In 2007, the Student Equity and Talent Management Unit (SETMU) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) initiated a programme called the Targeting Talent Programme (TTP). One of the objectives of the TTP is to equip students to be successful at university. The first cohort of students consisted of 270 talented Grade 9 students from disadvantaged rural and urban schools. They were identified at the end of 2006, and they attended enrichment sessions at the University during 2007, 2008 and 2009. Thirty seven of the students enrolled for Engineering at Wits in 2010. They were given no further assistance by the TTP. The TTP based the planning of its curriculum on the Competencies identified by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The primary aim of the PISA assessment is to determine the extent to which young people have acquired the wider knowledge and skills in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy that they will need in adult life, hence the TTP attempted to incorporate the PISA Competencies in their curriculum in order to equip students for tertiary education. Habits of Mind identified by Cuoco and others were also used in planning the TTP curriculum in order to equip students with thinking skills. The TTP was successful in helping students to achieve university entrance, but there is a need to investigate to what extent the three year intervention program enables the students to succeed at university. This report focuses on the 37 students who enrolled for Engineering at Wits in 2010. They are compared to a sample of 37 students from the 2010 cohort who did not attend the TTP. The sample of non-TTP students was chosen by matching the National Senior Certificate Mathematics and Science marks obtained by the ex-TTP students as closely as possible. Thus two samples with an almost identical initial academic profile were created. One of the differences between the samples is that the ex-TTP students had had input which was aimed at equipping them to attain university entrance and to succeed there, whereas the other students had had no such formal assistance. The ex-TTP students were also compared with the cohort as a whole. This report shows that 16 of the 37 students (43%) passed the Mathematics, Mechanics and Physics courses that they were enrolled for. It also shows that the ex-TTP students scored lower on average than the non-TTP students and the cohort, for the Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics courses that they were enrolled for. Interviews with 9 of the ex-TTP students show that they did not consciously transfer study techniques from the TTP to university. The TTP was thus only partially successful in its objective of enabling students to be successful at university.

Šiuolaikiniam pasauliui įžengus į žinių amžių kiekvienas žmogus susiduria su vis naujomis, greitai besikeičiančiomis situacijomis, reikalaujančiomis greito ir efektyvaus sprendimo priėmimo. Nauja mūsų laikų valiuta tampa ne gamybinis meistriškumas, o informacija ir mokėjimas tinkamai ja pasinaudoti. Pastaroji situacija tapo aktuali dėl nuolat tobulėjančių informacinių technologijų, kurios siūlo naujus problemų sprendimo būdus, lemia naują ugdymo turinį, atveria naujus mokymo ir mokymosi metodus. Moderniu tampa ne tik ugdymas, bet ir įmonių valdymas, kuris glaudžiai siejasi su šiuolaikinėmis informacinėmis komunikacinėmis technologijomis. Efektyvus jų pritaikomumas edukacinėje ir vadybinėje veikloje priklauso nuo vadovo ir pedagogo informacinės komunikacinės kompetencijos. Suvokiant, kad viena svarbiausių šiuolaikinių vadovo ir pedagogo charakteristikų tampa gebėjimas efektyviai pritaikyti informacines komunikacines technologijas (IKT) praktinėje veikloje, buvo suformuluota tyrimo problema: kokios yra bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų vadovų ir pedagogų informacinės komunikacinės kompetencijos. Norint ištirti šią problemą buvo atliktas bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų vadovų ir pedagogų informacinių komunikacinių kompetencijų tyrimas, kurio tikslas – ištirti bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų vadovų ir pedagogų informacines komunikacines kompetencijas bei numatyti jų tobulinimo galimybes. Atlikus šį tyrimą buvo suformuluotos išvados, kuriuose teigiama, kad mokyklų vadovų informacinė komunikacinė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / As the modern world has stepped into a new age, each individual encounters still new, fast changing situations that require a fast and efficient decision making. Not an industrial mastership, but information and command in adequate benefiting from it becomes a new currency in our time. The latter situation has become an urgent one due to constantly improving information technologies that offer new ways of problem solution, determine new contents of education, open new training and learning methods. Not only education, but also enterprise management, which closely relates to the state-of-art information communication technologies, becomes up-to-date. Their efficient adaptation in educational and managerial activities depends upon information communication competence of a manager and teacher. Perceiving that one of the most important characteristics of a modern manager and teacher becomes the ability to efficiently adapt information communication technologies (ICT) in practice, the research problem has been formulated: what are the information communication competencies of managers and teachers of comprehensive schools. In order to examine this problem, a research on competencies of the managers and teachers of comprehensive schools has been conducted, the purpose of which is to examine competencies of managers and teachers of comprehensive schools and to envisage the possibilities for their improvement. Having conducted the aforementioned research, the conclusions have been... [to full text]

