INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA USE IN FORMAL AND NONFORMAL AGRICULTURAL TRAINING PROGRAMS IN BENDEL STATE OF NIGERIA (AUDIOVISUAL, EXTENSION AGENTS, PRESERVICE, NONDEGREE)

Purpose. This study was undertaken to determine the individual factors which influence use of instructional media by nondegree agriculture teachers (in formal agricultural training) and by agricultural extension agents (in nonformal agricultural training) in Bendel State of Nigeria.;Some concerns have been expressed about improving the quality of technical agricultural training in nondegree colleges of agriculture, as well as reaching and educating more farmers. A vacuum in educational media research in the field of technical agricultural education and training in Nigeria was apparent.;Decision and Procedure. The study population was comprised of agriculture teachers in five nondegree colleges of agriculture established before 1981 and agricultural extension agents of Bendel State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Only those who were actively involved in teaching were designated to participate in the study (58 school teachers, 110 extension agents). All designated subjects participated.;Data was collected by a questionnaire instrument. Thirteen research questions were answered and five research hypotheses were tested concerning frequency of media use, constraints on media use, perceptions about media, organizational support training and skills in media use.;It was an exploratory descriptive study designed to meet four objectives: (1) Determine the extent of media use in formal and nonformal training programs; (2) Identify areas of instructional media skills in which training are needed; (3) Identify available media equipment and materials; and (4) Determine the relationships between frequency of instructional media use and selected variables.;Findings. (1) There was low: (a) utilization of instructional media; (b) availability of media equipment and instructional materials; (c) organizational media support. (2) The perceived major constraints on instructional media use were: insufficient media budget, non-availability of required media equipment and materials, irregular electrical power supply, lack of media training, skills and lack of information on instructional media. The nonformal trainers perceived significantly more constraints on media use than the formal trainers. (3) Trainers who used more instructional media: (i) had more media training; (ii) had more positive perceptions about instructional media; (iii) perceived less constraints on media use; and (iv) received more organizational media support. (4) Media training accounted for 31.3 percent of the variance in media use.