Project: Effect of education on forest owners
The effect of academic courses on the knowledge acquisition of forest owners and other course participants is merely unknown. In order to examine this more closely, we evaluate attitude, knowledge and its implementation in practice before and after completing the course.
Project information
Project manager
Rikard Jakobsson
Other project members
Erika Olofsson
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Financier
Stiftelsen Seydlitz MP-bolagen
Timetable
2023 - 2025
Subject
Forestry and Wood Technology (Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of technology)
Research group
Small-scale forestry
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment
Green Sustainable Development
More about the project
An underlying assumption for providing education is that it produces impact. This is perfectly reasonable and matches our experience. However, this is rarely investigated and quantified. As an example, it can be mentioned that at the Linnaeus University since 2001 (then Växjö University) courses have been conducted for forest owners and those interested in forestry, and a total of over 5,000 people have started one of the courses Sustainable family forestry. The arrangement has been adapted to distance with physical meetings in the forest combined with own studies and written submissions. Over time, broadband in particular has made it possible to increase features with video, live or recorded. The effect of these academic courses on the forest owners' knowledge acquisition has never been studied. Course evaluations are certainly carried out, but these have limitations mentioned below. An indirect way of examining knowledge acquisition is through a course evaluation, where the participant himself indicates the perceived knowledge acquisition, quality and usefulness of the course. The questions are often, especially in terms of usefulness, on a general level and aim to develop the course in the first place. A somewhat better overview of the knowledge acquisition is obtained by having the participants estimate their level before the course and then compare it with the level after the course. It can be the same questions before and after. In order to assess the level of knowledge before and after a course, factual questions can also be asked before and after the course and the level assessed, for example through the degree of detail shown or analysis. An additional approach can be obtained by measuring how the participant's view of various issues (attitude) has changed, for example through a survey before and after the course. Attitudes can be influenced, but underlying values are more difficult to influence, therefore the attitude is influenced more the longer the education lasts. The study will evaluate the effect of the course participants' education on their:
- Fact-related and self-assessed knowledge level
- View of knowledge and attitudes
- Decisions and measures in forestry
The project is part of the research in the research field Forest Economics, research group Small-scale forestry and in Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Green Sustainable Development