The topic of the diploma thesis belongs with its character to the field of didactics of Czech language at senior classes of basic schools and partly into the special pedagogy field. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with tuition of communication and composition education of pupils with special learning disorders in specialized classes at senior basic schools. I work with terms: key competencies, communication competencies, specific learning disorders. The main part of the thesis consists of research focused on survey of the conception of Czech language tuition and teachers´approach to key competencies, next creation of and testing of worksheets supporting communication and composition education in specialized classes based on critical thinking methods.

As instituições buscam, além de sobrevivência, diferenciar-se em um ambiente marcado pela crescente competitividade. Nesse cenário, é necessário que realizem profundas e aceleradas transformações para responder às constantes mudanças que ocorrem nas dimensões econômica, social e financeira. Uma das alternativas para responder a esse desafio é a Gestão por Competências, que tem como pressuposto orientação estratégica sustentada na identificação e na gestão dinâmica de recursos e de capacidades internas que permitam a efetividade do negócio, garantindo a sustentação e/ou a diferenciação das organizações. Nesse contexto, o papel dos gestores é de fundamental importância para mobilizar e articular as competências dos indivíduos e das equipes para o alcance das estratégias definidas para a instituição. Este estudo, que avalia a apropriação da abordagem da Gestão por Competências no ambiente organizacional da Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos - UNISINOS, é resultante de uma pesquisa realizada com integrantes da Reitoria, diretores das Unidades Acadêmicas e de Apoio e integrantes do grupo estratégico “Gestão e Competências”. Como estratégia de pesquisa foi utilizado um estudo de caso único, qualitativo e de natureza exploratória. Os resultados desse trabalho revelam que: a) existe homogeneidade de entendimento conceitual, por parte dos entrevistados, quanto à noção de competência; b) os elementos facilitadores para o desenvolvimento da lógica do processo de Gestão por Competências estão relacionados aos valores e à natureza da Instituição e os elementos limitadores estão relacionados, principalmente, às categorias de competência gerencial referentes ao negócio e à mudança; c) existe uma articulação das competências gerenciais com as organizacionais, nas categorias de competências relacionadas a valores e a pessoas, porém, as que dizem respeito à orientação para o negócio e à gestão da mudança e da inovação apresentam lacunas que precisam ser superadas para responder às demandas estratégicas identificadas como necessárias para aumentar a competitividade organizacional da UNISINOS. / In fierce competitive markets, organizations are looking for differentiation strategies that can give them a clear identity. In this scenario, rapid and deep changes are necessary in order to respond to the constant transformations in the economic, social, and financial dimensions. An alternative to cope with this changing environment is the competence-based management, an approach that, based on the identification and dynamic management of resources and internal capabilities responsible for the business effectiveness, supports the capacity of organizations to be competitive. With this approach, the managers’ ability to recognize and rise individual and team competences becomes a fundamental strategy towards the achievement of the organization’s objectives. This research describes a case study aimed at evaluating a management development programme, which adopts a competence-based approach in the Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos - UNISINOS. A single qualitative case study, of exploratory nature, was used as research strategy. In order to evaluate the programme, several managers from the President’s Office, directors of academic and support units and members of the strategic group “Management and Competence” were interviewed. The study has revealed that: (a) there is a fair common understanding of what competence means among the interviewees; (b) the facilitating elements for the implementation of the competence-based approach are related to the Institution’s nature and values; while the restraining elements are related to the class of managerial competences associated to business and changes; (c) there is an articulation between managerial and organizational competences regarding values and people. However, the business-oriented and the change and innovation management competences show deficiencies concerning identified strategic requirements that need to be surpassed to increase the organizational competence of UNISINOS.

