| dc.description.abstract | Despite the plethora of strategies used to educate urban foresters, many of the
training programs offered are not being evaluated for effectiveness, regardless of the
entity offering the training, which limits important information on whether the programs
were worth the dollars spent. This study evaluates the effectiveness the Municipal
Forester's Institute (MFI) had on its participants.
The MFI was developed as an in-depth leadership institute to train municipal
foresters in both the managerial and leadership aspects of urban forestry. The research
subjects in this study were the participants of the 2006 MFI. The satisfaction survey
measured the participant satisfaction rate on a 5-point Likert scale (1= Not at all, 2 =
Slightly Satisfied, 3= Somewhat Satisfied, 4= Mostly Satisfied, 5=Completely Satisfied),
and yielded an overall score of "Mostly Satisfied" (4.56). A five point Likert scale
online evaluation was used to measure the behavior change, and change in knowledge of
the study (1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Somewhat Agree, 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree,
4 = Somewhat Agree, 5 = Strongly agree). The behavior change and increase in
knowledge portion of the survey was divided into categories that mirrored the objectives of the study. These results had statistically significant increases, which were determined
not to have happened by chance. The final section of the survey included three openended
questions that participants identified as overwhelmingly positive impacts that the
trainings had on their position, career, and personal life.
Overall, the stakeholders of the Society of Municipal Arborists can be assured
that the participants of the 2006 Municipal Forester Institute were satisfied with the
training; had a substantial increase in knowledge; and positive change in behavior, which
acknowledge this as an effective training program that had a positive impact on its
participants. | en |
