Enrollment in online courses has outpaced overall university enrollment for the past several years. The growth of online courses does not appear to be slowing. The purpose of this study was to compare course completion and student academic performance between online and traditional courses. Archival data from the host university student records system was collected using the Structured Query Language. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze student characteristics. Chi-square analysis was used to determine if statistically significant differences existed between students enrolled in online and traditional courses when comparing course completion and academic performance. Analysis found statistically significant differences existed in both course completion and academic performance for students enrolled in online versus traditional courses. Additional analysis indicated statistically significant differences existed in course completion by course discipline.

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Iowa FFA members were surveyed to determine if a significant relationship existed between their selfperceived youth leadership and life skills development scores and their participation in youth leadership activities. This study was patterned after research done by Dormody and Seevers (I 994) of New Mexico State University. Responses were received from 316 Iowa FFA members. Iowa FFA members' Youth Leadership And Life Skill Development Scale (YLLSDS) scores ranged from 0 to 90 with a composite mean of 62.6. The three highest shill means were observedfor the YLLSDS items "getting along with others, " "respect others, " and 'Show a responsible attitude. " FFA members participated most actively in chapter meetings, fundraising and chapter banquets. Respondents indicated the highest leadership opportunities for nonFFA activities occurred through participation in sports, church groups, and after school jobs. The strongest relationship existed between YLLSDS scores and FFA leadership activities followed by years of membership in FFA, age, jobs, achievement expectancy, club officer, church groups, and class officer. A total of 22.26% of the variance in YLLSDS scores was explained by a combination ofparticipation in FFA leadership activities, after school jobs, years in the FFA, self-reported cumulative grades, and gender. The development of agricultural leadership skills has been one of the primary aims of the National FFA Organization since its inception in 1928. Among the primary purposes of this agricultural youth organization is the development of skills in communications, human relations, social abilities, citizenship, cooperation, and resource management (Official FFA Manual, 1993). As an intracunicular tool, the National FFA has had a successful and lasting impact for most youth in an agricultural education program. William Brock, Chairman of the Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS, 1992), passionately wrote about the urgency for all educational programs to address the needs (other than academic) of students and society. Brock (1992) wrote, "there is much more to life than earning a living, and we want more from education than productive workers. We want citizens who can discharge the responsibilities that go with living in a democratic society and with becoming parents" (p. 4). In essence, the SCANS Report addressed the need for leadership training and the development of life skills needed by responsible, trustworthy adults. The 1992 SCANS Report identified workplace competencies needed by all workers, such as the ability to manage resources, work productively with others, acquire and use information, understand complex systems, and work comfortably with a variety of technologies (Brock, 1992). Competent workers will be characterized by their basic skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening), thinking skills (ability to learn, creative thinking, decision making, problem solving) and personal qualities (responsibility, self-esteem, self-management, sociability, integrity) (Brock, 1...

The purpose of this study was to determine agricultural education undergraduates '