Learning Task # 5 What Do Our Clients/Constituents Think? Prepared by Vince Crary June 14, 1999

This winter we conducted a series of Dairy Nutrition classes in McIntosh. The classes ran from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. for three consecutive Thursdays. Any Extension Educator can relate to the difficulty of trying to keep dairy producers awake during a teaching session. Most producers will be nodding off throughout a program, and following the noon meal, a nap is almost a certainty.

The nutrition classes were very interactive sessions. By interactive, I mean we had the dairy producers particle sizing forages, learning to properly check moisture content of feeds, figuring their own feed costs with calculators, as well as telling us how they did things on their own farms.

The Learning Pyramid's base shows a 90% retention rate when you " teach others and/or immediate use of the learning". This is how the nutrition classes were structured. With all the interaction and the use of the teaching on an immediate basis using the producers own forages, the dairy producers were totally engaged. I can honestly say that not one dairy producer nodded off during any of the three day sessions.

I have had occasion to visit with several of the producers that were involved in the nutrition classes. A number of the producers have made changes in their nutrition programs as a result of the classes. I have also asked them about the classes and how they liked doing the actual work of particle sizing, checking moisture contents of forages, and figuring their feed costs. All have been very positive in their responses.

The dairy producers involved in these classes paid $20.00 for the notebooks. A number of them drove over 80 miles to attend the classes. They all said they would be interested in similar classes on other topics.

So what do our clients/constituents want? What are their perceptions about what they need to learn from me? We talked about this also. Dry cow management, pre-freshening management programs, how to cope with heat stress, programs dealing with alfalfa management and corn silage management all surfaced as topics of interest.

Extension Educators are involved on a day to day basis with questions and concerns of people in each county. I think the question "How are topics taught?" should also be a part of "What Do Our Clients/Constituents Want?" I feel we all need to keep the learning pyramid in mind as topics or programs are planned and delivered.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 1999