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"Students"

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.

Though technology has become a supportive learning tool for students, it is still not sufficiently good in education. A number of experiences from our life, such as the sense of touch and that of smell, are difficult to construct on computer-aided projects. When teachers use technology-embedded project-based instructional material in classes, they must design new manners of teaching with computers. This study shows the evidence of more student-centered instructions and learning on computer-aided design projects. This capstone project is a framework for understanding the mode in which technology-embedded project-based learning enables the role of students to become active learners. This capstone project system is integrated computer-aided design to a project-based learning. Technically, this study primarily focuses on the development of technology-embedded project-based learning, and also shows the approach of e-learning because students are required to learn concepts by participating in the e-portfolio system. These findings could act as a reference for technical and vocational higher education instructors who consider computer-aided design to support their future teaching curricula. For students, this is a good approach for developing professional achievements and social skill learning. For educational institutions, they can use technology-embedded project-based instructions to review the technological qualifications of teachers. Applying computer-aided designs in a technology-embedded project will make technology efficient and appropriate in education.

Research on cooperative education is widespread; such studies in sport management are just as vital. This study examined student and host agency views on their actual (present behaviour) and optimal performance (desired standard) during practicum and analyzed the performance gap between present (actual) and optimal performance. Themes from journals written by 25 sport management students at an Australian university and 21 host agency evaluation reports, including nine in-depth interviews were analyzed. The data helped identify and compare perceptual differences and similarities between present behaviour and desired standard. The paper concludes with recommendations to improve the practicum experience in sport management. © 2011 Copyright European Association for Sport Management.

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.

The present work aims at identifying how an effective project-based learning approach, focused on meeting real product development needs of local companies, can be implemented. The main issue is determining how project-based learning can be successfully employed to ensure students acquire the skills and knowledge required by companies. Towards this end, we propose a model for co-education, materialized and validated in a final-year industrial design degree course, with student groups working in cooperation with local SMEs. The proposed approach differs from others in the literature in 3 key features: it is prescriptive, it considers the final result (not just the process), and it involves local companies throughout the development stages. The developed work represents a contribution to an improved understanding of project-based learning and co-education.

The article examines the effects of social background, gender and immigrant background on the attainment of competence in vocational upper secondary education. The analyses indicate that the mechanisms causing differences elsewhere in the educational system also seem to be present in the vocational branches of Norwegian upper secondary education. Groups that are performing well at other levels and branches of the educational system (e.g. students with highly educated parents) are those most likely to complete upper secondary vocational education. We find that students tend to choose similar educational fields as their parents. Vocational competence obtained through an apprenticeship is most common among students whose parents have a vocational education, whereas those whose parents have a higher education more often obtain qualifications for higher education. Girls aim for qualifications in higher education or school-based vocational competence, while boys obtain vocational competence through an apprenticeship or end up without obtaining competence. The gender differences are particularly noticeable in some immigrant groups, with girls from Pakistan, Turkey, Somalia and the rest of Africa highly overrepresented in the group that obtain school-based vocational competence. © UNIVERSITETSFORLAGET.

This article provides an overview of vocational education and training (VET) at the secondary level in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, describes the basic guiding principles of VET policies in these provinces and then examines how young people's trajectories may or may not be in harmony with these policy directions. We argue that although the socio-economic context and policy intents should favour increased participation in VET at the secondary level, a number of factors such as the perceptions of VET programmes, parental influence, levels of support for students and the attraction to employment, contribute to the relatively weak success of these programmes. The analysis is based on government documentation, statistical evidence and the results of a qualitative study conducted with high school dropouts in the province Quebec. In particular, the analysis of the semi-structured interviews conducted with young people who had abandoned VET (n = 22) indicates that when these programmes attract socially and educationally vulnerable young people, they may have important problems in ensuring program completion. Furthermore, the analysis draws attention to the pitfalls that may await young people who leave a VET program without obtaining formal qualifications. © 2011 Copyright The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

The transfer of nursing education into the higher education sector occurred over a ten-year period in Australia (1985 to 1994). Australian nurse leaders settled on a single outcome measure to be applied for all nursing graduates in the form of national competency standards. While this move enabled diversity, the lack of consistency in curriculum design has subsequently led to increasing confusion for clinicians who support students' learning in clinical placements. Using a shared critical reflection method, the authors reviewed (1) the evaluation comments from nurses in one nursing unit of a hospital in one Australian jurisdiction and (2) an historical review of nursing literature at the time of the transfer of nursing education into the higher education sector. The reflection suggests that the aim of the transfer, to create critical thinking graduates, has been undermined by the implicit clinical education practices that have since emerged. In order to address the contemporary challenges for clinical staff working with students from multiple universities, as well as increased student numbers to address the nursing shortage, we recommend a new approach to curriculum design: a national clinical curriculum drawn from social, as well as cognitive, learning theory that at once informs clinicians of students' potential abilities and provides the scope to accommodate the increasingly difficult and critical learning requirements of tertiary-based nursing students. © 1992-2011 eContent Management.

Polytechnic education in Ghana is an offshoot of technical and vocational education and training, which makes internship a sine qua non for its students. The implementation of internships in the departments of hotel catering and institutional management in Ghanaian polytechnics is examined in this study. The perceptions of the stakeholders suggest weak links between the educational institution and the hospitality industry leading to ineffective implementation, which culminates in a myriad of challenges faced by interns. Finally, suggestions from stakeholders for improvement to subsequent internships included preparedness to collaborate, internship time to be extended, and industry's and teachers' active participation in internship. © 2011 Copyright The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

An important way to improve access for groups that are under-represented in tertiary education is to facilitate the movement of students from vocational education and training to higher education institutions. However, there is substantial evidence of rigidities and obstacles to such a closer integration between these two sectors. This paper discusses the problems experienced by students currently articulating from vocational education and training to higher education institutions, identifies impediments to collaborative pathways and suggests measures for overcoming such obstacles. © 2011 Copyright 2011 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the L H Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management.