The aim of this research is to develop a conceptual model consisting of factors which were associated with managerial success in a changing environment and to investigate its predictive validity. This "Successful Manager Profile" contains three domains, each consisting of a number of factors. An assessment battery was devised to measure the three domains - cognitive abilities, personality variables and personal competencies - of the "Successful Manager Profile." A sample of 287 employees was assessed during 1991 and 1992 using assessment centre technology, psychometric tests and questionnaires. Five years later (in 1996 and 1997), criterion data, which consisted of the final organisational level attained, were collected. The research question - whether the variables contained in the "Successful Manager Profile" - was investigated using Stepwise Multiple Regression analysis. The coefficient of multiple determination reported ranged from R2+0.21 for the total sample to R2=0.60 for the male graduate group. / Industrial Psychology / M. Comm. (Industrial Psychology)

As instituições buscam, além de sobrevivência, diferenciar-se em um ambiente marcado pela crescente competitividade. Nesse cenário, é necessário que realizem profundas e aceleradas transformações para responder às constantes mudanças que ocorrem nas dimensões econômica, social e financeira. Uma das alternativas para responder a esse desafio é a Gestão por Competências, que tem como pressuposto orientação estratégica sustentada na identificação e na gestão dinâmica de recursos e de capacidades internas que permitam a efetividade do negócio, garantindo a sustentação e/ou a diferenciação das organizações. Nesse contexto, o papel dos gestores é de fundamental importância para mobilizar e articular as competências dos indivíduos e das equipes para o alcance das estratégias definidas para a instituição. Este estudo, que avalia a apropriação da abordagem da Gestão por Competências no ambiente organizacional da Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos - UNISINOS, é resultante de uma pesquisa realizada com integrantes da Reitoria, diretores das Unidades Acadêmicas e de Apoio e integrantes do grupo estratégico “Gestão e Competências”. Como estratégia de pesquisa foi utilizado um estudo de caso único, qualitativo e de natureza exploratória. Os resultados desse trabalho revelam que: a) existe homogeneidade de entendimento conceitual, por parte dos entrevistados, quanto à noção de competência; b) os elementos facilitadores para o desenvolvimento da lógica do processo de Gestão por Competências estão relacionados aos valores e à natureza da Instituição e os elementos limitadores estão relacionados, principalmente, às categorias de competência gerencial referentes ao negócio e à mudança; c) existe uma articulação das competências gerenciais com as organizacionais, nas categorias de competências relacionadas a valores e a pessoas, porém, as que dizem respeito à orientação para o negócio e à gestão da mudança e da inovação apresentam lacunas que precisam ser superadas para responder às demandas estratégicas identificadas como necessárias para aumentar a competitividade organizacional da UNISINOS. / In fierce competitive markets, organizations are looking for differentiation strategies that can give them a clear identity. In this scenario, rapid and deep changes are necessary in order to respond to the constant transformations in the economic, social, and financial dimensions. An alternative to cope with this changing environment is the competence-based management, an approach that, based on the identification and dynamic management of resources and internal capabilities responsible for the business effectiveness, supports the capacity of organizations to be competitive. With this approach, the managers’ ability to recognize and rise individual and team competences becomes a fundamental strategy towards the achievement of the organization’s objectives. This research describes a case study aimed at evaluating a management development programme, which adopts a competence-based approach in the Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos - UNISINOS. A single qualitative case study, of exploratory nature, was used as research strategy. In order to evaluate the programme, several managers from the President’s Office, directors of academic and support units and members of the strategic group “Management and Competence” were interviewed. The study has revealed that: (a) there is a fair common understanding of what competence means among the interviewees; (b) the facilitating elements for the implementation of the competence-based approach are related to the Institution’s nature and values; while the restraining elements are related to the class of managerial competences associated to business and changes; (c) there is an articulation between managerial and organizational competences regarding values and people. However, the business-oriented and the change and innovation management competences show deficiencies concerning identified strategic requirements that need to be surpassed to increase the organizational competence of UNISINOS.

