<p><font color="#33711E"><strong>Day 2 – Session 4D: Curriculum Development for Technical Education </strong></font></p>
Queen's Park 6, 16:00 - 17:30
16:00 - 16:20
4.D.1. The Status of Agricultural Engineering Education in Thailand: An Investigation into the Need for Restructuring for Sustainability
Peeyush Soni, Vilas M. Salokhe, and Athapol Noomhorm, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Hiroshi Nakashima, Kyoto University, Japan
Efforts to raise the quality of life and future prosperity are restricted by various constraints, including limited resources, access to technology, and the adoption and effective use of technology. Thailand, while being the world leader in production of various agricultural products, is moving from an agriculture-based economy to a technology-based industrial economy. Agricultural Engineering (AE) has a significant role to play in this shift. Issues relating to agricultural activities have evolved and there is a growing overlap among various knowledge-areas, including energy, bio-technology, environment, management, food processing technologies, ergonomics, natural resources, rural development, women empowerment, gender equality, and social health. This paper examines AE education, the AE curriculum and the role of AE education for sustainability. In the context of Thailand, the AE curriculum is analysed with regard to whether changes are required.
Download the paper (pdf, 200kb) and presentation (pdf, 1.8mb)
16:20 - 16:40
4.D.2. The Master's Programme in Agricultural Education for Sustainable Rural Development at the University of Tsukuba
Atsushi Tajima, Tomohiro Takigawa, Nakao Nomura, DeMar Taylor, and Hiroshi Gemma
University of Tsukuba, Japan
Building the capacity of human resources is an essential part of sustainable rural development in most developing countries. With this in mind, the University of Tsukuba launched a new graduate programme on Agricultural Education for Sustainable Development (Ag-ESD) at the University of Tsukuba in April 2006. Graduates of the programme are expected to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in the rural areas of their home countries. This graduate programme provides practical technical training relevant to sustainable food production and supply, and alleviation of poverty. This programme consists of a combination of a six month e-Learning programme followed by 10 months of intensive face-to-face schooling. Ten students are accepted each year and a Master of Science in Agriculture is granted upon fulfilment of the required coursework (30 credit hours) and acceptance of a final report by an appropriate journal such as the Journal of Developments in Sustainable Agriculture. A full scholarship is provided through JICA and the nomination of applicants is accepted through the JICA office in various countries.
Download the paper (pdf, 50kb) and presentation (pdf, 280kb)