Overview
This unit will introduce you to the theory, principle and practice of agricultural extension in Australia and overseas. You will develop extension-related knowledge and skills to allow you to facilitate agricultural research and development outcomes to key stakeholders in order to improve practice change within the agricultural industry. You will explore the purpose of extension and how different methods can be used to achieve the desired outcome for agricultural businesses and industries. You will use a number of methods that will equip you to effectively engage with stakeholder groups and evaluate the effectiveness of extension strategies.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite: Completion of at least 12 units (72 credit points).
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2022
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
- Analyse the role and purpose of agricultural extension in facilitating change
- Evaluate the impact of agricultural extension methods and approaches for different stakeholder groups
- Develop and deliver an extension program for implementation within the agricultural industry.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||
| 3 - Presentation - 50% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Presentation - 50% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Wordprocessing, spreadsheeting and powerpoint software
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.sinai@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to agricultural extension
- What is agricultural extension?
- History of agricultural extension
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Introduction to agricultural extension
- Types and purpose of extension
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Adult learning
- Adult learning principles
- Learning styles and knowing your audience
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Adult Learning
- Learning styles preferred by farmers
- Effective engagement
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Communication in Agricultural Extension
- Communication styles
- Presentation skills
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Communication in Agricultural Extension
- Types of extension – extension models
- Stakeholder identification and analysis
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Practice Change and Technology Adoption
- Practice and behaviour change
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Practice Change and Technology Adoption
- Technology adoption
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 2 Agricultural Extension Approach Analysis Part A is due on Monday of Week 8 (September 5, 2022) at 11:45PM
Module/Topic
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Why monitor and evaluate?
- Development/design of instruments
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Evaluation of extension programs
- Communicating results
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment 2 Agricultural Extension Approach Analysis Part B is due on Monday of Week 10 (September 19, 2022) at 11:45PM
Module/Topic
Extension Program Planning
- Program objectives
- Components of an agricultural extension event
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Extension Program Planning
- Marketing
- Post-event follow up
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
In this assessment you will select one agricultural extension program from a list of programs (to be provided on Moodle) and write a 1,700-word essay describing how your selected program facilitates change. In doing so you should be sure to discuss the following:
- The provider(s) of the program and their purpose
- The purpose of the program
- The stakeholders involved
- The extension approaches used to facilitate change
- Your analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the program
More information on the essay structure will be provided on Moodle.
Week 4 Wednesday (3 Aug 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Submit through Moodle
Vacation Week Wednesday (17 Aug 2022)
In Assessment 1 you will be assessed on:
- Your written communication
- Your understanding of agricultural extension practices
- Your research and analysis on the role of the selected extension provider
- Your analysis of the extension provider's stakeholders
- Analyse the role and purpose of agricultural extension in facilitating change
- Communication
- Information Literacy
- Cross Cultural Competence
2 Written Assessment
Assessment 2 consists of two parts.
Part A (20/30)
Part A is an individual task and requires you to select one article from a list of agricultural extension-based peer-reviewed journal articles (the list will be provided to you in Moodle). In Part A (2200 words +/- 10%) you will develop a report to assess whether the extension approach utilized in your selected journal article was appropriate and suitable for the given circumstances. Part A is due on Monday of Week 8 (September 5, 2022) at 11:45PM. Part A is worth 20/30 for this assessment. In formulating your report you should consider:
- The context (socioeconomic, stakeholder attributes, country/region, relevant production setting)
- The type of extension approaches used
- The methods used in the relevant research
- The impact of the agricultural extension methods used
Further information will be provided in Moodle.
Part B (10/30)
In Part B of Assessment 2 you will use Moodle discussion boards to describe your findings from Part A to a group of your peers. The due date for uploading your report (Part A document) to the allotted Moodle discussion board by Tuesday of Week 8 (September 6, 2022) at 5PM. You are required to ask at least one question from each member of your group and respond to all questions asked of you. The deadline for both providing questions to your peers and responding to questions is Monday of Week 10 (September 19, 2022) at 11:45PM. Part B is worth 10/30 for Assessment 2.
Part A is due on Monday of Week 8 (September 5, 2022) at 11:45PM and must be submitted through Moodle. Part B is due on Monday of Week 10 (September 19, 2022) at 11:45PM and must be submitted as discussion board posts as per assessment description.
Week 12 Monday (3 Oct 2022)
Feedback for both Part A and Part B will be returned on Monday of Week 12
Part A of Assessment 2 will be assessed on:
- Your analysis of the extension methods used
- Your analysis of the role of the extension method for appropriately facilitating change in the relevant stakeholder group and setting
- Written communication, formatting and referencing
Part B of Assessment 2 will be assessed on:
- Your understanding of various extension methods and approaches
- The quality of the questions you ask
- The quality of your answer
- Your written communication
- Analyse the role and purpose of agricultural extension in facilitating change
- Evaluate the impact of agricultural extension methods and approaches for different stakeholder groups
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Cross Cultural Competence
3 Presentation
In Assessment 3 you will develop and deliver a proposal for an extension program to be implemented within an agricultural industry of your choice. Your proposal will be developed as a 15-minute PowerPoint (or similar) presentation, which will be delivered live, via zoom, to the unit coordinator. The presentation slides should be submitted on Thursday 8AM of Week 12. The live presentations will be delivered on Thursday or Friday of Week 12 at a time agreed upon between the student and the unit coordinator. You should prepare your presentation as though you are delivering your proposal to industry leaders who will determine whether or not to fund your extension program. At the conclusion of your presentation you will be asked to answer two questions.
Your presentation should be structured as followed (it is suggested that students develop a one or two slides per section):
Introduction
- Introduce the presentation and yourself
- Name the proposed extension program
Aim
- What is the purpose of the extension program?
- Why is it needed?
Outline of the target audience
- Why have you selected this audience?
- What do you know about this audience?
Stakeholder identification, engagement, and communication strategy
- Who are the relevant stakeholders?
- How will you promote the program among these stakeholders?
- How will you engage them throughout the extension program?
Learning style
- What learning style(s) will you cater for? And how?
Extension approaches
- What extension approaches will be used to achieve the aims of the extension program?
Time frame for delivery
Post-event Monitoring and Evaluation
- How will you determine whether or not practice change has taken place and to what extent?
Budget
- How will you achieve value for money on a budget up to $200,000?
Conclusion
Week 12 Thursday (6 Oct 2022) 8:00 am AEST
Submit the PowerPoint through Moodle at 8AM on 06/10/2022. Complete the questionnaire on Moodle to determine the Assessment time (Thursday or Friday of Week 12).
Exam Week Friday (21 Oct 2022)
For Assessment 3 you will be assessed on:
- Your understanding of agricultural extension and agricultural extension approaches
- Your ability to identify relevant stakeholders and formulate and promote an engaging agricultural extension program suitable for them
- Your understanding of learning styles and how to deliver them
- Your understanding of monitoring and evaluation methods to assess practice change
- Your ability to develop a suitable and accurate budget
- Your spoken communication, presentation formatting and referencing
- Develop and deliver an extension program for implementation within the agricultural industry.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
