This research examines the issue of recruitment to workplace literacy assistance programs and uses concepts identified and developed from varied literatures and field interviews in three experimental studies of help-seeking behavior in the workplace. The results indicate that supervisory support is critical in encouraging employees to seek help for skill deficiencies that may be perceived as stigmatizing. The anonymity of the program appears to lessen the perceived costs of such a decision. On the other hand, pressure (manipulated as counselling about a work problem) serves primarily to lessen the perceived supportiveness of the supervisor. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

<p> The study was designed to examine the predictive relationship between the variables of seat preference, learning style, and past profession, and student achievement. A convenience sample of N = 248 traditional manual osteopathic students of two Canadian and one Swiss accredited English speaking part-time colleges was recruited for the quasi experimental predictive study. The participants were adult learners ranging in age from 20 &ndash; 69 years with 71% of the sample being female in accordance to the population demographic. The data collection included grade score, learning style as measured by the Learning Style Inventory (LSI 3.1), and a researcher designed survey, Demographic and Seat Preference Survey (DSPS), which gathered information on age, past profession, education, sensory deficits, and seat preferences of three seat diagrams. A multiple regression analysis was used to create the predictive equation. The variables seat preference, learning style, and past profession statistically predicted student achievement <i>R</i>² = .10, <i> F</i>(10, 217) = 2.33, <i>p</i> = .01, power .92. The specific variables action seat in the 10 X 5 seating plan <i>b</i>₁ _10X5AS = 2.91, <i>t</i>(217) = 2.51, <i> p</i> = .01, 95%CI[0.63, 5.20]; the professions of athletic therapy <i> b</i>₂ _AT = 4.60, <i>t</i>(217) = 2.77, <i> p</i> = .01, 95%CI[1.33, 7.86], Nurse/kinesiologist/occupational therapist <i> b</i>₂ _NR/KIN/OT = 4.10, <i>t</i>(217) = 2.54, <i>p</i> = .01, 95%CI[0.92, 7.27], and Other profession <i> b</i>₂ _OTHER = 3.48, <i>t</i>(217) = 2.26, <i>p</i> = .03, 95%CI[0.45, 6.52]; and the diverging learning style <i>b</i>₅_diverging = -3.03, <i> t</i>(217) = -2.13, <i>p</i> = .03, [-5.83, -0.23] contributed significantly to the prediction. In pair-wise comparisons there were significant (<i>p</i> &lt; .05) differences in mean achievement scores between the professions of athletic therapists, nurse/kinesiologists/occupational therapists, and other professions, and medical doctor/osteopathic physician/dentist, and massage therapists; between students preferring the assimilating learning style and students preferring the diverging learning style; and between the 10 X 5 action seats and non-action seats. The findings of the study support the predictive nature of past professions, learning style, and action seat preference in an English-speaking accredited part-time traditional manual osteopathic program. Recommendations for continued data collection and investigating the variables of first language and campus location are made.</p>

<p> This applied dissertation was designed to identify the characteristics of students enrolled in a GED^&reg; preparation program who transitioned to postsecondary programs at the same institution after passing the GED^&reg; test. The characteristics studied included age; gender; ethnicity; prematriculation scores in reading, language, and math in the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE); and hours spent preparing for the GED^&reg; test in an open-entry, open-exit remedial laboratory environment. </p><p> Through the use of binary logistic regressions to answer the research questions, a prediction model was constructed. The variables that are able to predict an increased likelihood of transition to postsecondary programs were being between the ages of 16 and 24 at the time of enrollment in the GED^&reg; program and having an ethnicity category of Asian, White/Caucasian, Hispanic, or Black/African American as opposed to the category of <i>No Report.</i> The variables that significantly predicted a lessened likelihood of transition to postsecondary programs were a grade equivalent of less than 8.9 in the prematriculation TABE reading, language, and math scores. Spending less than 16 hours preparing for the GED^&reg; test was also found to lessen the likelihood of transition. </p><p> The findings of this study are important to adult education practitioners, tutors, teachers, and administrators who are responsible for GED^&reg; programs. Through application of the prediction model in a similar environment, supportive and interventional mechanisms can be created to increase the number of GED^&reg; earners who transition to credit, college preparation, and vocational programs.</p>

The purpose of this research was to determine employers' perspective as to what factors contribute to the success of school-to-work transition programs, what factors act as barriers to employers participating in school-to-work transition programs, and what strategies would facilitate participation in school-to-work transition programs for non-college bound youth. / An effective school-to-work transition system is potentially beneficial to youth, society, and the national economy. One school-to-work transition system that is successfully used in other industrialized countries involves youth apprenticeship training. The review of literature concluded that the individual components of the youth apprenticeship model are consistent with research findings concerning internal characteristics of successful school/business partnerships. / The research design involved embedded multiple-case studies of established youth apprenticeship programs in Alabama. Participating employers, former participating employers, and program administrators were interviewed to determine employers' perspectives concerning objectives, advantages, and disadvantages to participating in youth apprenticeship partnerships. Strategies to expand youth apprenticeship training were also discussed. / Four success criteria were identified. Employers perceive their participation successful if it results in: (1) A positive contribution to students and society, (2) Obtaining, training, and retaining quality employees, (3) Decreased production costs, and (4) Minimum problems requiring an expenditure of time. / Barriers to participation were identified as problems that prevent employers' from attaining perceived success. Recommended strategies for eliminating these barriers and facilitating private-sector participation in youth apprenticeship training programs include: (1) Implementing public relations and marketing activities, (2) Addressing immaturity and attitude problems among youth, (3) Providing work/school scheduling alternatives, (4) Reform of federal child labor laws, (5) Improvement of student placements in industry, (6) Implementing employer incentive programs, (7) Reforming administrative procedures, (8) Reorganizing the structure of governance, and (9) Institutionalizing a stringent delivery system. / Recommendations for further research are included. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2551. / Major Professor: Robert L. Lathrop. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

