The problem of a prepared workforce is perennial. Part of the challenge is one of supply and demand, as education systems attempt to produce graduates with the technical competencies required for the current jobs available. In the new service- and knowledge-based economy, however, soft skills are cited as a greater need by today’s employers. Increasingly sought across all industry sectors, these skills allow employees to work independently and interdependently, respond rapidly to customer needs, and adjust to changing market conditions. As a result, institutions of higher education are being called upon to infuse soft skills into their curricula. In this three-manuscript dissertation, first the implications for higher education, with Kentucky serving as a prime example, are assessed. Second, potential higher education predictors of success on a soft skills assessment—college admissions tests, grades, coursework, socioeconomic measures, and work-based learning—are examined through a quantitative study. Third, the importance of soft skills is considered in the context of capitalist societies and the purposes of education as a human endeavor. The case may be made that soft skills, rather than being a subset of workforce preparation or higher education, may be thought of as the fundamental intellectual tools of humanity.

Many high school students who want to attend college never actually enroll. Multiple factors like barriers (e.g., financial, discrimination) and poor academic achievement prevent some high school students from matriculating to college. Researchers must form a nuanced understanding of multidimensional factors that predict college enrollment. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the extent to which psychosocial academic behavioral skills (PABS) predict college enrollment in two and four year colleges. A cross-sectional, survey-based methodology was used to address the research questions. Data from operational research by ACT, Inc. using the Engage 10-12 instrument were used to analyze students’ psychosocial academic behavioral skills. Standardized test scores and high school GPA were used to measure academic achievement. College enrollment data were gathered from the National Student Clearinghouse. A large, diverse sample of over 4,100 high school students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade was analyzed using logistic regression and hierarchical generalized linear models. Select psychosocial academic behavioral skills demonstrated positive relationships with four-year enrollment. Relationships between PABS and two-year college enrollment were smaller than the observed relationships between PABS and four-year college enrollment. Bootstrapping was used to determine if psychosocial academic behaviors predicted college enrollment or if this effect was mediated via academic achievement. Moderation and partial mediation effects were observed. By understanding student characteristics related to college enrollment, researchers and policymakers are better equipped to help young people matriculate to postsecondary institutions.

Educators, researchers, and government officials have concluded that today’s students, at all levels of the educational system, are lacking in the skills needed to ensure their success in the workplace. This awareness is driving a movement to change educational curricula to include skills training in the areas of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Collectively, these areas make up what are called “21st Century Skills.” The question becomes how to develop a program that effectively teaches these skills to students and how to get that program implemented into a usable curriculum. This thesis asserts that the direct study and application of the framework and specifically identified processes of project management (i.e. the key fundamental elements) is an effective methodology for building a foundation upon which to teach students “21st Century Skills”. Using the term “direct study” means that students are explicitly taught key terms, concepts, and processes of project management and then instructed to implement them in a project. The distinction being made here is the belief that, whereas some types of skills are better learned by simply doing, introduction to 21st century skills should be prefaced with some amount of theory and discussion and then reinforced with practical application. Several of the student project management programs discussed in Chapter 3 offer data that backs up this assertion. Additionally, a course outline for a proposed high school curriculum to teach students the key fundamental elements of project management is included in Appendix A. / text

There is a growing call for more skilled workers-especially in the scarce skills of science, engineering and technology (SET). The current educational system is failing to address these issues, learners are being ill-prepared to cope with the demands of a society that has moved on; and learners are being prepared for a society that no longer exists in practice. In order to address this problem, this thesis calls for a greater emphasis on issues of digital inclusion, integration of whole communities, understanding of the dynamics of integrating ICTs into the classroom, exploring opportunities for the expansion of rapid-prototyping at school level and the promotion of digital literacy. Though this is not a definitive list, the researcher has developed working solutions to each of these issues, as presented in five journal articles. Investigations were conducted in the Tshwane area with male and female learners in both primary and secondary schools. The selection of the learners from both advantaged and disadvantaged institutions was left to the