Imagining Rural Practice

Shu-Nung Yao and Li-Pei Peng
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Jia-Ling Lee
Shih Hsin University, Taipei, Taiwan

Chaoyun Liang
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that cultivating student imagination is necessary for addressing the dynamic challenges associated with developing and maintaining a globally-sustainable society. Therefore, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, 313 participants were surveyed for confirming the factor structures of two scales designed to assess imaginative capacity. In Study 2, 443 participants were recruited for examining the influence of imaginative capacity on rural practice. The duration of rural residence was treated as a control variable. Imaginative capacity consisted of three dimensions: conceiving imagination, initiating imagination, and transforming imagination. Rural practice comprised three dimensions: autonomy, isolation, and friendliness. Analyses indicated that conceiving imagination negatively predicted autonomy and positively predicted friendliness. Further, initiating imagination positively predicted autonomy, and transforming imagination positively predicted both autonomy and friendliness. This study contributes to an understanding of how the rural practice of agricultural students is influenced by their imaginative capacity.

Yao, S., Peng, L., Lee, J., & Liang, C. (2016). Imagining rural practice. Business Creativity and the Creative Economy, 2(1), 62-69. https://doi.org/10.18536/bcce.2016.10.2.1.06