AFS Membership Survey 2011
Continuing Education Participation and Preferences
Steve L. McMullin
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Virginia Tech
- The on-line survey opened for data collection on August 1, 2011 and closed on August 22. The initial invitation and two reminders were sent via the AFS listserv. 991 members responded (approximately 14% of members on the listserv).
- Regular members were over represented in the sample (68% of respondents vs. 56% of members on the listserv), while student members were under represented (12% of respondents vs. 20% of members on the listserv). Other membership types were represented roughly in proportion to their numbers on the listserv.
- Approximately 11-12% of respondents participated in continuing education (CE) courses at the Chapter level in each of the last 4 years, compared to 3-4% at the Division level and the Parent Society level.
| Participation in Continuing Education Courses | |||
| Chapter Level | Division Level | Parent Society Level | |
| 2010 | 12.1% | 4.3% | 3.8% |
| 2009 | 12.0% | 3.1% | 4.4% |
| 2008 | 11.3% | 2.9% | 3.4% |
| 2007 | 11.9% | 2.9% | 2.8% |
- 22% of respondents said they were very likely to participate in a CE course at the Chapter level in the next 4 years, compared to 4% at the Division level and 9% at the Parent Society level.
| Likelihood of Participating in a CE Course in the Next 4 Years | ||||
| Very Likely | Somewhat Likely | Not Very Likely | Not at all Likely | |
| Chapter Level | 21.9% | 36.8% | 21.5% | 19.9% |
| Division Level | 4.4% | 34.7% | 34.5% | 26.4% |
| Parent Society Level | 9.3% | 28.2% | 32.8% | 29.8% |
- Data analysis/statistics topped the list of topics for CE courses that respondents expressed interest attending (37% very interested), followed by habitat restoration (31%), population dynamics (28%), habitat assessment (27%), GIS (27%), population modeling (26%), habitat modeling (22%), fish passage (22%), sampling techniques (22%), and leadership (21%). 50% or more of respondents were at least somewhat interested in attending CE courses addressing 17 of the 26 topics listed.
| Topic Interest | |||||
| Very Interested | Somewhat Interested | Not Very Interested | Not at all Interested | Not Sure | |
| Biotelemetry | 14.1% | 36.1% | 21.0% | 24.8% | 4.0% |
| Hydroacoustics | 12.9% | 30.8% | 24.5% | 28.0% | 3.8% |
| Surgical techniques for implanting transmitters | 12.0% | 29.7% | 24.8% | 30.6% | 2.9% |
| Habitat assesment | 27.4% | 41.4% | 15.3% | 13.6% | 2.3% |
| Habitat modeling | 22.4% | 36.6% | 19.1% | 18.8% | 3.0% |
| Habitat restoration | 30.8% | 34.6% | 17.7% | 14.6% | 2.2% |
| Fish passage | 21.9% | 31.6% | 21.9% | 22.2% | 2.4% |
| Population dynamics | 27.8% | 41.7% | 14.3% | 13.8% | 2.3% |
| Population modeling | 25.6% | 38.2% | 16.0% | 17.8% | 2.3% |
| Data analysis/statistics | 37.0% | 38.4% | 12.9% | 10.5% | 1.3% |
| Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | 27.0% | 43.2% | 18.3% | 10.1% | 1.5% |
| Fish sampling techniques | 21.6% | 38.6% | 23.8% | 14.8% | 1.2% |
| Larval fish identification | 12.4% | 24.6% | 29.4% | 31.1% | 2.5% |
| Organismal ecology/identification | 17.7% | 30.4% | 23.9% | 26.4% | 1.6% |
| Safe and effective use of pesticides | 8.5% | 21.3% | 27.7% | 39.7% | 2.8% |
| Fish diseases/pathogens | 13.7% | 26.5% | 27.5% | 29.8% | 2.5% |
| Structured decision making | 17.9% | 39.5% | 24.2% | 16.6% | 1.8% |
| Public involvement in decision making | 19.2% | 40.5% | 24.4% | 14.6% | 1.3% |
| Conflict resolution/negotiation | 19.5% | 39.9% | 23.8% | 15.2% | 1.6% |
| Effective speaking | 16.2% | 33.8% | 28.2% | 19.9% | 1.8% |
| Effective professional writing | 18.3% | 38.0% | 23.8% | 18.2% | 1.6% |
| Photography for fisheries professionals | 16.9% | 30.6% | 27.0% | 24.1% | 1.4% |
| Effective teaching | 15.8% | 29.5% | 30.2% | 22.7% | 1.8% |
| Leadership for fisheries professionals | 21.2% | 37.6% | 22.1% | 17.5% | 1.6% |
| Endangered Species Act for fisheries professionals | 20.1% | 33.9% | 25.8% | 18.7% | 1.6% |
| Putting on sport fishing events | 6.3% | 15.7% | 29.0% | 47.0% | 2.0% |
- 76% of respondents expressed a strong preference for classroom in-person delivery of CE courses, compared to 28% for 2-way interactive video/webinar delivery and less than 20% for non-interactive video/DVD/webinar or printed material delivery.
| Preference for Delivery Methods | |||
| Strong Preference | Mild Preference | Not a Preferred Delivery Method | |
| Classroom in-person | 75.5% | 21.1% | 3.4% |
| 2-way video/webinar (interactive) | 27.7% | 55.5% | 16.8% |
| Non-interactive video/DVD/CD/webinar | 17.7% | 48.7% | 33.5% |
| Printed material | 15.3% | 48.0% | 36.7% |
- 30% of respondents indicated they were very likely to participate in a CE course offered via interactive 2-way video/webinar from the AFS annual meeting, if it addressed a topic of interest and they were unable to attend the meeting in person.
| Likelihood of Participating in a CE Course through Distance Education | ||||
| Very Likely | Somewhat Likely | Not Very Likely | Not at all Likely | |
| 2-way video/webinar (interactive) | 30.2% | 50.2% | 14.4% | 5.2% |
| Non-interactive video/DVD/CD/webinar | 22.7% | 46.1% | 23.1% | 8.1% |
- More than half of respondents indicated that being able to attend a CE course in person and having their employer pay for the course were very important factors in determining their participation.
| Factors Affecting CE Participation | ||||
| Very Important | Somewhat Important | Not Very Important | Not at all Important | |
| Being able to attend in person | 52.7% | 35.9% | 8.9% | 2.5% |
| Length is less than or equal to one day | 25.7% | 42.4% | 25.6% | 6.3% |
| Workshop length is greater than one day | 7.8% | 30.7% | 46.3% | 15.1% |
| Cost of tuition | 45.5% | 43.6% | 9.0% | 1.9% |
| Having employer pay | 54.1% | 32.3% | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| Held in association with professional conference | 20.4% | 44.0% | 24.3% | 11.3% |
- Keeping up with the latest information/techniques far surpassed other reasons in importance for participating in CE courses. Earning or maintaining certification had little or no importance to a majority of respondents.
| Reasons for Participation | ||||
| Very Important | Somewhat Important | Not Very Important | Not at all Important | |
| To aid in career advancement | 44.9% | 30.1% | 17.5% | 7.5% |
| To keep up with the latest information/techniques | 77.6% | 20.9% | .9% | .5% |
| To network with other professionals that share interests | 39.0% | 45.7% | 13.0% | 2.3% |
| To earn or maintain professional certification | 15.9% | 28.1% | 34.2% | 21.8% |