Development assistance has long served as pretext for the transfer of technologies, policies, and strategies from Western industrialized countries to poorer areas of the world. The assumption is that the same successful results reached in the originating context can be replicated. One such cross-cultural transfer is a US adult education policy implemented in the rural areas of the Republic of Niger. / The policy, known as ROD, purports to transform local cooperatives into profit-making private enterprises, and to teach farmers the requisite skills and understandings. This study critically analyzes the intervention in order to (1) assess the viability of the proposed strategy as a "curriculum" for personal and organizational learning in rural Niger, (2) explicate the assumptions about the problems and potentials of the milieu on which it is based, (3) explore ways in which revised adult education practice might serve to better accommodate the policy to its context, and (4) draw some conclusions regarding the feasibility of this sort of transfer. / Results of the study suggest that the intervention strategy is interpreted and assessed in very different ways by stakeholders at different levels, and that it has been modified significantly in the course of implementation. These mostly haphazard modifications have not, however, been such as to ensure its success or acceptance, though they do suggest graphically which aspects of the policy are least accepted in the local context. The data also provide a basis for suggesting ways in which adult education could facilitate a better upfront adaptation and "reinvention" of the strategy in the field. In a more general sense, this study provides insights into the conditions for cross-cultural transfer of adult education-relevant policies between North and South, and the precautions that must be taken. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-08, Section: A, page: 2252. / Major Professor: Peter A. Easton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This research was designed to determine whether or not certain state and institutional policies and procedures are perceived by contract trainers at public higher education institutions in Georgia to create and/or exacerbate selected barriers to contract training with business and industry. An additional purpose was to determine the extent of involvement of those institutions in contract training. / The 66 administrators responsible for contract training at public colleges, universities, and technical institutes in Georgia were surveyed. A document analysis and fourteen interviews also were conducted. / It was determined that over 3,000 contract training courses were offered by the institutions in 1991-1992. Over 40,000 students participated, generating at least $6,000,000 in revenue. / Five policies were reported to impede contract training efforts. They were the constitutional prohibition on "rolling over" state funds and revenue, the requirement that programs be self-supporting, the institutional policy that mandates that the majority of contract training revenue be returned to the institutional budget rather than to the contract training budget, the lack of risk capital, and the lack of a state training program for contract training program staff. / The top four barriers to contract training were the lack of adequate training facilities, a program development staff of insufficient size and/or training, the lack of state-of-the-art training equipment, and inadequate funding. / There were no significant differences between the perceptions of college and university directors and those of technical institute directors concerning any of the potential barriers or policies. / The directors at the centralized and decentralized institutions differed significantly on two barriers: (1) internal competition between departments, divisions, and colleges; and (2) competition with faculty who consult independently. They also differed statistically on the institutional policy that requires all noncredit courses to be coordinated by one central unit. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-02, Section: A, page: 0403. / Major Professor: Mary Pankowski. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This study was designed to compare traditional and nontraditional full-time degree-seeking students' regression equations and validity coefficients across five Florida post-secondary institutions. The single multiple regression method with dummy variables was selected to compare the two groups' regression planes across institutions (FSU, UF, UCF, USF, and FAMU), within age groups, and between age groups within institutions. The multiple partial statistic was selected to test for the interaction effect between the two indicator variables (Age and Institutions) and the three main effects (HSGPA, SATV and SATQ). The across institutions and within age groups validity coefficients variability of the high school grade point average and the Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal and quantitative scores was investigated, using meta-analysis methodology. / A sample of 883 students was retrieved from the State University System (SUS) students' files. With the exception of age, all the students were selected to be equivalent on the following characteristics: full-time enrollment, first time in college, degree-seeking, and accepted under regular admission policies. This selection procedure limited the sample size of the nontraditional group of students and, therefore, generalizations regarding the results of this study should be made cautiously. / It was concluded that a common prediction system was not practical and that a separate prediction system should be developed for each of the two groups compared within the five postsecondary institutions included in this study. The findings showed possible systematic overprediction or underprediction of the nontraditional students' performance in college when using a traditional student-derived regression equation to predict nontraditional students' performance. It was also apparent that nontraditional students' high school grade point average and traditional students' Scholastic Aptitude Test quantitative validity coefficients varied from institution to institution. There was no variation across institutions or within age groups of the Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal validity coefficients. As expected, high school grade point average was a better predictor of traditional students' performance in college, as Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal was for the nontraditional students. The average validity coefficients of the nontraditional students were, in all but one instance, lower than for the traditional group. It was recommended that differential validity and regression systems for traditional and nontraditional students be routinely studied. