Unraveling the Mediating Factors in Agricultural Training Transfer for Ugandan Extension Workers
Abstract
Purpose: This paper investigated the mediation role of transfer work environment and training design on training transfer of agricultural management skills on the population of extension. Work environment and training design are expected to mediate the relationship between trainee characteristics (independent variables) and the transfer of training (dependent variable). Methodology: Data was collected from 281 agricultural extension workers who completed training on holistic agricultural management skills training programs at Makerere universities. This was achieved through a survey questionnaire anchored on a 5-point Likert scale and analyzed using Structural equation modelling using Analysis of Moment of Structures. Findings: Based on the results; we established a positive significant relationship between trainee characteristics, work environment, training design and perceived training transfer as insinuated by the Learning Transfer System Inventory. Additionally, the work environment and training design of extension workers partially mediate the relationship between trainee characteristics and perceived training transfer as well as training design between work environment and perceived training transfer. Implications: To optimize training outcomes, attention should not only be given to individual trainee characteristics but also to the conducive work environment and well-designed training programs. Fostering a supportive work context and tailoring training designs to align with organizational needs become crucial strategies.
Downloads
References
Baldwin, T. T., & Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of training: A review and directions for future research. Personnel Psychology, 41(1), 63-105.
Bates, R., Holton III, E. F., & Hatala, J. P. (2012). A revised learning transfer system inventory: factorial replication and validation. Human Resource Development International, 15(5), 549-569.
Bhat, Z. H., Mir, R. A., Rameez, R., & Rainayee, R. A. (2022). The influence of learner characteristics, instructional design and work environment on the transfer of training. Industrial and Commercial Training, 54(4), 566-588.
Blume, B. D., Ford, J. K., Baldwin, T. T., & Huang, J. L. (2010). Transfer of training: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Management, 36(4), 1065-1105.
Brad Harris, T., Chung, W., M. Hutchins, H., & S. Chiaburu, D. (2014). Do trainer style and learner orientation predict training outcomes? Journal of Workplace Learning, 26(5), 331-344.
Tonhäuser, C., & Büker, L. (2016). Determinants of transfer of training: A comprehensive literature review. International journal for research in vocational education and training, 3(2), 127-165.
Burke, L. A., & Hutchins, H. M. (2007). Training transfer: An integrative literature review. Human resource development review, 6(3), 263-296.
Burke, L. A., & Hutchins, H. M. (2008). A study of best practices in training transfer and proposed model of transfer. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 19(2), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.1230
Celestin, B. N., & Yunfei, S. (2018). The impact of learner characteristics on training transfer expectation: A survey of Thai teachers’ perception of cloud computing tools. International Journal of Training and Development, 22(4), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12137
Chapagain, R. K., Gurung, S. K., Ranabhat, D., Adhikari, S., & Gurung, P. (2022). Relationship Between Training Effectiveness and Work Performance: Mediation of Workplace Environment. Quest Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 4(1), 58-70.
Chauhan, R., Ghosh, P., Rai, A., & Kapoor, S. (2017). Improving transfer of training with transfer design. Journal of Workplace Learning, 29(4), 268–285. https://doi.org/10.1108/jwl-08-2016-0079
Chauhan, R., Ghosh, P., Rai, A., & Shukla, D. (2016). The impact of support at the workplace on transfer of training: A study of an Indian manufacturing unit. International Journal of Training and Development, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12083
Cheng, E. W., & Hampson, I. (2008). Transfer of training: A review and new insights. International journal of management reviews, 10(4), 327-341.
Chin, S. C. (2013). Knowledge transfer: what, how, and why. University of Iowa.
Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Noe, R. A. (2000). Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: a meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(5), 678.
David, McKenzie. (2020). Small Business Training to Improve Management Practices in Developing Countries: Reassessing the Evidence for 'Training Doesn’t Work'. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, doi: 10.1093/OXREP/GRAB002
Fuller, C. M., Simmering, M. J., Atinc, G., Atinc, Y., & Babin, B. J. (2016). Common methods variance detection in business research. Journal of business research, 69(8), 3192-3198.
