The Cooperative Extension Service (Extension) in the United States is well positioned to educate the public, particularly farmers and foresters, about climate change and to encourage responsible adoption of adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the climate change attitudes and perceptions of Extension professionals have limited…

Health literacy is emerging as a leading issue affecting U.S. consumers' health. It has been shown to be a stronger predictor of a person's health than age, income, employment status, education level, or race. To best meet the health literacy needs of consumers, Extension educators can use best practice guidelines for improved health…

A mind mapping approach to evaluation called Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) has been developed and used by a number of Extension faculty across the country recently. This article describes three approaches to REM, as well as key differences and similarities. The authors, each from different land-grant institutions, believe REM is an effective way to…

This study sought to determine if critical thinking style and the activities delivered in an educational experience affected the innovativeness of an individual. This study was based on a theoretical framework involving educational experience, critical thinking style, change in knowledge, interest in domain, domain specific innovativeness, and…

We conducted a process evaluation of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program, a multicomponent school-based nutrition program, when implemented in partnership with University of California (UC) CalFresh and UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE). There were positive impacts on participating students, but results varied across counties, possibly due to…

The authors analyze consistency between supervisors' and interns' self-evaluations based on interns' gender, time of completion (summer or academic year), and sponsor (on-campus department or off campus). Students, in general, tended to have lower ratings for computer skills, relative to supervisors, suggesting that they do not appreciate the…

There is a renewed interest in educating youth, Master Gardeners, and agricultural producers about soil quality. Three soil demonstrations show how soil organic matter increases water holding capacity, improves soil structure, and increases nutrient retention. Exercise one uses clay bricks and sponges to represent mineral soils and soil organic…

Given their positions in communities across the United States, Extension educators are poised to have meaningful partnerships with the communities they serve. This article presents a case for the use of participatory research, which is a departure from more conventional forms of research based on objectivity, researcher distance, and social…

Purpose: Globally, many extension professionals and policy-makers are advocating fee based services, in addressing the fund shortage and sustainable provision of agricultural advisory services. Hence, the article attempts to expose the farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) as agricultural extension in Bangladesh is experiencing chronic fund crisis.…

Record-keeping systems (or volunteer management systems) were identified as a capacity-building tool for Extension master gardener volunteer (EMGV) programs. Not all states have or use such systems, and there are differences among existing systems. A survey was conducted in June 2015 to document and compare record-keeping systems for EMGV programs…

We conducted case studies on four Connecticut dairy farms to evaluate how well farmers implemented their nutrient management plans (NMPs). Our findings can help Extension educators develop programs to improve NMPs and NMP adoption by farmers. We identified three educational topic areas that would likely increase NMP understanding and acceptance:…

Internet-based nutrition education is becoming an important tool in serving the rural, low-income community, yet the task of creating such programming can be daunting. The authors describe the key resources used in developing an Internet-based nutrition education program for those participating in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…

Extension organizations are challenged to provide onboarding to new employees that is comprehensive and high quality, yet cost-effective. The purpose of this study was to explore Extension agents' perceptions of participating in an onboarding program that used a blended approach involving face-to-face and online learning components. The objectives…

In this article, we describe how a peer-coaching model has been applied to support community-based Extension programming through the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative. We describe the general approaches to coaching that have been used to help with CYFAR program implementation, evaluation, and sustainability efforts; we…

Extension educators are continually seeking ways to make instruction more effective and engaging. This study evaluated the Attention, Interact, Apply, and Invite -- Fact, Think, Feel, Do (AIAI-FTFD) Start-to-Finish Teaching Model for human service educators in an ongoing Extension educational program to determine the effectiveness of this model in…