The work reported here was carried out whilst the author was Head of Education and Training at the TSB of Birmingham and the Midlands. Ten studies were carried out. They were part of a new training operation and so their objectives and relationship to the work of the Department and the needs of the Bank are carefully described. The major influences on the work are reviewed from three perspectives: Psychological definitions of man; promoting learning at work; evaluating the learning enterprise. The studies were directed at establishing a method whereby managers can significantly influence the development of the learning competence of their staff, and at installing a management development system using the principles on which this method is based. The early part of the research dealt with the nature of learning in organisational settings and the role of education and training processes in achieving business results. The survey-based proposal to management about how to cost-effectively direct managerial learning was not taken up, and the sequence of studies was concluded by acquiring a detailed understanding of the rejection of the proposed learning philosophy. Whilst this work was in progress, the method for influencing the learning competence of subordinates was developed. It is based upon the philosophy of self- organisation of learning elaborated by the Centre for the study of Human Learning. Its utility for engendering significant revision of both the conceptualisation and practice of learning was confirmed.

No description available.

The City of Toronto experienced a particularly tremulous year in 2005. Dubbed the "year of the gun," the marked increase in violence among racialized youth lead to an increase in community cultural programming. These programs provide safe productive environments for youth to gather and develop self esteem and as well as important marketable life skills for the labour force. However there is currently a disconnect between these programs and the valuable training that they are imparting to youth. The traditional training and learning-to-work transitions have not enjoyed the success that was envisioned in the early stages of these initiatives. Through interviews and observation, the research documented in this thesis offers an opportunity for practitioners, policy makers and program funders to re-think the traditional approach as it relates to the arts and cultural programs for racialized at-risk youth in Canada's largest urban centre.

The City of Toronto experienced a particularly tremulous year in 2005. Dubbed the "year of the gun," the marked increase in violence among racialized youth lead to an increase in community cultural programming. These programs provide safe productive environments for youth to gather and develop self esteem and as well as important marketable life skills for the labour force. However there is currently a disconnect between these programs and the valuable training that they are imparting to youth. The traditional training and learning-to-work transitions have not enjoyed the success that was envisioned in the early stages of these initiatives. Through interviews and observation, the research documented in this thesis offers an opportunity for practitioners, policy makers and program funders to re-think the traditional approach as it relates to the arts and cultural programs for racialized at-risk youth in Canada's largest urban centre.

No description available.

Purpose: This research considers the design and operation of a non-modular professional doctorate to meet the needs of professionals working in the built environment who wish to obtain a doctoral qualification. It seeks to identify the essential components and support mechanisms to provide an alternative to other forms of doctorate which draws on their strengths while addressing some of their shortcomings. It answers questions regarding the suitability of a programme which can successfully operate within a reasonable timeframe. Research Design: The research is set in a real-life phenomenological paradigm concerning the experience and development of candidates registered for a professional doctorate. The conceptual framework governed both the design of the research and the design of a two-stage curriculum. Regular intervention and evaluation using action research methodology was used to improve practice. The research produced findings through multiple sources of evidence. Data were collected from course documentation, online discussion forums, focus groups, individual reflections and interviews. Findings: The work found that a community of practice consisting of candidates and staff, specifically focused on learning and the continuous development of candidates, provides a suitable vehicle for professional doctorate work. Candidates benefit from engaging in carefully constructed summative and formative assessment with prompt feedback. The assessment informed regular workshops containing an active learning format supplemented through additional support from a virtual learning environment. Crucially, all three components are required to support each other by drawing on their individual strengths. Conclusion: This action research project made a modest but significant contribution to curriculum development at doctoral level. The research developed a model which enabled academic practice to help candidates improve their professional practice. Self-motivated candidates with appropriate supervisory support can complete a professional doctorate within a realistic timeframe when there is carefully constructed synergy between their doctorate, its supporting mechanisms and their own professional practice.

The knowledge of early employment experiences has evolved over the last decade in countries such as Australia and Great Britain. In Sweden, this type of research is still unusual and the aim of this study was to break new ground by highlighting some areas that could be of extra interest in the Swedish early employment research to come. A focus in the study was to give an overview of what job sectors school students work in; and the amount of jobs aquired through school-organized work placement, private social networks or personal marketing of own merits. In addition to this, a multi variate analysis was carried out to find patterns in the picture of early employment experiences among students at upper secondary school. The findings of the study has relevance for ways of conducting career counselling and therefore the general aim of this study is to point out the importance of developing the practises of vocational psychology. A survey among 74 teenaged school students with economics as their main subject has been carried out in a mid-size Swedish city May 2012. 62 school students answered. The survey showed that 94% of the students had part-time jobs. Most common was to have 1-3 employers during the three years at upper secondary school. Most students worked in the job-sectors retail (29%), catering (23%), and care of the elderly (14%). An interesting finding was that no Swedish students seemed to work with delivery. This is surprising since this job-sector is big among school students in both Australia and Great Britain. Another interesting find was ways of aquiring a job. Not surprisingly most jobs were aquired through private social networks (59%), but some job-sectors stood out as pathways to a job for those students without the right social networks. In catering 48% of the jobs were aquired through marketing of own merits, and in the care of the elderly job-sector 78% of the jobs were aquired this way. The study indicates that early work experiences in Sweden in major parts reflect the research carried out in Austalia and Great Britain. But some research areas differ. A more close look at early work experiences among teenaged school students in Sweden is therefore necessary to develop vocational psychology and to incorporate learning outside school into school practices. An aspect that has been observed sofar is the way in which social background steers both the experience of early employment and career choice.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning activities and the STAD technique on students&rsquo / vocabulary retention. The relationship between students&rsquo / course achievement and type of vocabulary learning activities they engage in with respect to their retention levels were also investigated. The study was conducted with one elementary level group at BaSkent University. 22 students took part in the study. The participants were taught a total of 40 words, through 4 reading lesson plans, two of which implemented cooperative learning activities while the other two implemented group work activities. A pre-test on the target words was administered before each lesson, and a post-test was given two weeks after each lesson to see if there was any difference in students&rsquo / retention levels in favor of either technique. The data gathered were analysed through the t-test procedure and the regression analysis test. According to the results of these tests, cooperative learning activities produced better retention results than group work activities. The study also found that there is no relation between the students&rsquo / course achievement grades and their vocabulary retention scores.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 6, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-60).