Abstract

The role of textbooks in transferring skill and knowledge is very decisive especially in developing countries where the shortage of teachers and teaching facilities is the bottle-neck problem in the education system. The education system in these countries is very specific due to the introduction of new subjects and this necessitates equally specific textbooks. In the current work, a survey was performed on the textbooks commonly in use at higher institutions in the fields of mechanization, crop processing, on-farm energy and rural structure all over the world. The most popular textbooks both in developing and developed countries are identified. Further investigation was made to identify relevant textbooks, among the popular and other books, and ultimately recommend relevant textbooks for different academic levels, i.e., Diploma, BSc and MSc, at higher institutions in developing countries, particularly in Africa in the fields of agricultural system engineering. From the results of the investigation, no significant difference could be identified between higher institutions in developing and developed countries with regard to the type of textbook they use. Both categories use almost the same textbooks with the exception of some literature specific to certain countries. Numerous books are written on the above-mentioned subjects under the assumption that they are relevant for developing countries. Most of these books were found to be very general, descriptive and with an anthropological approach. However, some books which could be valuable were identified and recommended to be used together with other theoretically based and well organized books that are currently being used in many higher institutions.

Keywords

literature search; agricultural system; engineering education; developing countries; bibliography

Published in

Rapport - Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för lantbruksteknik
1992,
Publisher: Institutionen för lantbruksteknik, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/125603