


































Global Research in Higher Education 
ISSN 2576-196X (Print) ISSN 2576-1951 (Online) 

Vol. 8, No. 3, 2025 

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 

83 

 

Original Paper 

Research on Cultivating Agricultural Sentiment among 

University Students in Agricultural Colleges from the 

Perspective of Practical Skill Development—A Study Based on 

Questionnaire Survey and Counselor Perspectives at Qingdao 

Agricultural University 

Meixiu Li
1
, Lin Qi

1
 & Yao Song

2*
 

1
 College of Animation and Media, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China 

2
 College of Science and Information Science, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China 

 

Received: November 10, 2025   Accepted: November 21, 2025   Online Published: December 1, 2025 

doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n3p83            URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n3p83 

 

Abstract 

Against the backdrop of comprehensively advancing rural revitalization and accelerating the 

modernization of agriculture and rural areas, counselors in agricultural colleges shoulder the crucial 

responsibilities of ideological guidance and practical education. This paper adopts the counselor’s 

work perspective and uses practical skill development as a starting point. Through a questionnaire 

survey of 669 students at Qingdao Agricultural University, it analyzes the current status and practical 

challenges of cultivating students’ sentiment of “knowing, loving, and promoting agriculture” from 

three dimensions: agricultural cognition, labor experience, and curriculum practice. The findings 

reveal that while students generally have a basic interest in agriculture, their understanding is shallow; 

labor practice can effectively strengthen emotional identification, yet the existing practice system 

suffers from weak integration with students’ majors, monotonous formats, and insufficient depth of 

student participation. Based on the survey results and the nine core responsibilities of counselors, this 

paper proposes a three-dimensional “thought-practice-mechanism” pathway for sentiment cultivation, 

covering ideological value guidance, practice platform construction, integration of academic 

atmosphere and practice, and career planning guidance. The proposed pathway aims to enhance the 

effectiveness of ideological and political work in agricultural colleges and provide grassroots 

references for serving the rural revitalization strategy. 



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Keywords  

agricultural colleges, knowing-loving-promoting agriculture, practical skills, sentiment cultivation, 

counselor responsibilities, ideological-political work 

 

1. Introduction 

As the grassroots backbone of ideological and political work in agricultural colleges, counselors 

directly undertake the mission of moral education and talent cultivation for agriculture. General 

Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to “deeply nurture love for agriculture and master the skills 

to promote it”, which points the direction for counselors’ ideological education and value guidance. In 

practice, we find that sentiment cultivation still relies heavily on courses and policy briefings, with 

weak student agency and insufficient depth of practical participation, limiting the effectiveness of 

“knowing-loving-promoting agriculture” education. This paper, grounded in counselors’ daily work, 

uses questionnaire surveys and empirical analysis to explore a new cultivation pathway that uses 

practical skills as a vehicle, aiming to integrate ideological work more closely with students’ growth 

needs and improve the systematicity, affinity, and relevance of education. 

 

2. Research Design and Methods 

As an essential part of student work, this investigation was conducted through the counselors’ work 

platform. Questionnaires were distributed to all 17 colleges of the university, collecting 669 responses 

with a 100% effective recovery rate. The sample covers diverse genders, grades, and hometowns, with 

third-year students constituting the majority (71.75%) and rural students accounting for 64.87%. The 

questionnaire closely aligns with the dimensions that counselors focus on daily-academic development, 

practice participation, and career intentions-systematically examining students’ basic status in 

agricultural cognition, labor experience, and curriculum practice, thereby providing data support for 

targeted guidance and precise ideological work. 

 

3. Survey Results and Analysis of Student Work Realities 

3.1 Agricultural Cognition Is Foundational, but Value Guidance Needs Deepening 

The survey shows that 66.21% of students were interested in agriculture before enrollment, and 75.02% 

have a basic understanding of professional employment. However, nearly half of the respondents have 

limited knowledge of national rural revitalization policies, leaving conceptual gaps. Counselors should 

fulfill their responsibilities for ideological theory education and value guidance by using thematic class 

meetings, policy briefings, and exemplary role models to clarify the contemporary significance of 

“agriculture as the foundation of the nation”, thereby strengthening students’ conscious awareness of 

learning and understanding agriculture. 

 



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3.2 Labor Practice Enjoys Enthusiasm, yet Organization and Guidance Require Reinforcement 

After participating in labor practice, 86.50% of students recognized the hardships of agriculture, and 

66.37% expressed willingness to work in agriculture-related fields, indicating a solid foundation for 

practice-based education. Nevertheless, the design of practice activities is not tightly linked to students’ 

majors, which hampers depth of participation and sense of gain. Counselors should enhance the 

organization of second-classroom activities, shifting labor education from “experience-oriented” to 

“empowerment-oriented”, and develop “one institute, one product” practice projects that align with 

professional characteristics, thereby improving the professional relevance and educational effectiveness 

of practice. 