Gegenfurtner, A. (2011). Motivation and transfer in professional training: A meta-analysis of the moderating effects of knowledge type, instruction, and assessment conditions. Educational research review, 6(3), 153-168.
Gegenfurtner, A. (2011). Motivational influences on transfer: Dimensions and boundary conditions.
Govaerts, N., Kyndt, E., & Dochy, F. (2018). The Influence of Specific Supervisor Support Types on Transfer of Training: Examining the Mediating Effect of Training Retention. Vocations and Learning, 11(2), 265–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-017-9190-y
Grossman, R., & Salas, E. (2011). The transfer of training: what really matters. International journal of training and development, 15(2), 103-120.
Hair Jr, J. F., Matthews, L. M., Matthews, R. L., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). PLS-SEM or CB-SEM: updated guidelines on which method to use. International Journal of Multivariate Data Analysis, 1(2), 107-123
Hamilton-Webb, A., Manning, L., Naylor, R., & Conway, J. (2017). The relationship between risk experience and risk response: a study of farmers and climate change. Journal of Risk
Holton III, E. F., Bates, R. A., & Ruona, W. E. (2000). Development of a generalized learning transfer system inventory. Human resource development quarterly, 11(4), 333-360.
Islam, T., Khan, M. M., Khawaja, F. N., & Ahmad, Z. (2017). Nurses’ reciprocation of perceived organizational support: The moderating role of psychological contract breach. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 10(2), 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-12-2016-0023
Kiwanuka, J., Miiro, R. F., Matsiko, F. B., & Nkalubo, S. (2020). Using the Learning Transfer System Inventory to test the effects of trainee and training design characteristics on the transfer of agricultural training in Uganda. International Journal of Training and Development, 24(4), 374–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.12202
Kock, F., Berbekova, A., & Assaf, A. G. (2021). Understanding and managing the threat of common method bias: Detection, prevention and control. Tourism Management, 86, 104330.
Kula, S. (2017). Occupational stress, supervisor support, job satisfaction, and work-related burnout: Perceptions of Turkish National Police (TNP) members. Police Practice and Research, 18(2), 146– 159. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2016.1250630
Lathabhavan, R., & HL, C. (2023). The mediating effects of work conditions on the relationship between intrinsic motivators and training transfer. The Learning Organization.
Lathabhavan, R., & HL, C. (2023). The mediating effects of work conditions on the relationship between intrinsic motivators and training transfer. The Learning Organization.
McKenzie, David. (2020). Small Business Training to Improve Management Practices in Developing Countries: Reassessing the Evidence for 'Training Doesn’t Work'. Oxford Review of Economic Policy. doi: 10.1093/OXREP/GRAB002
Miiro, R. F., Mazur, R. E., & Matsiko, F. B. (2012). Factors in the Transfer of Governance-Facilitation Skills within Farmers’ Marketing Organizations in Uganda. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 18(3), 231– 245. https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2012.670051
Miiro, R., Kiwanuka, J., Matsiko, F., & Ugen, M. (2023). Performance self-efficacy and training transfer: The mediating effects of training design and motivation to transfer among farmer trainees in Uganda. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 1-18.
Muduli, A., & Raval, D. (2018). Examining the role of work context, transfer design and transfer motivation on training transfer: Perspective from an Indian insurance industry. European Journal of Training and Development, 42(3/4), 266-282.
Muthoni, R. A., & Miiro, R. F. (2016). What influences transfer of training in an African agricultural research network? The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 8622(July), 1– 15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2016.1207550
Nafukho, F. M., Alfred, M., Chakraborty, M., Johnson, M., & Cherrstrom, C. A. (2017). Predicting workplace transfer of learning: A study of adult learners enrolled in a continuing professional education training program. European Journal of Training and Development, 41(4), 327-353.
Nafukho, F. M., Irby, B. J., Pashmforoosh, R., Lara-Alecio, R., Tong, F., Lockhart, M. E., ... & Wang, Z. (2023). Training design in mediating the relationship of participants’ motivation, work environment, and transfer of learning. European Journal of Training and Development, 47(10), 112-132.