teachers. Design research was the main methodology adopted for this research. The investigations started in 200'1 and the bulk of the work was concluded between 2007-2010. Greater emphasis is placed on a qualitative approach with limited quantitative analysis. The findings of this research indicate the need to extend the scope of the investigation and to massify the different interventions. The pedagogical shift has been away from information transfer, towards using information communication technologies to promote creativity and innovation in a stimulating constructivist environment This has led to an opportunity to track learner involvement in SET events over their school careers and to identify talented individuals. In addition, the findings indicate that there is little difference between learners from advantaged and disadvantaged communities. Added to this is the development of a solution to address the digital divide through the creation of virtual interactive classrooms which can digitally include learners from geographically separated classrooms in remote communities. The strategic importance of ICTs, creativity and innovation are key components of a Human Capital Development strategy, especially at a time when there is a growing shortage of scarce skills in key areas. Post Grade 12 interventions are short term solutions that are not sustainable. This thesis calls for the establishment of a SET pipeline from grassroots level, in order to grow the feeder stock for a national system of innovation as a long-term investment in the future. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Despite 21st Century technology, our nation’s high schools deliver a print-centric curriculum driven by high-stakes tests. A majority of states have adopted Common Core State Standards that incorporate producing and consuming multiple media texts. Some teachers have begun to include multimodal activities but few are exploiting the affordances of multimodal composition specifically for the benefit of English learners. Public high school teachers hold deficit views of English learners and fail to offer them challenging, creative tasks. Framed by the complementary sociocultural theories of ecological linguistics (van Lier, 2004), multimodality (Kress, 2010), and identity (Gee, 2001; Norton, 2000), this qualitative case study examined the process and product of high school English learners composing multimodally with digital video. Four questions guided the study: 1) What can we learn from adolescent English learners engaged in composing with video? 2) What identities do adolescent ELs explore while engaging in multimodal communication? 3) What processes do ELs engage in as they compose multimodally? 4) How do their multimodal compositions contribute to our understanding of ELs? Participants were enrolled in an elective English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class at a public high school during Spring semester of 2012. Data included student generated lesson artifacts, audio/video recordings, researcher journal, and participants' video compositions. Data were analyzed through an ongoing, recursive cycle to determine themes, categories, and trends. Visual and video data were examined through visual discourse analysis (Albers, 2007b; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) and multimodal interaction analysis (Norris, 2004). Addressing the process and product of learning to read and compose visual and video texts, this dissertation examines 3 pairs of student participants and their video compositions. It reveals English learners working collaboratively and creatively, exploring imagined identities, showing investment in learning, engaging in critical analysis, and effectively communicating through multiple modes. Multimodal analysis of three student videos revealed four patterns of multimodal design; less is less, layered modes, less is more, and overlapping modes. The study redefines English learners as multilingual, multimodal communicators. It illustrates the complexity and reveals the benefit of incorporating multimodal activities and provides a model for fostering multilingual, multimodal communicators.

There is a growing call for more skilled workers-especially in the scarce skills of science, engineering and technology (SET). The current educational system is failing to address these issues, learners are being ill-prepared to cope with the demands of a society that has moved on; and learners are being prepared for a society that no longer exists in practice. In order to address this problem, this thesis calls for a greater emphasis on issues of digital inclusion, integration of whole communities, understanding of the dynamics of integrating ICTs into the classroom, exploring opportunities for the expansion of rapid-prototyping at school level and the promotion of digital literacy. Though this is not a definitive list, the researcher has developed working solutions to each of these issues, as presented in five journal articles. Investigations were conducted in the Tshwane area with male and female learners in both primary and secondary schools. The selection of the learners from both advantaged and disadvantaged institutions was left to the teachers. Design research was the main methodology adopted for this research. The investigations started in 200'1 and the bulk of the work was concluded between 2007-2010. Greater emphasis is placed on a qualitative approach with limited quantitative analysis. The findings of this research indicate the need to extend the scope of the investigation and to massify the different interventions. The pedagogical shift has been away from information transfer, towards using information communication technologies to promote creativity and innovation