A DESCRIPTIVE EVALUATIVE STUDY OF AN EXTENSION TRAINING PROGRAM ON COMMUNICATION FOR FEMALE ADVISORS IN SOME GOVERNORATES OF UPPER EGYPT

The central purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate an extension
training program on communication for female advisors in some governorates of
upper Egypt. Descriptive approach to evaluating training programs was used to
answer the following question: what happened in the researched program?
Learning measurement approach was used to measure the degree of educational
benefit the trainees gained, in terms of knowledge and skills, from the offered
training program. Affective approach to evaluating training programs was used
to answer the following question: how trainees feel about the offered training
program? The necessary data were collected by using two questionnaires
through interviewing 43 and 21 advisors. Main statistical methods used for
data analysis included: percentages, means, and t-test. By comparing the
mean for each of the knowledge and skill educational items before training
with its mean after training, the t-test values indicate that there is a significant
difference at the 0.01 level of significance between the two means for all the
knowledge and skill educational items offered in the training program. The
results also indicated that the great majority of trainees (95.2%) have
expressed their willingness to use the communication knowledge and skills
included in the offered training program while conducting their extension
activities with rural women. The results of the simple observations indicate, in
general, a high standard of discussion and freedom of expression. The
trainees were very satisfied with using the following methods of training:
video presentation, role playing, and case study. The r.esults of this study
should be regarded as a basis for designing and implementing similar
programs in the future.