Perceptions and Attitudes of Academic Staff Towards Agricultural Training in Kenyan Universities

Abstract

Agricultural productivity in Africa does not match that of the number of professional graduates working within the sector. This raises question on suitability of university training to needed graduate competencies. Under "PREPARE BSc project", ninety-five lecturers selected from academic disciplines were interviewed to collect data on lecturers' perceptions and attitudes on learning environment, curriculum development, teaching and learning, and assessment activities. Over 80% of the respondents stated that curricula were adequate in content, but poorly aligned to teaching and learning activities. They (71.4%) thought they were competent in lecture and laboratory teaching methodologies, but the university learning environment (53.4%) and field training arrangements (73.9.%) were poorly aligned with the curricula. There was excessive emphasis on summative assessment (68.4%) at the expense of continuous assessment tests (formative assessment). A need was therefore identified to train staff on aligning curricula, teaching and assessment methods to learning environment and expected graduate competencies.