 3.3 3.4

Urban Rural(n=35) (n=158)

3.3 3.63.2 3.4

103.593.8

161.823.418.019.6

4.3

1.01.6

TABLE 4

Relationships of selected personal characteristics of respondents and their perceptions ( =511)

Variable Category

Objective accomplishmentSubject characteristicsSubject performanceStudentsEvaluationAgricultural project

Category ofRespondent

r,.56.51.63.29.23.28

Race

r,.42.11.12.13.29.31

Gender

r pb

.09

.10

.25

.28

.06

.05

Coding Note.Category of Respondents:

Race: I=MalayGender: I=Male

2=Chinese2=Female

I=Supervisors2=Teachers3=Students3=lndian 4=Others

CONCLUSION

Based on the research findings, it could beconcluded that agricultural science at the upper­secondary academic schools was supervised byqualified personnels, taught by experiencedteachers and learned by students who had farmbackground. Certainly, these background factorswould strengthen the agricultural sciencesubject.

The subject was well-perceived bysupervisors, teachers and students. In fact, thestudents had a higher mean value of perceptionthan the other two categories of respondents.This conclusion may provide some good insightswith regard to the youth perception onagriculture. All the while, most agriculturalagencies have been confronted with theproblem in getting youth to get involved in theagricultural activities.

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Perceptions of Supervisors, Teachers, and Students

The respondents were in agreement in theirperceptions regarding five of eight categories ofthe agricultural science subject. These categorieswere: objective accomplishment, generalperceptions, subject performance, evaluation andagricultural project. Of the five categories, theagricultural project received the highest meanvalue. The respondents were in disagreementwith the five categories: subject characteristics,subject implementation and students.

The research findings also revealed thedifference in the perceptions held byrespondents by their category, race and schoollocation. The student respondents had a highermean value of perception than the supervisorand teacher respondents in six categories:objective accomplishment, subject characteristics,subject performance, students, evaluation andagricultural project. The different perceptionsby race and school location in one or twocharacteristics. Respondent category, race andgender influenced the way the respondents teachthe agricultural science using the new syllabus.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND

IMPliCATIONS

Agricultural science was perceived as a subjectwhich is suitable only for those students who areweak in science. This has an implication on theimage problem of agriculture subject. Incontrary, the new agricultural science syllabuswas sicence- and technology-based. Hence, therewas a need for the school to review the policywith regard to selection and offering of subjectso as to encourage students with strongbackground in science to enrol in theseagriculture classes.

The agriculture subject was well-perceivedby all supervisors, teachers and students.Interestingly, the students had better perceptionson the agricultural science subject than thesupervisors and teachers. This has a positiveimplication on the problem confronted byagricultural agencies in getting the involvementof youth in agricultural activities. Since schoolyouth had positive perceptions on agriculture, itis recommended that the government step upefforts in luring youth to take up agriculture asan occupation.

The importance of agricultural project waswell-perceived by all categories of respondents.Hence, agricultural projects ought to be retained

and enhanced as an approach in teaching ofthe agricultural science subject. This approachis in line with the principle of learningagriculture as advocated by ewcomb et at.(1989). The proper implementation ofagricultural project needs effective planning andmanagement strategies on the part of theteacher. This implies that teachers need to becompetent in both planning and managing theagricultural project.

REFERENCES

BIRKENHOLZ, RJ. 1987. Teacher perceptions offactors associated with expanding vocationalagriculture programs. The Journal of theAmerican Association of Teacher Educatars inAgriculture 28(2): 33-39.

CONNORS, J.J. and J. ELLIOt. 1994. Teacherperceptions ofAgricultural science and naturalresources curriculum. Journal of AgriculturalEducation 35(4): 15-19.

Du CAN, D.W. 2004. Knowledge and perceptionsof Virginia secondary agriculture educatorstoward the agriculture technology program atVirginia Tech. Journal of Agricultural Education45(1): 21-28.

NEWCOMB, L.H.,].R. WARMBROD and].D. MCCRACKEN.1987. Methods of Teaching Agriculture. Danville,Illinois: The Interstate Publishers.

NEWMAN, M.E. and D.M.JoHNSON. 1993. Perceptionsof Mississippi secondary agriculture teachersconcerning pilot agriscience courses. Journalof Agricultural Education 34(3): 49-58.

NORRls, RJ. and G.E. BRlERS. 1989. Perceptions ofsecondary agricultural science teachers towardproposed changes in agricultural sciencecurricula in Texas. Journal of AgriculturalEducation 30(1): 32-43.

THOMPSON, D.E. 1986. Examining superintendents',vocational agriculture teachers', and vocationalagriculture students' perceptions of vocationalagriculture programs. The Journal of theAmerican Association of Teacher Educators inAgriculture 27(4): 32-41.

WARNICK, B.K., G.W. THOMPSO and E.8. G MMER.2004. Perceptions of science teachersregarding the integration of science into theagricultural education curriculum. Journal ofAgricultural Education 45(1): 62-73.

(Received: 22 July 2002)

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