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1706. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this ex-post facto study was to investigate the nature and extent of nurses' affective response subsequent to six years of participation in mandatory continuing education. Specifically, the study (1) identified the nature and extent of nurses' shift in attitude toward mandatory continuing education since its inception, and (2) identified factors associated with the direction and degree of attitude change. / A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 1,000 registered nurses residing in Dade County, Florida. One section of the questionnaire measured attitude at the onset of participation in 1979, and six years later (1985). Another section of the questionnaire consisted of forced-choice and open-ended questions to elicit data on personal, professional, educational, and institutional factors associated with attitude change. The attitude scale was pre-tested for face and construct validity, and for internal and test-retest reliability. An overall response rate of 51% was achieved. / A one-tailed paired t-test was used to test the hypothesis; frequency distributions, one-way ANOVA and Chi square tests of significance were used to analyze four research questions. The hypothesis was supported; the majority of nurses (77.7%) retained their positive attitude or displayed a positive attitude shift in favor of mandatory continuing education, 22.3% demonstrated a negative shift in attitude. / The study concludes that nurses who maintained or developed positive attitudes perceived more benefits than problems with mandatory continuing education, identified an increase in both the quality and availability of continuing education programs, indicated that mandatory continuing education affected their performance in practice, and that mandatory continuing education should be retained. Cost and lack of relevant programs were problems identified by those nurses whose attitudes were negatively influenced by mandatory continuing education. The majority of respondents with a negative change in attitude felt that mandatory continuing education did not affect their performance in practice and should be abolished. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-08, Section: A, page: 2850. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this study was to provide information which would assist in the clarification of the role of the continuing nursing education coordinator in approved continuing education provider hospitals in Florida. Role theory provided the general frame of reference from which the conceptual framework was developed. The population of interest consisted of continuing nursing education coordinators and their hospital administrators and directors of nursing who were considered principle role definers. Since size of the hospital was considered to have a possible effect on responses, a random sample was taken from small, medium, large, and extra large hospitals. Size was determined by the number of patient beds. / The roles used were those identified in McLagan's study for the American Society for Training and Development. Data were collected using a questionnaire which was divided into two major sections providing descriptive information and data relevant to role expectations and perceptions of performance as reported by hospital administrators, directors of nursing, and continuing nursing education coordinators. An additional section was added for the collection of general information. / The objectives of the study were operationalized through four research questions. To answer the first two questions, a Likert-type scale was used from which a ranking of importance of role expectations, and perceptions of frequency of performance of the 15 roles was established. The remaining two questions, relevant to the degree of agreement on role expectations and perceptions of performance, were answered using Kendall's coefficient of concordance. / The findings indicated that there was significant, and very high, agreement that all of the roles were ones which continuing nursing education coordinators should perform. The roles identified as very important were program designer, manager, needs analyst, strategist and program administrator. Media specialist was least important. In contrast, only program administrator was perceived as a role frequently performed. The remaining roles were perceived as either occasionally or seldom performed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, Section: A, page: 0286. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The purpose of this study was to determine what benefits have accrued as a result of five years of participation in mandatory continuing education by Florida respiratory care practitioners. The study also assessed the differences in characteristics between respiratory care practitioners who perceived benefits from participation in mandatory continuing education and those who did not; and it determined the perceptions of respiratory care practitioners regarding the effectiveness and accessibility of continuing education offerings since the implementation of mandatory continuing education. / A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to a stratified random sample of 300 respiratory care practitioners throughout the state of Florida. After initial and follow-up mailings, 81% were returned (N = 243). Results of the study indicated that the typical respondent may be described as a married female, 30 to 39 years old, held the CRTT credential, was employed full-time in a hospital as a staff respiratory care practitioner, had been employed for five to ten years, and completed an associate's degree in respiratory therapy. / Professional benefits were cited by the majority of the respondents over personal and educational benefits. Utilizing pre-determined criteria, the respondents were divided into two groups, "Benefitors" (38.7%) and "Non-benefitors" (61.3%). Significant differences were determined between the groups utilizing the Chi-square test of significance on the variables of sex, job position, and participation behavior. A discriminant analysis employed between the two groups yielded non-significant canonical discriminant functions. Comments made by the respondents regarding the effectiveness of the continuing education mandate were also reported. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-09, Section: A, page: 2960. / Major Professor: Clyde F. Maurice. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.