Document Type : Original Research
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) , Mashhad, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Agricultural Education and Extension Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran
10.22048/rdsj.2026.515122.2230
Abstract
Nowadays, E-learning has been seriously considered in educational systems. Given this necessity, the agricultural extension and education system has also established the Agricultural Education Network (SHAK) as a web-based learning network. Therefore, the continuous improvement of service quality in any e-learning system is essential. Accordingly, the main purpose of this survey research was to analyze the service quality components of the agricultural education network (SHAK) as perceived by educators, which was conducted in 1401 (2022-2023). The statistical population of the study consisted of educators (N= 2415), out of whom 332 people were determined as the sample using Cochran's formula and stratified random sampling. A researcher-made questionnaire was the main data collection tool. Its validity was approved by a panel of experts and construct validity (AVE Index). Reliability of the questionnaire was approved by calculating the Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability (CR). The collected data were analyzed by SPSS22 and LISREL software. The ranking of service quality components of the Agricultural Education Network revealed that, from the perspective of the surveyed educators, the "educators" and "content", with averages of 3.79 and 3.60 out of five respectively, were in the highest ranks, while "planning and implementation" and "results", with averages of 3.44 and 3.29 out of five respectively, were in the lowest ranks. Furthermore, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) after entering 43 indicators showed that the service quality model of the agricultural education network consisted of six main components: infrastructure-support, planning and implementation, content, educators, learner, and results. The homogeneity and reliability of the model’s indicators were confirmed, and the research data showed a good fit with the factor structure and theoretical foundation of the study. At the same time, the content component accounted for the highest factor loading (0.96). Accordingly, in order to improve the quality of this network's services, enhance the user-friendliness of the system, provide educational content appropriate for e-learning, adjust the educational schedule based on the learner’s needs, improve educators' competencies, and continuously evaluate the components of this network, it is suggested.
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