in a stimulating constructivist environment This has led to an opportunity to track learner involvement in SET events over their school careers and to identify talented individuals. In addition, the findings indicate that there is little difference between learners from advantaged and disadvantaged communities. Added to this is the development of a solution to address the digital divide through the creation of virtual interactive classrooms which can digitally include learners from geographically separated classrooms in remote communities. The strategic importance of ICTs, creativity and innovation are key components of a Human Capital Development strategy, especially at a time when there is a growing shortage of scarce skills in key areas. Post Grade 12 interventions are short term solutions that are not sustainable. This thesis calls for the establishment of a SET pipeline from grassroots level, in order to grow the feeder stock for a national system of innovation as a long-term investment in the future. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Esta tese apresenta movimentos e teorias que demandam a mudança de paradigma na educação básica. A adoção de métodos ativos de aprendizagem com uso de tecnologia digital é defendida como oportunidade para concretização da inovação desejada. O problema é definido com a identificação de barreiras para concretização da mudança em escala. A intenção de diferenciar a educação esbarra em limitações na formação e vivência de educadores em relação ao paradigma desejado e ao uso da tecnologia digital. Uma pesquisa ação participante foi conduzida em um centro social, com organização semelhante a uma escola, com objetivo de envolver educadores e gestores locais na construção de instrumentos e na melhoria de práticas educacionais a partir do uso de tecnologias digitais com métodos ativos de aprendizagem. A estratégia proposta foi estruturada sobre quatro elementos que fundamentaram intervenções para mudanças de práticas educacionais: Referencial de Habilidades do Século XXI como possíveis objetivos; aprendizagem por atividades; Rede Social com biblioteca individual no papel de ambiente virtual de aprendizagem; a construção de rubricas por parte dos educadores para detalhar, valorizar e monitorar novas dimensões de avaliação. A partir de uma análise situacional foram propostos ciclos de mudanças de práticas, onde atores locais se envolveram com o planejamento, implementação e análise de mudanças viabilizadas pelo uso de tecnologias digitais e alinhadas com os objetivos priorizados pela equipe local. Estes ciclos incluíram a construção de instrumentos destinados a facilitar e sistematizar as estratégias propostas. Os resultados mostram que as atividades planejadas e desenvolvidas pelos educadores evoluíram ao longo dos ciclos aproximando-se do paradigma desejado. A análise do uso da rede social aponta para o crescimento da autoria e expressão dos alunos, mas não apresenta evidências de interações que promovam a reflexão dos aprendizes autores. As rubricas mostraram-se valiosas para aprendizagem ativa dos educadores, porém apresentaram certa incompatibilidade com práticas construtivistas alinhadas com o paradigma desejado. A estratégia foi eficiente em provocar o desequilíbrio dos educadores e iniciá-los em práticas, reflexões e aprendizagem ativa sobre o paradigma desejado, porém várias limitações são apontadas para o uso da estratégia em grande escala. O desenvolvimento de sistemas digitais específicos para o apoio à mudança desejada é discutido e sugerido para estudos futuros. / This thesis presents moves and theories that ask for change of paradigm on basic education. The adoption of active learning methods with the use of digital technology is thought as an opportunity for the consolidation of the desired innovation. The identification of barriers to consolidate the change in large scale is presented as the research problem. The intention to differentiate education faces a barrier on educators limited education and experience on the desired paradigm as well as on the use of digital technology. An action participatory research was conducted on a social center, structured similar to a regular school, having as goal the engagement of local educators and coordinators on the design of instruments and on the improvement of educational practices enabled by the use of digital technologies with active learning methods. The strategy proposed was based on four elements that influenced the interventions for the change on educational practices: Framework on 21st Century Skills as possible goals; learning by activities; a social network with personal library on the role of digital learning environment; educators building rubrics to design, give value and monitor new dimensions for evaluation. Based on a situational analysis, cycles of change on practices were proposed on a way that local subjects got involved with planning, implementation and analysis of changes enabled by the use of digital technology and aligned with the goals selected by the local educational team. These cycles included the creation of instruments designed to facilitate and systematize the proposed strategies. The results show that the activities designed and implemented by the educators have evolved through the research cycles becoming better aligned with the desired paradigm. The strategy has proved to be efficient to unbalance the educators and start them in practices, reflections and active learning related to the desired paradigm, but in the other hand, some limitations were pointed out when considering the adoption of this strategy in a systemic way. The development of digital systems designed specifically to support the desired change is discussed and suggested for future studies.

