Search Results for
"human"

Background: The pharmacy internship introduces students to pharmacy practice. An understanding of learning processes in the internship is vital for educators in order to develop activities that support learning. Aim: The aim was to analyse students'learning activities in a Swedish pharmacy internship from both students'and tutors'perspectives. Method: Interviews with pharmacy internship students (n=17) and pharmacist tutors (n=18) were performed, followed by a qualitative analysis. Results: The results showed that learning activities ranged from formal, organized activities to informal learning by participating in the professional community. There was a perceived lack of integration between formal and informal activities. Tutors and students acknowledged the influence of the context for learning and the importance of tutors for supporting learning. Conclusion: Both formal and informal learning activities have to be accepted and made explicit. Integrating formal and informal learning activities, using the full continuum of possible learning activities, can enhance learning. © 2011 FIP.

This article argues that vocational training can offer a positive experience for young people, one that potentially provides them with opportunities to show their potential in ways denied to them in general education. It outlines the centrality of vocational learning to human and societal development through an historical perspective. The considerable diversity of approaches to vocational training across the world means that it cannot be contained within the same boundaries as might apply to a discussion of school education or higher education. When discussed in relation to adolescents, vocational training is a controversial subject because it demands that we ask questions about the purpose of education for young people and the relationship between education and the world of work. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose a new trainee-oriented teaching method: "The Project Method". The aforementioned method highlights the important role of the experience of the training process and the links between training and the trainees' social life. Design/methodology/ approach - This method draws its origin from the American Pragmatism and the German "Project Education", while it is based on the principles of Gestalt and cognitive psychology. The application of the Project Method in vocational training is examined through the emotional intelligence skills, that a group of people has developed - and claimed so in a relevant questionnaire - in a seminar concerning the subject of Marketing. Findings - Through the Project Method's application, the trainees have developed their emotional intelligence skills, and have instilled new pedagogical ideas; providing long-run benefits to themselves, the enterprises, the society and the economy in general. Research contends that this method is efficient when there are no time constraints. Practical implications - While the focus is vocational training, the implications have a broader focus, enabling the Project Method to be applied to adults' education. Originality/value - This paper provides empirical results of the Project Method application in vocational training. The Project Method training provides the effective cooperation of the human resources that is of high importance for the efficiency and the profitability of the enterprises. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

In Malaysia, the education sector, in particular the private education sector has been expanding rapidly as a result of government policy in liberalizing the sector and to turn Malaysia as a centre of excellence in the educational provision within the Asian region. This subsequently requires a more competent and competitive workforce to spearhead the expansion of this sector. This article aims to investigate determinants of workers' competency, performance and competitiveness in the education sector so that future human resource development can be enhanced to produce a more competitive workforce. The analysis in this article is based on 567 executives/professionals in the private education sector in four major states, namely Selangor, Penang, Federal Territory and Johor. The study will compute the workers' competency and performance indices and use these indices to construct competitiveness index, and subsequently regress these indices on several determinant factors, which include human capital, employee attributes and personal characteristics variables. The linear regression model and Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) procedure will be used in the data analysis. Our analysis shows that most of the human capital variables and workers' attributes contributed significantly to workers' competency, performance and subsequently their competitiveness.

In this paper, we use unique firm-level data to calculate a monetary value of the firm-specific component of German apprenticeship training. We do this by comparing the initial productivities and wages of externally recruited and internally trained workers in the same job, occupation and firm. We argue that the resources needed to increase the productivity of externally recruited workers to the level of internally trained workers are an adequate measure of the firmspecificity of training. We also calculate the firm-specific component as a share of total investment in human capital during apprenticeship training. Our results support the view that German apprenticeship training is mainly general, with an average specific share of 12% of total human capital investments. The share, however, increases with firm size and differs between occupational fields.

Background: Having as main goal the development of a culture of professional excellence, the Family Medicine residency currently intends to correspond to the principles of adult learning approach, in which motivation for practicing is essential. Objectives: (1) To analyze the variability of Family Medicine residentes professional motivation, throughout the residency training; (2) To characterize Family Medicine residents perception about the support provided on training, during the residency; (3) To analyze the variability of Family Medicine residents perception about the support provided by the supervisor, throughout the residency. Method: Observational, quantitative and longitudinal study (2005-2008) of Family Medicine residents who participated in a survey on professional motivation. At the beginning of the residency in 2005 (N = 109) in Portugal, they were submitted to three assessment moments (n = 69) by a postal survey using a questionnaire with 57 Likert scale items, representing motivational variables - professional project, professional commitment, initial motivation, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy expectations, self-control expectati ons,assertiveness and perception of the support provided on training program. Descriptive statistics and analytic tests (ANOVA - GLM repeated measures) were used to study the variability of the cognitive dimensions (a = 0,05). Results: Although motivated to Family Medicine practice (response rate = 47.8%, at the study entry), the physicians professional motivation variability along the residency has presented slightly positive, at the end of the study, but not statistically significant. The physicians of our cohort responded by assigning a relatively high average levels in almost all items of the scale support provided on training during the residency, and its variation showed a positive trend, at the end of the study. Conclusions: This study produced results of an important phenomenon on which there is no published information in Portugal. It provides substantial evidence on the progression of professional motivation of this physicians' cohort and on their perception about strategies used by the supervisor. The structuring of residency program may include individual strategies aimed to increase the Family Medicine residents' motivation, with benefits for their performance.

This paper examines the perceived competence on agricultural tasks among graduating students in the School of Agriculture, North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa. This is based on the premise that the professional profile of an agricultural officer is made up of a number of competencies and knowing students' self-perceived level of preparedness in various employability skills would enable educators to identify competencies to be given priority in their curriculum and program planning. A simple random sampling technique (table of random numbers) was used to select 74 from a list of 94 graduating students in the School of Agriculture, 2010. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire covering selected personal characteristics and 60 agricultural tasks covering soil and crop science, animal science and health, agricultural economics and extension. Competency on agricultural tasks was measured using a Likert-type scale of not competent (1), slightly competent (2), competent (3) and very competent (4). The questionnaire was subjected to face validity and has a reliability coefficient of 0.90 using the split-half technique. Data were analyzed with SPPS 17 package using frequency counts and percentages. The results report high competence in most of the agricultural tasks covered in the study. The study concludes that competency-based curricula that reflect inter-program modules for all academic programs should be sustained.

Objective: Analysis of the problems of teaching nursing practice and nursing practice to establish a better education system. Method: Select two vocational colleges from Grade 2007 and Grade 2008 nursing students, the implementation of classroom teaching and assessment skills of individual units - mix of skills refresher training before practice and assessment - practical training and internship before graduation in three stages. Results: The implementation of the three stages of teaching nursing students in practice, skills test results and test results were significantly improved (P <0.05). Conclusion: three stages of professional nursing practice teaching system and improvement of teaching effectiveness for continuous improvement, there are significant results, which could be applied to promote the ability of nursing students and their human qualities © 2011 IEEE.