Current and former Missouri Master Gardeners were asked to respond how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a list of benefits provided by the Master Gardener program. The survey instrument was an adaptation of Rohs and Westerfield's (1996) Master Gardener Societal and Personal Benefits survey. Questions were assigned to one of the six principal components of volunteer motivation developed by Clary et al. (1998): Understanding, Values, Enhancement, Social, Protective, and Career. Master Gardeners who are currently active volunteers in the program were more likely to respond favorably to many of the benefits provided by the Master Gardener program. Respondents most strongly indicated their agreement that the Master Gardener program, more than any other similar organization, provides benefits related to new learning experiences, exercising knowledge, skills, and abilities, categorized as understanding (U). The overall mean for U was 4.35 on the 5-point Likert scale, a significantly higher score than any other category according to Duncan's multiple range test. Benefits related to personal growth and self-esteem, labeled enhancement (E); those related to altruism and humanitarian concern, labeled values (V); and guilt reduction over being more fortunate than others and addressing one's own personal problems, labeled protective (P), formed the second tier of benefit importance. Benefits related to preparation for a new career or maintaining career-relevant skills, categorized as career (C) were next. Benefits concerning relationships with others, classified as social (S), concluded the list.
Meeting the needs of changing clientele can be achieved by modifying current extension programs such as the Master Gardener program. In Oregon 90% of the nursery industry workforce is comprised of Hispanics who speak Spanish and have a limited understanding of English. Translating the content of selected chapters from the Oregon-Washington Master Gardener Handbook into Spanish creates a new training tool that can be used throughout the industry. By providing technical training in the basics of plant science, nursery employees will have a better understanding of the work they are doing and gain job satisfaction.
Master Gardener training was first offered in Idaho in 1976. Univ. of Idaho (U of I) Master Gardener trainings are held in various counties and organized by county extension faculty. The number of Master Gardeners in Idaho is estimated at 1800. In 1993, U of I published the first edition of the Idaho Master Gardener Handbook. This 23-chapter state-specific handbook is revised annually. The first chapter outlines the Idaho Master Gardener guidelines. These were the first statewide guidelines. The Idaho program requires a minimum of 30 hours of classes and 30 hours of practicum/hands-on training (the volunteer commitment). Certification is received after these requirements are met and is good for one year. Annual recertification is provided through participation in Advanced Master Gardener trainings and activities. These recertification programs differ; depending on wants and needs within Idaho. The U of I Horticulture Programming Topic Team loosely organizes all county efforts, but there is no statewide Master Gardener program in Idaho. Each region and county brings a unique framework to the title Master Gardener. Hands-on training in many counties includes problem solving services to phone and office visiting clients. Other horticultural community and extension projects are the balance of the hands on hours. Idaho Master Gardeners also serve as uniquely qualified educators in a state as geographically diverse as Idaho. In 2001, the Idaho Junior Master Gardener Program began in cooperation with Idaho Master Gardeners and Texas A&M Univ.. Over 2000 youth and 200 adults have been involved in Idaho.
Texas Master Gardeners participating in an Annual Master Gardener Advanced Training Conference held in College Station, Texas, in June 2000 were asked to complete a survey investigating the impact of the Master Gardener program on perceptions of quality of life and motivations for becoming a Master Gardener. A retrospective pretest/posttest was used to compare the gardeners' current perceptions and their perceptions prior to becoming a Master Gardener. After becoming Master Gardeners, participants reported statistically significant improvements in areas relating to quality of life including physical activity, social activity, self-esteem, and nutrition. Comparisons between demographic characteristics and perceived quality of life scores showed no significant differences. Reasons associated with gaining horticultural information were the primary motivations for becoming a Master Gardener.
100 ORAL SESSION 20 Abstr. 565–571) Cross-commodity: Undergraduate Education/Master Gardeners Tuesday, 25 July, 2:00–4:00 p.m
Oral Session 2— Consumer Horticulture & Master Gardeners 27 July 2006, 2:00–3:30 p.m. Nottoway Moderator: Richard Durham
After a quarter of a century, the Washington State University (WSU) Master Gardener (MG) program is a huge success. WSU and the citizens of Washington have been well served by MGs. In 1995, 2904 WSU MGs volunteered 101,335 hours and served >314,000 citizens. WSU's investment in MGs creates thousands of grassroots educators that leverage the resources of the university.
Patuxent Institution, a maximum security prison in central Maryland, enlisted Maryland Cooperative Extension (MCE) in 1996 to develop a master gardener (MG) program for inmates as part of its horticultural therapy program. The twin goals are to improve inmate social and coping skills and provide vocational training in horticulture. The program has graduated 30 certified master gardeners over three training cycles. Selected trainees are carefully screened and must complete a preliminary horticulture course before entering the MG program. To earn the MG certificate, inmates receive 65 hours of training, pass a 100-question closed-book exam, and contribute 40 hours of service to the program. The inmates apply their knowledge to a 2-acre garden site that includes a production greenhouse. Placing released inmates in green industry jobs is an important program goal. The program has two unique features: 1) inmates are taught by MG from surrounding counties and MCE faculty. MG volunteers who present subject matter, earn volunteer credit for their participation, gain experience in a horticultural therapy setting, and express a high degree of satisfaction teaching and interacting with inmates. 2) All horticultural crops are produced organically by the inmates (all of whom have a substance abuse history) to demonstrate that life can be nurtured without chemical substances. One self-report research instrument showed that participants had a decreased vulnerability to addiction.
In conjunction with two noncredit, on-line training modules for the Oregon Master Gardener Program, a team of educators and web designers developed an evaluation tool to help determine the effectiveness of these modules for training Master Gardeners. The evaluation tool includes questions on technical issues, organization and presentation of the module, navigation throughout the module, content and user satisfaction. Data collected from participants via the tool in 1999 on the basic botany module, highlighted areas that needed improvement including reducing the amount of on-screen reading (organization and presentation) and an inability of participants to access video clips and animations (user satisfaction). Overall, participants gave both modules high marks in each of the five categories. Major modifications made to the soils and fertilizers module in 2000 were likely responsible for the improved organization/presentation rating (2.4 in 1999 to 1.9 in 2000 where 1 = highly positive ranking; 5 = highly negative ranking) and the user satisfaction rating (2.5 in 1999 to 2.0 in 2000). Both years the overall acceptability of the course was high 1.45 (1 = highly positive ranking; 5 = highly negative ranking) and 1.80, 1999 and 2000 respectively, and has encouraged the team to continue developing on-line training modules for the Oregon Master Gardener Program.
Oral Session 2— Consumer Horticulture & Master Gardeners 27 July 2006, 2:00–3:30 p.m. Nottoway Moderator: Richard Durham