As instituições buscam, além de sobrevivência, diferenciar-se em um ambiente marcado pela crescente competitividade. Nesse cenário, é necessário que realizem profundas e aceleradas transformações para responder às constantes mudanças que ocorrem nas dimensões econômica, social e financeira. Uma das alternativas para responder a esse desafio é a Gestão por Competências, que tem como pressuposto orientação estratégica sustentada na identificação e na gestão dinâmica de recursos e de capacidades internas que permitam a efetividade do negócio, garantindo a sustentação e/ou a diferenciação das organizações. Nesse contexto, o papel dos gestores é de fundamental importância para mobilizar e articular as competências dos indivíduos e das equipes para o alcance das estratégias definidas para a instituição. Este estudo, que avalia a apropriação da abordagem da Gestão por Competências no ambiente organizacional da Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos - UNISINOS, é resultante de uma pesquisa realizada com integrantes da Reitoria, diretores das Unidades Acadêmicas e de Apoio e integrantes do grupo estratégico “Gestão e Competências”. Como estratégia de pesquisa foi utilizado um estudo de caso único, qualitativo e de natureza exploratória. Os resultados desse trabalho revelam que: a) existe homogeneidade de entendimento conceitual, por parte dos entrevistados, quanto à noção de competência; b) os elementos facilitadores para o desenvolvimento da lógica do processo de Gestão por Competências estão relacionados aos valores e à natureza da Instituição e os elementos limitadores estão relacionados, principalmente, às categorias de competência gerencial referentes ao negócio e à mudança; c) existe uma articulação das competências gerenciais com as organizacionais, nas categorias de competências relacionadas a valores e a pessoas, porém, as que dizem respeito à orientação para o negócio e à gestão da mudança e da inovação apresentam lacunas que precisam ser superadas para responder às demandas estratégicas identificadas como necessárias para aumentar a competitividade organizacional da UNISINOS. / In fierce competitive markets, organizations are looking for differentiation strategies that can give them a clear identity. In this scenario, rapid and deep changes are necessary in order to respond to the constant transformations in the economic, social, and financial dimensions. An alternative to cope with this changing environment is the competence-based management, an approach that, based on the identification and dynamic management of resources and internal capabilities responsible for the business effectiveness, supports the capacity of organizations to be competitive. With this approach, the managers’ ability to recognize and rise individual and team competences becomes a fundamental strategy towards the achievement of the organization’s objectives. This research describes a case study aimed at evaluating a management development programme, which adopts a competence-based approach in the Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos - UNISINOS. A single qualitative case study, of exploratory nature, was used as research strategy. In order to evaluate the programme, several managers from the President’s Office, directors of academic and support units and members of the strategic group “Management and Competence” were interviewed. The study has revealed that: (a) there is a fair common understanding of what competence means among the interviewees; (b) the facilitating elements for the implementation of the competence-based approach are related to the Institution’s nature and values; while the restraining elements are related to the class of managerial competences associated to business and changes; (c) there is an articulation between managerial and organizational competences regarding values and people. However, the business-oriented and the change and innovation management competences show deficiencies concerning identified strategic requirements that need to be surpassed to increase the organizational competence of UNISINOS.

This thesis focuses on the topic "Competency model in the company HARTMANN-RICO a.s." The aim of this study is to evaluate the new competency model of the company HARTMANN-RICO a.s. that is used for the annual employee evaluation, to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to suggest possible measures how to improve the process. The work is divided into two parts, theoretical and analytical. The theoretical part includes familiarization with this issue. First, basic concepts such as competence, competence structure, life cycle of competencies are defined. Further, the work is focused on the independent competency model, and its individual steps in the preparation and implementation in the organization. The theoretical part is followed by the analytical part, which analyzes the new competency model of the company HARTMANN-RICO a.s.

