Effect of using agricultural teaching resources on the acquisition of agricultural skills by certificate in agriculture trainees in technical institutions in the Western Kenya region

There exists a positive relationship between agricultural productivity and the quality of agricultural education offered in learning institutions of a country. However, increasing agricultural productivity has been limited by access to quality extension services and the failure of farmers to embrace new farming technologies. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of agricultural teaching resources on the acquisition of agricultural skills by certificate agriculture trainees in technical training institutions in Western Kenya. The methodological behaviorism theory guided the study, assuming that all the resources considered as the source of stimuli were available to the learners. The study employed cross-correlational study designs. A stratified random sample of 269 certificates in agriculture trainees from 12 TVET institutions in western Kenya were proportionally selected from a sampling frame of 890 trainees. A pretested questionnaire and a key informant interview guide were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using both descriptive (percentages, means, modes, and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (regression analysis, ANOVA, chi-square, and t-test) with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS version 26) software. The results show that the level of agricultural skills acquired by certificate in agriculture trainees in TVET institutions was of medium level (M=3.13, SD=.253) on a scale of 0 to 5. The level of acquired agricultural skill by the trainees was positively affected by the use of demonstration farms (β=.527, t=10.12, p