Risdon, Penny2014-03-142014-03-141990etd-07282008-135503http://hdl.handle.net/10919/38969Staff of the Cooperative Extension Service develops and distributes educational publications to inform the public of practical applications of research information. However, many of these publications are written in a technical style that makes them difficult for the average 4-H member and adult leader to understand the subject matter presented. The purpose of this study was to investigate a systematic process for improving the understanding or comprehensibility of these educational publications. A model of a publication development process based on learning principles was created. This study investigated the effectiveness of the model with Extension subject-matter specialists developing publications for 4-H youth. Specifically, this study was conducted in three parts: the model of the text-development process was taught to subject-matter specialists; the specialists in turn used the model to develop educational texts for 4-H youth; and finally comprehensibility testing of the text passages produced by the specialists with 4-H youth members and adult leaders was conducted. This study confirmed that the utilization of learning principles within the text-development process can improve the comprehensibility of subject matter information presented in Extension educational publications.vii, 113 leavesBTDapplication/pdfenIn CopyrightLD5655.V856 1990.R5774-H clubsAgricultural education -- Information servicesTextbooks -- ReadabilityDissertationhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-07282008-135503/