abstract: In this action research, the need for high schools to embrace a pedagogical shift to teaching 21st century computer and online literacy skills is investigated. This study explored areas of secondary and higher education, technology usage, and online pedagogies, 21st century skill frameworks, and brain function as they pertain to learning and decision-making, with the aim of comprehending the differing high school levels of preparedness for college in regards to 21st century skills. Through literature reviews, a research was designed to further explore the specific areas of a discovered gap in high school students' 21st century skills for college. Pre- and post-unit surveys, in combination with student assignment scores, were complied and examined to reveal a weakness in academic habits and computer literacy skills associated with 21st century learning. The study results support literature review findings of a breach between high school 21st century skill levels and collegiate level necessities. With these findings, it is suggested that instructors become choice architects, giving them the unique ability to nudge high school policy makers and students towards identifying the gaps between the analog and digital worlds of academia, generating more successful students as they transition to university online courses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Design 2015

Esta tese apresenta movimentos e teorias que demandam a mudança de paradigma na educação básica. A adoção de métodos ativos de aprendizagem com uso de tecnologia digital é defendida como oportunidade para concretização da inovação desejada. O problema é definido com a identificação de barreiras para concretização da mudança em escala. A intenção de diferenciar a educação esbarra em limitações na formação e vivência de educadores em relação ao paradigma desejado e ao uso da tecnologia digital. Uma pesquisa ação participante foi conduzida em um centro social, com organização semelhante a uma escola, com objetivo de envolver educadores e gestores locais na construção de instrumentos e na melhoria de práticas educacionais a partir do uso de tecnologias digitais com métodos ativos de aprendizagem. A estratégia proposta foi estruturada sobre quatro elementos que fundamentaram intervenções para mudanças de práticas educacionais: Referencial de Habilidades do Século XXI como possíveis objetivos; aprendizagem por atividades; Rede Social com biblioteca individual no papel de ambiente virtual de aprendizagem; a construção de rubricas por parte dos educadores para detalhar, valorizar e monitorar novas dimensões de avaliação. A partir de uma análise situacional foram propostos ciclos de mudanças de práticas, onde atores locais se envolveram com o planejamento, implementação e análise de mudanças viabilizadas pelo uso de tecnologias digitais e alinhadas com os objetivos priorizados pela equipe local. Estes ciclos incluíram a construção de instrumentos destinados a facilitar e sistematizar as estratégias propostas. Os resultados mostram que as atividades planejadas e desenvolvidas pelos educadores evoluíram ao longo dos ciclos aproximando-se do paradigma desejado. A análise do uso da rede social aponta para o crescimento da autoria e expressão dos alunos, mas não apresenta evidências de interações que promovam a reflexão dos aprendizes autores. As rubricas mostraram-se valiosas para aprendizagem ativa dos educadores, porém apresentaram certa incompatibilidade com práticas construtivistas alinhadas com o paradigma desejado. A estratégia foi eficiente em provocar o desequilíbrio dos educadores e iniciá-los em práticas, reflexões e aprendizagem ativa sobre o paradigma desejado, porém várias limitações são apontadas para o uso da estratégia em grande escala. O desenvolvimento de sistemas digitais específicos para o apoio à mudança desejada é discutido e sugerido para estudos futuros. / This thesis presents moves and theories that ask for change of paradigm on basic education. The adoption of active learning methods with the use of digital technology is thought as an opportunity for the consolidation of the desired innovation. The identification of barriers to consolidate the change in large scale is presented as the research problem. The intention to differentiate education faces a barrier on educators limited education and experience on the desired paradigm as well as on the use of digital technology. An action participatory research was conducted on a social center, structured similar to a regular school, having as goal the engagement of local educators and coordinators on the design of instruments and on the improvement of educational practices enabled by the use of digital technologies with active learning methods. The strategy proposed was based on four elements that influenced the interventions for the change on educational practices: Framework on 21st Century Skills as possible goals; learning by activities; a social network with personal library on the role of digital learning environment; educators building rubrics to design, give value and monitor new dimensions for evaluation. Based on a situational analysis, cycles of change on practices were proposed on a way that local subjects got involved with planning, implementation and analysis of changes enabled by the use of digital technology and aligned with the goals selected by the local educational team. These cycles included the creation of instruments designed to facilitate and systematize the proposed strategies. The results show that the activities designed and implemented by the educators have evolved through the research cycles becoming better aligned with the desired paradigm. The strategy has proved to be efficient to unbalance the educators and start them in practices, reflections and active learning related to the desired paradigm, but in the other hand, some limitations were pointed out when considering the adoption of this strategy in a systemic way. The development of digital systems designed specifically to support the desired change is discussed and suggested for future studies.

