There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the 1973 and 1975 vocational business and office education graduates trained in the intensive office laboratory, the data processing laboratory, and the cooperative office education programs in Region VI of the State of Indiana. Tables were constructed to display aggregate and detailed data pertaining to:1. employment status of graduates2. reasons for graduate unemployment 3. length of time graduates have beenemployed4. satisfaction of the graduates withcurrent employment5. perception of the graduates of thehigh school vocational programs6. number of graduates continuing posthigh school training7. type of institutions serving thegraduates post high school trainingneeds8. occupational classification of the employed vocational business and office education graduates9. graduate participation in the Office Education Association.So that the purpose of the study could be met, all 577 vocational business and office education graduates were surveyed. The data was based on a return of 365 questionnaires or a 68.9 per cent return. A questionnaire was developed and field tested. After the graduates returned the questionnaire, questionnaires were mailed to the employers of the graduates employed in an office occupation to determine the validity of the data collected.Some of the findings are:1. Sixty-nine per cent of the graduates were employed, twenty per cent were not seeking employment, and eleven per cent were seeking employment.2. Over seventy-six per cent of the employed graduates were employed in office occupations and fifty-three per cent were still employed in the first employment position.3. Fifty-four per cent of the employed graduates were employed within the same geographic area where the vocational training was provided and forty-six per cent had been employed longer than thirteen months.4. Seventy-one per cent of the unemployed graduates had been employed since graduation.5. Twenty per cent of the employed cooperative office education graduates and twenty per cent of the intensive office education graduates were employed as secretaries.6. Twelve per cent of the data processing graduates were employed as computer operators and twelve per cent as key punch operators.7. Fifteen per cent of the employed graduates and forty-three per cent of the unemployed graduates were enrolled in post high school training.Based on the data, some of the conclusions are:1. The vocational programs currently underway must be meeting the needs of the graduates since more than ninety per cent of all vocational business and office education graduates within Region VI have been employed.2. Vocational programs are training students for employment positions which meet the desires of graduates since more than seventy-five per cent of the respondents working in office occupations were satisfied with the current employment position.3. The vocational programs must be providing the necessary training within the current vocational business and office education programs since more than ninety per cent of the graduates working in office positions indicated that they were adequately prepared for the position.Following are some of the recommendations of the study:1. A comprehensive longitudinal follow-up study should be conducted on the vocational graduates that follows the progression of the graduatesin and out of the labor market and post-secondary education institutions.2. Follow-up studies should be conducted every one and three years and a standard questionnaire should be adopted by the Indiana State Department of Public Instruction.3. A follow-up study should be conducted with the employers of the vocational graduates to ascertain the extent of employer satisfaction with the job competence and performance of the graduates.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of the study was to determine to what extent information processing was being taught to students enrolled in business education curricula of Indiana public secondary schools. A secondary purpose of the study was to examine constraints that were perceived to have hampered the inclusion of information processing in Indiana secondary business education instruction.A review of related literature and research was conducted in three major areas, (1) data processing, (2) word processing, and (3) information processing. A questionnaire was developed for use in surveying 120 secondary business education department chairpersons in Indiana. One respondent was utilized in each of 50 large comprehensive high schools, 50 small comphrensive high schools, and 20 area vocational schools. A total of 87 questionnaires or 73 percent of the questionnaires were returned. Tables were prepared to indicate frequency distribution and percentages of response choices for each item on the questionnaire.Among the findings of the study were the following:1. Data processing equipment was being utilized for businesseducation instruction in 35 percent of the schools and word processing equipment was being utilized in 50 percent of the schools. Micro-computers were more frequently used for data processing instruction than mainframe connected terminals.2. A higher percentage of business education students attending vocational schools received data processing hands-on experience than in comprehensive high schools.3. Data processing concept instruction was not provided to students in 38 percent of the schools; 33 percent did not offer word processing concepts instruction.4. Slightly more than one-fourth of all business teachers had necessary skills to teach on modern electronic equipment. However, 62 percent of schools had at least one business a teacher skilled to teach data processing and 75 percent had teachers skilled to teach word processing. Only four percent of all business teachers were currently taking courses in data processing and six percent were taking courses in word processing. Lack of funds and equipment was the most frequently given reason for not including word processing in business education curricula.Further research including a replication of the study and similar studies in other geographic areas should be conducted to ascertain the adequacy and growth of information processing instruction.