The need for a technician training program in Ornamental Horticulture was studied in Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties utilizing interviews and mailed survey instruments. The greatest job increase during the next five years is anticipated for nursery workers, landscape helpers and greenhouse workers. The smallest anticipated increase is for florists, floor foreman and nursery technicians. Skills requiring the highest degree of competency for workers in ornamental horticulture, according to employers, are retail salesmanship, plant identification and disease and insect control. Courses receiving the highest rating in an ornamental horticulture technician curriculum, as given by owners and managers and by educators, were botany, ornamental deciduous woody plants, soils and fertilizers, gardening techniques, and plant propagation. Courses receiving the lowest rating were three months or more on-the-job training, professional ethics and law, and economic entomology.

The increasing demand for electrical energy to bring about development and social change has brought about renewed interest in the use of nuclear power as one of the sources of electrical energy. The nuclear power industry has had a few decades of low activity due to previous accidents which turned the public perception against the use of nuclear as an electrical power source. The low activity has resulted in the shortage of nuclear skills as the skill previously available is now aged and about to reach retirement. The South African Government has recently announced its commitment to having nuclear in the energy mix. This will require construction of new nuclear power plants. This research arises from the need to understand whether the required human capital will be available, looking specifically at technician level in the nuclear energy industry. The main research goal of the study was to find what training and development initiatives are currently being used in industry and what needs to be in place to ensure that the industry is ready for the nuclear new-build. The researcher than proposes training and development initiatives that should be put in place to meet the demand that will be created by the nuclear new-build. / Thesis (MSc (Engineering Sciences in Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The increasing demand for electrical energy to bring about development and social change has brought about renewed interest in the use of nuclear power as one of the sources of electrical energy. The nuclear power industry has had a few decades of low activity due to previous accidents which turned the public perception against the use of nuclear as an electrical power source. The low activity has resulted in the shortage of nuclear skills as the skill previously available is now aged and about to reach retirement. The South African Government has recently announced its commitment to having nuclear in the energy mix. This will require construction of new nuclear power plants. This research arises from the need to understand whether the required human capital will be available, looking specifically at technician level in the nuclear energy industry. The main research goal of the study was to find what training and development initiatives are currently being used in industry and what needs to be in place to ensure that the industry is ready for the nuclear new-build. The researcher than proposes training and development initiatives that should be put in place to meet the demand that will be created by the nuclear new-build. / Thesis (MSc (Engineering Sciences in Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The STEM fields are in the process of expanding and requiring highly trained technicians to support this growth. Community colleges are places that offer technician training to students in preparation for high technology jobs. Unfortunately, community colleges are generally underfunded and poorly positioned to offer professional development for discipline-specific skills or pedagogy training. The National Science Foundation and Advanced Technological Education (ATE) have situated themselves to provide support for the STEM fields through their federally funded programs for technician teachers. A component of ATE grants is a focus on faculty development designed to help STEM teachers in community colleges. ATE helps community colleges fill in the gaps in professional development facing instructors in the STEM fields. The purpose of this study was to analyze the pedagogical characteristics of ATE-funded professional development for community college faculty and its intersections with campus-funded professional development. This study used a qualitative, multiple case-study design. Three interviews were conducted at three different ATE sites in California of the center leader, a professional development coordinator, and a participant. The major findings were 1. ATE provides educational and technical training to adults with common traits in backgrounds and goals. 2. The technical professional development at ATE centers is hands-on and interactive and has shown to provide positive learning outcomes to adult learners. 3. ATE centers address the needs of an evolving workforce by conducting research on new or current industry expectations. 4. Partnerships to industry are important to the curriculum and infrastructure of ATE professional development. 5. Evaluation is necessary for the growth of ATE professional development programs. 6. ATE helps build a collaborative community within a technical field by supporting relationships between professional development participants. 7. Each ATE center provides industry educators with resources they can access after a workshop. 8. One out of three ATE center professional development projects in this study intersects with campus-funded professional development. Understanding how these three ATE centers provide professional development can help inform the professional development practices at newly emerging or already established ATE centers across the nation. This study includes recommendations for future research and implications for practice.