Examining the Effectiveness of Educational Courses Presented for the Agricultural and non-Agricultural Members of Cooperatives in the East Azerbaijan Province by the Use of Kirkpatrick Model

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of training courses presented for the agricultural and non-agricultural members of cooperative in the East Azerbaijan province by the use of Kirkpatrick m. The total population was (N=7593) the agricultural and non-agricultural members of cooperatives. Using the Morgan Table (n=357) respondents were selected as sample population. The sampling method used in this research was clustering. To gather the data, a researcher made questionnaire was developed, considering kirk Patrick patterns of effectiveness. A reliability analysis was conducted and Cronbach’s alpha value being 0.94. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The results showed that the quality of educational courses presented by the cooperatives for the members were higher than average (M=3.86). Among the four dimensional educational effectiveness: reaction (M=3.99), learning (M=3.84), behavior (M=3.72) and outcome (M=3.70) were respectively gained. According to the results of this research it can be concluded that the courses were more effective in transferring the concepts rather than practices. This might be because of the emphasis on theoretical aspect by the educators. Another obstacle can be the lack of motivation among learners for obtaining new knowledge and change.