STUDYING THE ATTITUDES OF AGRICULTURAL FACULTY MEMBERS TOWARDS DISTANCE EDUCATION

This descriptive survey research was undertaken to study the attitudes of agricultural
faculty members towards distance education. The statistical population of the study
consisted of all the faculty members of agricultural colleges of Shiraz and Ferdowsi
Mashhad universities (N=180). According to Krejcie & Morgan table, a sample of 123
persons was selected using the stratified random sampling method (colleges as strata).
Data collected using a mailed questionnaire that was validated by a panel of experts
and the reliability index was established by Cronbach alpha's coefficient. The results
revealed that more than half of the agricultural faculty members had moderate
familiarity with distance education. Also, the results indicated that agricultural faculty
members had a positive attitude towards distance education. Finally, agricultural
faculty members ranked time as the primary barrier to using instructional technology
in distance education.