Thesis (M.A.)--Columbia Biblical Seminary and Graduate School of Missions, Columbia, S.C., 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-154).

The aim of this study is to review Taiwan’s training structure through a lens comparative study on the UK’s training approach for beauty professionals. Due to the distinctive differences between Taiwan and the UK, the methodological approach was designed differently for each in order to meet the aim and objectives. Apart from document analysis used for both countries, auto-ethnography was conducted in the UK; while in Taiwan observations and expert interviews were employed to identify the fundamental causes of the mismatch between education and industry. A strategy was proposed, based on the strong points identified from the UK, to improve the current structure of Taiwan. Three key features are identified from the UK that could be considered to alleviate Taiwan’s fundamental problems. They are respectively: National Occupational Standards, a Professional Body and a Quality Assurance process. Three key features are new to Taiwan, so that their implementation requires time and collaborative effort from the Taiwanese government, vocational education and industry. These features were embedded in three proposed models. Three models were proposed as a holistic structure to include all relevant stakeholders. The three models are the Service, Work Placement and Nurturing models. The impact of this study on Taiwan training structure will be substantial because it is the first step to bring all relevant stakeholders to communicate and interact through setting an agreed standard and through the treatment service framework provided by the Service Model. Secondly, the Work Placement Model provides a structure for assessment in workplaces to ensure that learning takes place in the workplace and to create an opportunity of knowledge sharing, allowing the theory to meet the practice. Thirdly, an overall Nurturing model of the training for beauty professionals is developed, with a professional body to provide a platform for all stakeholders, including government. Ultimately, everyone involved in the profession would be benefited and more importantly, the broad concepts and models might be of use to other domains.

Introduction: Competence has been a term subject to many interpretations over the years. This discrepancy in agreement is not due to the clash of minds but mostly the fruit of differences in expectations and legal requirements of local healthcare systems. As a result, the assessment of competence has been subject to dynamic changes with abundance of literature published to address its properties from different angles. This research project is designed to explore a number of unknowns: firstly, we aim to explore what it is meant by competence and compare it to how it is defined by the regulators. Once this is established, such expectations are to be compared to the expectations of the Educational Supervisors (ESs): the trainers who are in charge of training the newly qualified dentists. The next goal of this project is to shed light on how students perceive competence and explore the assessment methods that reflect such competencies best. Once known, these assessment methods will be explored in the national level to understand how they are implemented. The project also aims to explore if such assessment methods could be improved and finally, to examine if new assessment methods can be introduced to the field of medical and dental education with significant benefits and advantages. Methodology: A mixed-method approach was chosen, consisted of qualitative, quantitative and descriptive statistics. Results: Profile of a competent newly qualified dentist as described by the regulatory bodies, ESs and students was discussed. The most reflective assessment methods to illustrate students' competencies were identified and their use at national level explored. We looked at the bench marking of the OSCEs and where the line of competence is drawn, and finally, we developed a new mathematical model that can predict competence after observing a number of clinical encounters. Conclusion: Several conclusions and recommendations were drawn and discussed at their relevant chapter.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF LLENA CHAVIS, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in COUNSELING EDUCATION, presented on May 12, 2014, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. MOTHERING AND ANXIETY: AN EVALUATION OF THE ANXIETY LEVELS OF FIRST-TIME MOTHERS IN RURAL KENTUCKY AND RURAL MICHIGAN MAJOR PROFESSORS: Dr. Kimemia and Dr. Champe Postpartum depression is thoroughly addressed in professional literature, whereas anxiety in first-time mothers is generally addressed as a component of, or with, depression. This dissertation investigated anxiety as a phenomenon distinct from depression evaluated several variables that influence anxiety in first-time mothers. The question, how are maternal sense of competence and perceived social support related to first-time mothers' anxiety in a rural setting, when depression, socioeconomic status (SES), and marital status are controlled for was explored. The population studied in this research is made up of women with children 24 months or younger living in rural Murray, Kentucky, and rural Allegan City in Michigan. The constructs of maternal sense of competence and perceived social support were both found to be significant in explaining first-time mothers' anxiety.

