ABSTRACT

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to undertake an in-depth exploration of how structural characteristics of on-farm demonstration events impact the effectiveness of the demonstration as perceived by participants.

Methodology

An explanatory mixed-methods approach was used based on the responses to 356 post-demonstration questionnaires filled out by the attendees of 31 demonstration events held in 12 EU countries in 2018, together with the qualitative data from an observation tool, interviews and case study reports relating to the same 31 events. Factor analysis was employed to predict general effectiveness, complemented with a qualitative analysis of participants’ responses to improve the understanding of the quantitative results.

Findings

Results indicate that peer-to-peer learning activities and good facilitation increase participants’ perception of the effectiveness of a demonstration event. Furthermore, characteristics such as the structure of the day, the suitability of the host farm, a trustworthy demonstrator, and group size add much to the effectiveness of a demo event. Group dynamics – including group connectedness and composition – have the potential to impact perceived effectiveness.

Practical implications

The paper contains clear messages for practitioners when designing a demonstration event.

Theoretical implications

Our results connect with theories on motivation and adult learning in the context of farmer learning during on-farm demonstration.

Originality

The paper is based on a rich empirical dataset. It reveals that group size and learning methods are crucial to achieve effective learning outcomes during demonstration events.

中文翻译：

---

欧盟农场示范活动的有效性：结构特征的作用

摘要

目的

本文的目的是深入探索农场示范活动的结构特征如何影响参与者感知的示范效果。

方法

基于对 2018 年在 12 个欧盟国家举行的 31 场示范活动的参与者填写的 356 份示范后问卷的答复，以及来自观察工具、访谈和案例研究报告的定性数据，使用了一种解释性混合方法方法与相同的 31 个事件有关。采用因子分析来预测总体有效性，辅以对参与者反应的定性分析，以提高对定量结果的理解。

发现

结果表明，点对点学习活动和良好的引导提高了参与者对演示活动有效性的感知。此外，诸如当天的结构、主办农场的适用性、值得信赖的演示者和团队规模等特征都大大增加了演示活动的有效性。团体动态——包括团体联系和组成——有可能影响感知效率。

实际影响

在设计演示活动时，本文为从业者提供了明确的信息。

理论意义

我们的结果与农场示范期间农民学习背景下的动机和成人学习理论有关。

独创性

该论文基于丰富的经验数据集。它揭示了小组规模和学习方法对于在演示活动中实现有效的学习成果至关重要。