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Abstract
The traditional family farm is being financially challenged by rapidly emerging corporate farming, resulting in many family farmers becoming dependent on the government for financing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency [FSA] is responsible for issuing non-standard loans to farm borrowers unable to obtain credit through commercial banks. The borrowers are required to attend 33 hours of management training to qualify for the loans. The problem facing the management educators and the subject of the thesis is how best to utilize the mandatory training to reach optimum training success and, in turn, success in farm management. After identifying the problem, the second step was to gather information as to the specialized educational needs of the target learners. The FSA approved a survey directed to the 41 FSA Loan Officers who service the borrowers in Iowa. Upon completion of the survey, the results were shared with educators familiar with FSA borrowers and agricultural managerial education. The solution to the problem identified in the thesis involves applying the systematic design of instruction model developed by Walter Dick and Lou Carey as the paradigm for creating the FSA curriculum. The first step in the instructional curriculum was to identify the instructional goals based on the survey results and expert evaluation. The survey data provided information necessary to evaluate learner entry characteristics. Performance objectives and instructional analysis were also prepared in accordance with the instructional model using survey data. The survey was used to provide direction and analysis in all phases of the instructional development model. The need for instructional material specifically prepared for the target audience was revealed through the survey process and expert evaluation. A set of instructional materials specifically designed for the target group is included in the thesis appendix.