In this study, I conduct a program evaluation of the International Cultural Service Program (ICSP), a scholarship program at University of Oregon which provides international students tuition remission in exchange for students giving presentations about their home country and culture in the local community and on campus. Through interviews, observations, and quantitative data, I assess ICSP’s impact on the community as well as the international students who participate in the program. After highlighting the research-based impacts of ICSP, as well as the program’s strengths and weaknesses, I provide recommendations for program improvement. This evaluation demonstrates that ICSP increases cultural awareness among ICSP students and community partners, positively impacts international student retention rates, and ultimately contributes to promoting peace across cultures—among a plethora of other benefits. This study incorporates best practices in program evaluation, and I conclude by providing a critique of the assessment process and suggestions for future studies.

Swedish schools have a democratic mission to instill democratic values and knowledge in students. When they graduate, students are meant to be democratically competent citizens. In upper secondary school, this mission is executed in the social studies classroom. This is the only context in which Swedish schools actively try to influence students’ democratic competence. At the same time, not all students take the same amount of social studies courses. The purpose of this thesis is to study the association between social studies and students democratic competence, and the possible limits of such a relationship. Does social science courses really predict democratic competence, even when taking other factors into account? And if the goal is democratic competence, how much social studies is enough? Since democratic competence is connected to voting-behaviour and trust in government it might be a problem if students are given unequal access to the courses where it is created. I hypothesized that social studies predicts democratic competence, and that there is a point during courses at which that relationship weakens. To test the hypothesis, a cross-sectional, quantitative survey study was conducted, using established instruments of measurement. The data was analyzed using regression models and analysis of variance, and results indicate that social studies predict democratic competence, and that students need to take three courses of social studies before the association with democratic competence weakens. Since most students take only one course of social studies during their time at upper secondary school, implications for the future of the democratic mission is discussed.

Title: Comparison of basketball coaches competencies with other sports. Objectives: The main objective of this diploma thesis was to compile a basketball coach's competence list and compare these competencies with demands on selected coaches of other sports. Semi- structured interviews with active basketball coaches as well as the literature were used to obtain desired competencies. Methods: This marketing research included both quantitative and qualitative methods. The collected data from questioning players and coaches was obtained via an electronic questionnaire. The 4 level-point Likert scale without central tendency was chosen for evaluating the importance of the collected data and a semi-structured interview with active basketball coaches had been used to obtain desired competencies. These competencies were categorized into clusters which, subsequently, made the interpretation of the results more transparent. Results: The results of the research identified the most important competencies for the profession of an "ideal" basketball coach. These competencies (20 of them in total) were chosen to take part in competency profile. The 3 most important competencies were following: "knowing the basketball rules", "fair-minded" and "ability to motivate". The comparison of basketball coaches...