Esta tese apresenta movimentos e teorias que demandam a mudança de paradigma na educação básica. A adoção de métodos ativos de aprendizagem com uso de tecnologia digital é defendida como oportunidade para concretização da inovação desejada. O problema é definido com a identificação de barreiras para concretização da mudança em escala. A intenção de diferenciar a educação esbarra em limitações na formação e vivência de educadores em relação ao paradigma desejado e ao uso da tecnologia digital. Uma pesquisa ação participante foi conduzida em um centro social, com organização semelhante a uma escola, com objetivo de envolver educadores e gestores locais na construção de instrumentos e na melhoria de práticas educacionais a partir do uso de tecnologias digitais com métodos ativos de aprendizagem. A estratégia proposta foi estruturada sobre quatro elementos que fundamentaram intervenções para mudanças de práticas educacionais: Referencial de Habilidades do Século XXI como possíveis objetivos; aprendizagem por atividades; Rede Social com biblioteca individual no papel de ambiente virtual de aprendizagem; a construção de rubricas por parte dos educadores para detalhar, valorizar e monitorar novas dimensões de avaliação. A partir de uma análise situacional foram propostos ciclos de mudanças de práticas, onde atores locais se envolveram com o planejamento, implementação e análise de mudanças viabilizadas pelo uso de tecnologias digitais e alinhadas com os objetivos priorizados pela equipe local. Estes ciclos incluíram a construção de instrumentos destinados a facilitar e sistematizar as estratégias propostas. Os resultados mostram que as atividades planejadas e desenvolvidas pelos educadores evoluíram ao longo dos ciclos aproximando-se do paradigma desejado. A análise do uso da rede social aponta para o crescimento da autoria e expressão dos alunos, mas não apresenta evidências de interações que promovam a reflexão dos aprendizes autores. As rubricas mostraram-se valiosas para aprendizagem ativa dos educadores, porém apresentaram certa incompatibilidade com práticas construtivistas alinhadas com o paradigma desejado. A estratégia foi eficiente em provocar o desequilíbrio dos educadores e iniciá-los em práticas, reflexões e aprendizagem ativa sobre o paradigma desejado, porém várias limitações são apontadas para o uso da estratégia em grande escala. O desenvolvimento de sistemas digitais específicos para o apoio à mudança desejada é discutido e sugerido para estudos futuros. / This thesis presents moves and theories that ask for change of paradigm on basic education. The adoption of active learning methods with the use of digital technology is thought as an opportunity for the consolidation of the desired innovation. The identification of barriers to consolidate the change in large scale is presented as the research problem. The intention to differentiate education faces a barrier on educators limited education and experience on the desired paradigm as well as on the use of digital technology. An action participatory research was conducted on a social center, structured similar to a regular school, having as goal the engagement of local educators and coordinators on the design of instruments and on the improvement of educational practices enabled by the use of digital technologies with active learning methods. The strategy proposed was based on four elements that influenced the interventions for the change on educational practices: Framework on 21st Century Skills as possible goals; learning by activities; a social network with personal library on the role of digital learning environment; educators building rubrics to design, give value and monitor new dimensions for evaluation. Based on a situational analysis, cycles of change on practices were proposed on a way that local subjects got involved with planning, implementation and analysis of changes enabled by the use of digital technology and aligned with the goals selected by the local educational team. These cycles included the creation of instruments designed to facilitate and systematize the proposed strategies. The results show that the activities designed and implemented by the educators have evolved through the research cycles becoming better aligned with the desired paradigm. The strategy has proved to be efficient to unbalance the educators and start them in practices, reflections and active learning related to the desired paradigm, but in the other hand, some limitations were pointed out when considering the adoption of this strategy in a systemic way. The development of digital systems designed specifically to support the desired change is discussed and suggested for future studies.