Benefits and challenges of online instruction in agriculture and natural resource education

ABSTRACT

Many land-grant institutions with agriculture and natural resource programs in the United States offer online courses to meet student demand. The goal of this study was to understand how major educational stakeholders, including instructors and students, perceive the benefits and limitations of online teaching and learning in agriculture and natural resource sciences. This study utilized a mixed mode data collection method, which involved informal meetings as well as online survey administration. The data were analyzed through strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)-Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) framework. The study results offer novel perspectives on the perceived utility and challenges of several attributes of online learning including work-home balance, lack of social interactions, virtual classroom opportunities for working professionals, and academic integrity and cyber scam issues among others. Our findings may be beneficial to academic administrators, instructors, and institutions in identifying opportunities, challenges, and adopting programmatic strategies to improve effectiveness of online learning.

KEYWORDS:

• SWOT-AHP
• learning perceptions
• online learning
• agriculture and natural resource

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The approved survey instrument is available upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Omkar Joshi

Omkar Joshi is an assistant professor in the Natural Resource Ecology and Management Department at the Oklahoma State University, Stillwater where he teaches forest management and economics, forest resource management, and human dimension of natural resources. His research interest focus on ecosystem services valuation of forest and other natural resources, human dimension and economics related issues in natural resources, wood-based and other renewable energy issues, wildlife and energy economics. So far, Dr. Joshi has published forty journal articles and has worked as reviewer for more than a dozen of journals.

Binod Chapagain

Binod Chapagain is a postdoctoral fellow in the Natural Resource Ecology and Management Department at the Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. His research interests focus on human dimensions of natural resource, non-market valuation methods, outdoor recreation, and community-based resource management. Dr. Chapagain has published in many journals including Journal of Park Research and Administration, Water, Journal of Extension, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and Wildlife Society Bulletin.

Gehendra Kharel

Gehendra Kharel is an assistant professor of environmental science at the Texas Christian University where he teaches hydrology and environmental modeling. His research interests focus on coupled human-nature systems, climate change mitigation, hydrological modeling, and water resource management. He investigates how different drivers of change- climate, land use, urbanization, policy, economics, and human behavior, impact water resources in water-limited regions of the US and elsewhere. He has published in more than a dozen of peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Regional Environmental Change, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, Water, and International Journal of Water Resources Development.

Neelam C. Poudyal

Neelam C. Poudyal is an Associate Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Human Dimensions at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has a BS in Forestry, MA in Geography and PhD in Natural Resources. He currently teaches several classes at undergraduate and graduate level including Forest and Wildland Resource Policy, Human Dimensions of Natural Reosources, People and Forest Practices. He has published over 50 referred journal articles and book chapters.

Bryan D. Murray

Bryan Murray is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management at Oklahoma State University where he teaches Geospatial Technologies for Natural Resources, Forest Health and Disturbance Ecology, and Spatial and Non-spatial Database Management for Natural Resources. His research interests are focused on forest ecology, spatial ecology, functional diversity, and forest wildlife ecology. Dr. Murray has published in many journals including Ecological Applications, Ecosphere, Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, Ecosystems, Forest Science, and Ecology.

Sayeed R. Mehmood

Sayeed Mehmood is an Associate Professor of Natural Resources Economics in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. He moved to Ohio State in July 2017 from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He received his Ph.D. from Auburn University in Forest Economics and Policy, his M.S. in Forest Economics from the University of Maine and his B.S. from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. In his work he seeks to apply economic and other social science theories to explain human behavior as it relates to natural resources and the environment.