Nijman, D. J. J. M., Nijhof, W. J., Wognum, A. A. M., & Veldkamp, B. P. (2006). Exploring differential effects of supervisor support on transfer of training. Journal of European Industrial Training, 30(7), 529–549. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590610704394
Park, S., Kim, E. J., & Kang, H. S. (2017). Does supervisor support make a difference in employees’ training and job performance? In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2017, No. 1, p. 11418). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Park, Y., Lim, D. H., & Lee, J. (2022). Moderating effect of career planning on job support and motivational process of training transfer. European Journal of Training and Development, 46(1/2), 194-213.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879.
Rebecca, E., & Sangarandeniya, Y. M. S. W. V. (2023). The Impact of Trainee Characteristics, Training Design, and Work Environment on the Transfer of Training: A Study of Executive Level Employees of a Selected Tea Manufacturing Company in Sri Lanka.
Reinhold, S., Gegenfurtner, A., & Lewalter, D. (2018). Social support and motivation to transfer as predictors of training transfer: testing full and partial mediation using meta‐analytic structural equation modelling. International Journal of Training and Development, 22(1), 1-14.Research, 20(11), 1379-1393.
Rouiller, J. Z., & Goldstein, I. L. (1993). The relationship between organizational transfer climate and positive transfer of training. Human resource development quarterly, 4(4), 377-390.
Sahoo, M. (2019). Structural equation modeling: Threshold criteria for assessing model fit. In Methodological issues in management research: Advances, challenges, and the way ahead (pp. 269-276). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Saks, A. M., & Burke‐Smalley, L. A. (2014). Is transfer of training related to firm performance? International Journal of Training and Development, 18(2), 104-115.
Salahuddin, S., Mehar, Q., & Kazi, H. (2020). Factors influencing transfer of training: Empirical evidence from public sector schools Hyderabad Pakistan. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 13(18), 1796-1802.
Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. A. (2001). The science of training: A decade of progress. Annual review of psychology, 52(1), 471-499.
Shaddad, Ahmed, Naji. (2020). The importance of Training Programs in the Development of performance of Employees and Companies: A review of Related Concepts. doi: 10.31305/RRIJM.2020.V05.I10.008
Tannenbaum, S. I., & Yukl, G. (1992). Training and development in work organizations. Annual review of psychology, 43(1), 399-441.
Thakkar, J. J., & Thakkar, J. J. (2020). Applications of structural equation modelling with AMOS 21, IBM SPSS. Structural Equation Modelling: Application for Research and Practice (with AMOS and R), 35-89.
Tonhäuser, C., & Büker, L. (2016). Determinants of transfer of training: A comprehensive literature review. International journal for research in vocational education and training, 3(2), 127-165.
Twase, I., Miiro, R. F., Matsiko, F., Ndaula, S., & Ssamula, M. (2022). Mediation of perceived content validity on motivation and training transfer among smallholder farmers in Central Uganda. International journal of training and development, 26(1), 55-68.
Velada, R., Caetano, A., Bates, R., & Holton, E. (2009). Learning transfer–validation of the learning transfer system inventory in Portugal. Journal of European Industrial Training, 33(7), 635-656.
Velada, R., Caetano, A., Michel, J. W., Lyons, B. D., & Kavanagh, M. J. (2007). The effects of training design, individual characteristics and work environment on transfer of training. International Journal of Training and Development, 11(4),
Watkins, M. W. (2018). Exploratory factor analysis: A guide to best practice. Journal of Black Psychology, 44(3), 219-246.
Yaqub, Y., Singh, A. K., & Dutta, T. (2021). An empirical study of factors influencing training transfer in the management training intervention. Journal of Workplace Learning, 33(5), 361-374.
Zamani, N., Ataei, P., & Bates, R. (2016). The use of the Persian translation of the Learning Transfer System Inventory in the context of agricultural sustainability learning in Iran. International Journal of Training and Development, 20(1), 92-104.
Zhang, H., Chen, Y., & Li, X. (2020). A note on exploratory item factor analysis by singular value decomposition LSE Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/104166.
Zhao, X., Lynch Jr, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197-206.
Copyright (c) 2025 Pontious Mubiru Mukasa, Richard Miiro, Bernard Obaa, Henry Mutebi, James Kizza, Joseph Kiwanuka

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.