3.3 Curriculum Practice Provides a Platform, but Resource Integration and Mechanism Guarantees 

Are Insufficient 

Students commonly report a shortage of practice resources, monotonous formats, and weak connections 

to their majors. As supporters of student growth, counselors should actively participate in academic 

atmosphere building and coordinated practice teaching, promoting the establishment of a 

“student-teacher-society” three-party collaborative practice resource platform, assisting in the 

expansion of off-campus practice bases, and enhancing the real-world capacity and student engagement 

of agricultural practice. 

 

4. Recommendations for Sentiment-Cultivation Pathways Based on Counselor Responsibilities 

Based on the research findings and integrating the nine core responsibilities of instructors, the 

following working path is proposed to strengthen the student-centered approach, with the dual goals of 

providing ideological guidance and practical empowerment. 

4.1 Strengthen Ideological Guidance to Solidify the Belief Foundation of “Knowing Agriculture” 

Leverage responsibilities for ideological theory education and value guidance to embed “three-rural” 

values into daily ideological-political work. Organize activities such as “Rural Revitalization Lecture 

Hall” and “Agricultural Science Role-Model Face-to-Face” to tell agricultural stories and disseminate 

agricultural values; combine Party-League day events with themes like “I Represent My Hometown” to 

foster emotional identification and rational cognition of agriculture. 

4.2 Build Practice Platforms to Ignite Intrinsic “Love For Agriculture” 

Based on responsibilities for social practice, campus culture construction, and online ideological work, 

create a diversified and optional practice system. Establish “class practice commissioners” to 

encourage student-initiated agricultural practice projects; support student clubs in launching 

“Technology Mini-Yard Relay” and “One Village, One Product Assistance” projects, thereby 

strengthening students’ agency and organizational capacity in practice. 

 

 



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4.3 Deepen Career Counseling to Guide “Promoting Agriculture” Career Choices 

Implement career planning and employment guidance duties through a “Agricultural Career 

Awakening Program”, integrating knowledge of agriculture with professional development. Organize 

visits to agricultural enterprises, alumni sharing sessions, and interpretations of grassroots employment 

policies to boost students’ confidence in agricultural career prospects; set up “Agriculture-Promotion 

Employment Classes” to track and nurture students inclined to serve the grassroots, providing targeted 

resources. 

4.4 Perfect Incentive Mechanisms to Shape a Growth Atmosphere of “Responsibility for Agriculture” 

Combine comprehensive student evaluation and scholarship management duties to reform assessment 

methods, increasing the weight of practice performance and participation in agricultural projects in 

awards and honors. Establish special recognitions such as “Model of Knowing and Loving Agriculture” 

and “Rural Revitalization Practice Scholarship” to enhance students’ sense of achievement and 

belonging, cultivating a campus culture of “learning agriculture for agriculture, strengthening 

agriculture with my contribution”. 

4.5 Strengthening Psychological Support and Team Collaboration to Build a Robust Educational 

Community 

Leverage the educational functions of mental health education and team collaboration to monitor 

students’ psychological well-being during agricultural studies and practices, providing necessary 

psychological adjustment and developmental guidance. Enhance cooperation with professional teachers, 

entrepreneurship colleges, and social service offices to construct a “counselor-professional 

teacher-social mentor” tripartite collaborative educational network, jointly supporting students’ 

comprehensive growth on the paths of knowing, loving, and promoting agriculture. 

 

5. Conclusion 

Counselors in agricultural colleges stand at the forefront of ideological education and act as guides and 

companions for students becoming talents who know, love, and promote agriculture. Facing the new 

requirements of agricultural talent cultivation in the new era, counselors must proactively integrate 

their duties into the entire process of students’ practical ability and sentiment cultivation, upgrading 

ideological-political work from a “management-type” to an “empowerment-type”. By constructing an 

educational ecosystem that places students at the center, uses practice as the pathway, and relies on 

mechanisms for guarantee, we can truly lead students to forge their youth on the fertile soil of the 

countryside, realize value on the road of revitalization, and continuously supply youthful strength for 

building a strong agricultural nation. 

 

 

 



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Acknowledgement 

This work was supported by the Research Project on Ideological and Political Education at Qingdao 

Agricultural University. There are no conflicts of interest to declare. 

 

 

 


