Search Results for
"Vocational education"

This study, to determine an efficient instructional design for different level of spatial ability, investigated 1) the main effect of visual treatments in simulation environments on comprehension and transfer of chemistry knowledge and 2) the interaction effects of the visual treatments and learners' spatial ability. Two hundred fifty-seven middle school students were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions. The results indicated 1) a significant main effect of treatment condition for both comprehension (p < .001) and transfer (p < .005) tests, the treatment group performed better than the control group and 2) the significant interaction effect (p < .05) between the instructional treatment conditions and level of spatial ability on the comprehension test: Low spatial ability learners performed better under the treatment group than the control group, whereas high spatial ability learners performed similarly regardless of the instructional conditions.

The purpose of this article is to examine how accurate pessimistic accounts of the school-to-work transition are, given the substantial decline in unemployment since the 1991/93 recession. This examination is limited to young people who did not go to university, a group which is more likely to be experiencing problematic school-to-work transitions. The analyses use data from the first eight waves of data from the 1995 Year 9 cohort in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) project. In the years after leaving school, an increasing majority are in full-time work and there is considerable movement into full-time work from part-time work and unemployment. Furthermore, each year full-time workers show increases in job status and earnings. Only a small minority of non-university bound youth have problematic school-to-work transitions. These analyses also suggest that the policy emphasis on increasing participation in vocational education is misplaced. Except for apprenticeships and then only among males, vocational education does not appear to promote full-time employment. © 2005 The Australian Sociological Association.

The development of optometric education and the establishment of formal tertiary educational programs in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are described. The various types of degree and diploma programs from medical and technological universities are differentiated. The definition of optometry, as it is understood by the regulatory bodies and the populace, is discussed. There is more diversity in optometric programs within and across Greater China than among some nations. However, due to cultural and linguistic similarities, interactions and interchanges among institutions/associations at regular intervals are of immense value in harmonising the differences in educational programs and professional practices. Exchange programs, conferences and seminars further enhance the educational standards by exchanging technical knowledge and good clinical practices.

[No abstract available]

Processes and conditions of production may produce unhealthy effects. Both must therefore be included in the education of health care personnel. vocational training in occupational health at Kocaeli University Medical School, Turkey aims to demonstrate students that occupational health is a specific and important area of work within the context of primary health care. This research is a cross-sectional study. It was planned as a three stage study: 1- reviewing literature and grouping of countries according to their occupational health curricula; 2- reviewing the occupational health programs of medical schools in Turkey, and 3- recommendations for an occupational health curriculum to include an occupational health vocational training period of one week in the two month public health education program for medical interns. During this experience, senior students would be assigned to workplace health units. Of 283 medical schools found on the web, with occupational health teaching, only 20 have a curriculum that includes training in workplace health care units. In Turkey, there is no structured practical education on occupational health. In the third part of this study, we initiated at Kocaeli University School of Medicine's curriculum, a new occupational health education model applied in the workplace health units of factories. Practical experience of occupational health in the workplace is useful in introducing the community-based approach to occupational health in undergraduate medical education and understanding the determinants of health in industry.

In this national sample of female carpenters (N = 411) who began their apprenticeship with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters during the 1990s in the United States, the author provides a profile of female carpenters' vocational interests (The Self-Directed Search). The vocational interests of 137 male carpenters also were gathered for comparison. The results indicate that the vocational interests of female and male carpenters are dominated by Realistic interests. These outcomes are supported by earlier work with the Strong Interest Inventory. The author suggests that test construction and sampling play a role in the controversy about gender bias in interest inventories. Copyright 2005 by the American Psychological Association.

Background: Traditionally, specialty vocational/residency training is totally done in tertiary care university-hospital settings, making it very difficult for specialty residents to learn about the joys and challenges of rural and regional patient care. Description: The University of Western Ontario's Multi-Specialty Community Training Network (MSCTN) was developed to provide specialty residents with the opportunity to do part of their postgraduate vocational training in rural and regional practice settings. The network involves 10 medical school departments/divisions and 7 rural/regional communities. From 1997 to 2004, 174 residents have completed 287 months of rural/regional training. Evaluation: Residents rated their overall learning experience at 6.41 on a 7-point scale. Nineteen of the 39 graduating residents have chosen to practice in rural and regional underserviced communities. Conclusion: Rural/regional specialty postgraduate vocational training rotations can provide excellent learning experiences. Preliminary results indicate that this exposure encourages many specialty residents to establish rural and regional practices. Copyright © 2005 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Professional life counselors will serve an increasingly important role in the life quality of global citizens in the 21st century. The optimal preparation of service providers will reflect basic principles of human development, professional helping, and educational processes. The dynamic systems appreciations of constructivism offer valuable scaffoldings for mentoring and apprenticeship in human helping. Suggestions are made for practical refinements in professional education. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Although most needlestick/sharps injuries (NSIs/SIs) research focuses on health care workers (HCWs), students in hospital internships are also at risk. Investigations that examined NSIsS/SIs in student populations generally studied medical rather than nursing students (NSs). In 1999, approximately 17,000 Taiwanese nursing graduates were exposed to the hazard of NSIs/SIs. We examined the frequency and mechanism of NSIs/SIs among vocational school NSs in southern Taiwan. Between July and December of 1999, within 1 week after the NSs completed their internship training, one of the researchers, who was a teacher in this vocational school, asked them to fill out questionnaires. Five hundred twenty-seven of 550 (92.6%) questionnaires were considered valid. Two hundred sixty-four of 527 (50.1%) responders sustained one or more NSIs/SIs. Ninety-six of 527 (18.2%) responders suffered contaminated NSIs/SIs. The average number of NSIs/SIs per student was 8.0 times/year (4.9 times/student/year for NSIs and 3.1 times/student/year for SIs). NSIs/SIs rates for NSs in 10-week and 4-week internships were significantly different (P =. 039): 53.3% versus 43.7%, respectively. The NSIs/SIs frequencies were influenced by length of internship: 7.3 times/student/year in 10-week internship and 11.7 times/student/year in 4-week internship. Logistic regression analysis indicated that length of internship rotation was statistically significant with respect to contaminated NSIs/SIs (OR = 1.682; 95% CI: 1.005-2.81; P =. 048). The NSIs/SIs frequencies of NSs were higher than those for HCWs. We found that frequency of NSIs/SIs for vocational school NSs is above average. Whether the young age of these NSs put them at greater risk for NSIs/SIs warrants further inquiry.

The development of the African workforce is at a critical moment. Wage employment in the modern sector is largely stagnant, with those unable to find these jobs left to pursue self-employment in the informal sector. Unemployment among urban youth is substantial and increasing. Much of the impact of HIV/AIDS has fallen on the educated and the skilled. What can African governments do to ensure that the workplace skills needed for growth and equity are taught and developed in a cost-effective way? Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa provides r elevant and useful knowledge that should help African leaders and donor agencies find answers to this question. An update of a World Bank Policy Paper on technical and vocational education and training (TVET), this review assesses a decade's progress on TVET development and reform. The study puts into an African context the Bank's earlier work on TVET, explores issues and recent developments, and reviews recent literature and policy studies. Without being prescriptive, the book provides a comprehensive review of the challenges facing skills development in Africa today and the lessons learned over the past decade. Based upon 14 thematic studie s covering 20 countries and 70 case studies, the volume provides a good starting point for the development of country policies and programs, including a strategic role for governments. The wealth of information specific to training in Africa should be of value not only to African leaders but also to countries in other regions that are facing similar challenges. Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa will be of great interest to policymakers, leaders, and international donors with a stake in skills development in the region.