People with disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds experience discrimination related to their multiple cultural identities. Complex organizational responses and workforce training are needed to effectively address the resulting inequalities they experience. Yet, there is little guidance about effective practices for organizations serving people with disabilities from CLD backgrounds. Similarly, little research exists about effective cultural and linguistic competence (CLC) training provided by such organizations. Chapter 1 details a scoping review study that identified 29 documents related to CLC for organizations supporting people with disabilities from CLD backgrounds. Frequency counts and a qualitative thematic analysis were used to describe those documents and their recommendations. Although 24 themes were identified that provide relevant organizational CLC recommendations, few of the reviewed documents attended to the intersection of disability and race/ethnicity, exhibited methodological rigor, or included perspectives of diverse people with disabilities. Often, recommendations in the identified documents lacked clarity and detail, and were therefore not easily translatable into interventions. In most documents, little attention was paid to standards or methods that could be used to evaluate the recommended CLC initiatives. A series of tables present the documents, their qualities, and 24 recommendation themes. Chapter 2 is an exploratory, holistic, and retrospective single-case study of CLC training provided by an interdisciplinary leadership training program. Multi-source interviews and review of archival data were used to research evidence of the presence of activities, content, and structure of infused CLC training in a year-long training program designed to develop leadership abilities in an interdisciplinary group of disability-serving professionals and advocates. Interviews were conducted with three course faculty and three trainees of the 2015-2016 training year. Archival data from the 2015-2016 training year contributed triangulation across type of data. Qualitative analysis and interpretation were performed by a diverse research team. The results and discussion are presented via thick description and illustrate a model of CLC training that seeks to acculturate trainees to a collaborative culture of humility, inclusion, and social justice via a learning community mechanism.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Digital inclusion, through the development of appropriate e-skills, is widely recognised as an essential means of capitalising on the opportunities presented by the information age for social and economic advancement. However, South Africa has not yet clarified its policy of digital inclusion. It has only just begun to tackle the challenge of developing an e-skilled society. As yet there is not an enabling e-skills framework and national implementation strategies are still at an early stage. The conceptual framework for the delivery of e-skills for digital inclusion specifically in the Western Cape of South Africa, which was developed as part of this study, could therefore make a substantial contribution to local research. Certain areas surveyed in this study have been overlooked, underestimated or have yet to be explored by local researchers, while existing research on related areas is generally fragmented and studied in isolation, despite the high interrelationship between the various areas. The conceptual framework that has been compiled offers a coherent holistic perspective, and depicts the logical flow from digital exclusion to inclusion in the Western Cape context. It identifies: (i) the groups most in need of focused inclusion efforts; (ii) significant barriers to inclusion; (iii) specific e-skill clusters for digital inclusion; (iv) guidelines for delivering these e-skills; and (v) the objectives of digital inclusion that the Western Cape should strive to attain. Each of these research areas has been investigated in the context of an on-going provincial e-skills for digital inclusion initiative, focused on training (largely marginalised) community e-centre employees. The qualitative research used semi-structured interviews with ten recently trained individuals, as well as three programme facilitators. Overall, digital inclusion in the Western Cape is conceived as a gradual process, initially concerned with achieving relatively basic objectives such as enabling citizens to access information and increasing the use of ICT in the province. It is envisioned that these short-term outcomes will eventually translate into longer-term advantages for individuals as well as the larger society. Having the appropriate knowledge and attitudes is as important for digital inclusion as having skills. Therefore the term ‘digital competence’ is preferable to ‘e-skills’. The competence areas include combinations of technical and cognitive abilities, the latter being more relevant to the broader inclusion impacts, yet more challenging to instil. These findings, which have been combined with strongly learner-centred guidelines, are presented in the conceptual ‘Digital Competence for Digital Inclusion’ framework. It is hoped that curriculum developers will give serious consideration to this framework and the recommendations contained in this study. It could form a useful basis for the development of digital inclusion throughout the country and e-skills related academic research.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Skills development policies in South Africa and further afield consider learning in and from the workplace as critical to the training of artisans at intermediate level. Since the inception of democracy, South Africa has become part of a globally competitive economic arena where highly skilled workers capable of engaging with new technology in a changing environment are increasingly required. Continuous innovation, it is held (Kraak, 1997), is dependent on the presence of two knowledge forms in society and work: an abundance of formal (scientific and technological) knowledge, and skilled worker 'know-how' or tacit knowledge. In the present system of technical and vocational education, theoretical learning and some practical skills are obtained in institutions, mostly in the recently renamed TVET colleges, while job specific training occurs through prescribed periods of work placement. In light of common assumptions about the value of workplace learning, this research was concerned with exploring whether, and how such learning is taking place. It sought to understand the methodologies, practices, and affordances available to learning in the workplace, from the perspective of candidate apprenticeship/learnership students. To this end this study employed a qualitative approach for investigating how candidates experienced and interacted with the 'real world environment' of the workplace. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposively selected sample comprising candidates engaged in programmes that necessitated a workplace learning component, namely, the apprenticeship and learnership in fitting and turning, motor/diesel and the auto electrical trades. Data analysis was undertaken using both Atlas ti software and manual methods for coding and identification of themes. Lenses used to describe and explain learning in the workplace included the conceptual frameworks of Engestrom‘s (1987) Activity theory; Vygotsky‘s (1978) notion of learning via the 'expert other' within a Zone of Proximal Development; and Lave and Wenger‘s (1991) theorising of situated learning in Communities of Practice. This triangular juxtaposition of complementary theories formed a richly informative explanatory system for my further exploration. As a qualified artisan myself I was familiar with the negative connotations of a historical 'sit by Nellie' approach, a phrase used to caricature the way apprentices learned in the past, by simply being passive observers of the experts. However, my findings were to reveal a vastly different picture of learning in this modern, visual and tactile age. Learners in this study experienced a range of learning modalities, methodologies and affordances that were reported in 'thick' descriptions, building a vivid picture of engagement and interaction. In addition to the abundance of learning opportunities candidates experienced, their responses revealed the indisputably central role played by 'expert others' in moving them towards competence – the expert artisan emerging as the quintessential didactic practitioner. This thesis proceeds to highlight the experiences of candidates on their learning journey in the workplace, and suggests recommendations in respect of these. Key learnings are distilled, which ultimately point to the need for collective effort in appreciating and retaining for the benefit of future generations of artisans, the mentoring potential that exists in our expert artisans wherever they may be found.