For the last forty years outdoor education has been investigated all around the globe. Despite intense research initiative, studies have been lacking regarding what teacher competencies are beneficial for successful outdoor education. The aim of this study is to investigate opportunities and challenges that are unique to outdoor education and teacher competencies beneficial for successful outdoor education. This was done by interviewing 5 certified biology teachers. Teachers were chosen from three different educational levels – university, senior high and high school –with the purpose to obtain a more complete perspective since they can provide different views about the research matter. Teachers from higher education has shown to focus more on the theoretical background while teachers from senior high and high school tends to focus more on the practical implementation. Thematic analysis was used to examine the interview material. The results showed that the teachers focus primarily on outdoor education’s educational opportunities and logistical challenges. To a large extent teachers emphasized learning by senses, outdoor environment enriching learning about ecology and species, and how framework factors limit outdoor education from being practiced. Secondary, it was argued by the teachers there are social opportunities and challenges with outdoor education in the form of benefiting and unfavourable for students’ wellbeing and the class’s group dynamics. Furthermore, teachers believed that a teacher’s academic and didactic competencies are the most valuable for successful outdoor education. Other competencies were also outlined by the analytic analysis how the teachers prepare and practice outdoor education. Their work practices emphasized management, relational and collegial competencies. To a large extent no noteworthy variations were found between teachers from different education levels. Potentially, teachers’ view of outdoor and indoor education as more similar than different. For further research it is recommended to investigate how teachers practice outdoor education to further build upon what types of opportunities, challenges and teacher competencies can be beneficial to consider for successful outdoor education. / Utomhusundervisningen är något som forskningen har undersökt under de senaste 40 åren. Trots detta har endast lite forskning gjorts gällande vilka lärarkompetenser som är fördelaktiga för framgångsrik utomhusundervisning. Målet med denna studie var att utforska möjligheter och utmaningar som är unika för utomhusundervisning och vilka lärarkompetenser som är fördelaktiga. Studien utfördes genom att intervjua 5 legitimerade biologilärare. Dessa lärare valdes från tre olika utbildningsnivåer – universitet, gymnasiet och högstadiet – i syfte att få ett mer komplett perspektiv. Den huvudsakliga skillnaden mellan lärare från olika utbildningsnivåer ligger i deras fokus. Lärare från högre studier tenderar att fokusera mer på den teoretiska bakgrunden i jämförelse med lärare på gymnasie- och högstadienivå där mer fokus riktas mot det praktiska genomförandet av utomhusundervisningen. En tematisk analys användes för att examinera intervjumaterialet. Resultatet visade att lärare fokuserade i första hand på utomhusundervisningens möjligheter att lära och logistiska utmaningar. I stor utsträckning betonadelärarna hur utomhusmiljön möjliggör lärande med fler sinnen, och utomhusmiljöns bidrar till ekologi- och artundervisning, samt ramfaktorer som förhindrar utförandet av utomhusundervisning. I andra hand framgick det att lärarna ansåg att utomhusundervisning har både sociala möjligheter och utmaningar eftersom det kan vara såväl fördelaktigt som ogynnsamt förelevernas välbefinnande och klassens gruppdynamik. Dessutom tyckte lärarnaatt en lärares akademiska och didaktiska kompetenser är viktiga för framgångsrik utomhusundervisning. Andra kompetenser var också identifierade under den tematiska analysen utifrån hur lärarna förbereder och utför utomhusundervisning. Deras arbetsmetodik underströk organisatoriska, relationella och kollegiala kompetenser. Möjligtvis upplever lärare att utomhus- och inomhusundervisning är mer lika än olika. Inga märkbara skillnader hittades mellan lärare från olika utbildningsnivåerna. Framtida studier rekommenderas utforska hur lärare bedriver utomhusundervisning i fält för att undersöka vidare vilka möjligheter, utmaningar och lärarkompetenser som är viktiga för framgångsrik utomhusundervisning.

This study identified the perceived professional development needs of secondary business educators in West Virginia related to professional and business education content competency areas. A population of 408 secondary business educators was randomly assigned to two groups to evaluate their perceived professional development needs. A total of 104 (51.40% of 202) respondents reported their perceived need for professional development for professional competencies based on Policy 5310: Performance Evaluation of School Personnel of the West Virginia Department of Education. Also, a total of 89 (43.0% of 206) respondents indicated their perceived need for professional development for business education content competencies based on the NBEA's National Standards for Business Education. Data analyzed using frequency analyses revealed that the highest rated perceived professional development needs related to professional competencies were found in the areas of Programs of Study, Classroom Climate, and Instructional Management Systems. It was further determined that the highest rated perceived professional development needs related to business education content competencies were found in the areas of Information Systems, Career Development, and International Business. The one-way ANOVA analyses did not find differences among teachers' perceived professional development needs based on years of teaching experience or educational level for professional competencies or for business education content with the exception of the competency areas of Accounting and Business Law. In both of these areas, the post-hoc statistical analysis revealed differences among the educational levels of teachers, with respondents who had an Ed.S degree reporting a higher level of need than those with bachelor's or master's degrees. Overall, teachers perceived a higher need for professional development activities in the business education content areas than in the professional competencies. Findings of the study indicate that professional development activities should be relevant to teachers' needs. This study found specifically that business education teachers were most interested in technology-driven subject matter, technology integration into classroom learning, and general economic awareness and career awareness of international and technological occupations. In addition, all areas of methodology, professional competencies and content area competencies, should integrated into professional development activities to prepare teachers to effectively disseminate the content to ensure student learning. / Ph. D.