Students’ perception and preference for online education in India during COVID -19 pandemic [Scholarly Article - Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2021]

Title:

Students’ perception and preference for online education in India during COVID -19 pandemic Author links open overlay 

 

Authors:

T.Muthuprasad, S.Aiswarya, K.S.Aditya & Girish K.Jha

Published:

Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 4 January 2021

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291120300905

Abstract:

Educational institutes across the world have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardizing the academic calendars. Most educational institutes have shifted to online learning platforms to keep the academic activities going. However, the questions about the preparedness, designing and effectiveness of e-learning is still not clearly understood, particularly for a developing country like India, where the technical constraints like suitability of devices and bandwidth availability poses a serious challenge. In this study, we focus on understanding Agricultural Student’s perception and preference towards the online learning through an online survey of 307 students. We also explored the student’s preferences for various attributes of online classes, which will be helpful to design effective online learning environment. The results indicated that majority of the respondents (70%) are ready to opt for online classes to manage the curriculum during this pandemic. Majority of the students preferred to use smart phone for online learning. Using content analysis, we found that students prefer recorded classes with quiz at the end of each class to improve the effectiveness of learning. The students opined that flexibility and convenience of online classes makes it attractive option, whereas broadband connectivity issues in rural areas makes it a challenge for students to make use of online learning initiatives. However, in agricultural education system where many courses are practical oriented, shifting completely to online mode may not be possible and need to device a hybrid mode, the insights from this article can be helpful in designing the curriculum for the new normal.

Cocoa farmers’ perceptions of soil organic carbon effects on fertility, management and climate change in the Ashanti region of Ghana [Scholarly Article - Afr. J. Agric. Res., 2021]

Title:

Cocoa farmers’ perceptions of soil organic carbon effects on fertility, management and climate change in the Ashanti region of Ghana 

 

Authors:

F. Adiyah, Department of Soil Science, Szent István University, Hungary   

M. Fuchs, Department of Soil Science, Szent István University, Hungary

E. Michéli, Department of Soil Science, Szent István University, Hungary

E. Dawoe, Agroforestry Department, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana                       

Kovács, Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, Szent István University, Hungary 

 

Published:

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 17(5), pp. 714-725 (May 2021)

https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJAR/cited-by-article/A5F8CC466762

 

Abstract: 

Farmers can play an important role in climate change mitigation through sustainable soil management practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Atwima Nwabiagya municipality of Ashanti region, Ghana, to explore farmers' knowledge and perceptions of their soils, soil fertility, applied management practices, and climate change on soil organic carbon. The interviews included topics related to farmers’ access to training and its impact in adopting and changes in management strategies. Summary for interviews was prepared based on notes and recordings and analyzed with the Qualitative Content Analysis (QCAmap) software using emergent codes. Results show that farmers had a lot of knowledge on soil organic matter (SOM) and how it affects climate and the relationship between SOM and soil fertility. They also acknowledged that their management practices affect quantities of SOM in topsoil and subsoil and soil fertility. The adoption of current and new management practices including, the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, manure, mulching, and shade management, is a reflection of their newly acquired knowledge and understanding of fertility sustaining processes.  The study highlights the relationship between farmers' training and changes in their adopted practices and how management practices affect SOC influencing climate change and soil fertility.