Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Field problem. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to assess the perception held by managers of feed and farm supply stores in Texas regarding the contribution of employee training to the competitiveness of the firm, determine if managers of feed and farm supply stores perceive that employee training can improve their competitive strength, and to determine if they will invest in employee training in order to gain a competitive advantage. The objectives of this study include: describe the operating environment of feed and farm supply stores in Texas; describe feed and farm supply store managers? perception of employee training?s contribution to their firm?s competitive advantage; identify barriers to employee training in feed and farm supply stores; determine Internet availability and potential use for employee training in feed and farm supply stores; and describe the willingness of feed and farm supply store managers to engage in employee training delivered via the Internet. This study employed a descriptive and correlational research design. A selfadministered questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample frame of 305 feed and farm supply stores randomly selected from 1,487 stores in Texas. These stores operate in a demanding, competitive environment that is changing at a rapid pace. They perceive that employee training improves customer satisfaction, contributes to business growth, improves productivity, and increases profits. The skills needed by their employees are increasing and they need training in sales, communication skills, technical knowledge, time management, retail merchandising, marketing, and business management to help the business stay competitive. Barriers to training include not being able to see immediate results, cost, difficulties created when key employees are not on the job, travel distances to attend training, and a lack of training programs relevant to their needs. Over 80 percent of these stores have both computers and Internet access. Managers will allow employees to use these resources for training purposes, encourage participation in online training, and allow their employees to participate in training during business hours. It is recommended that Internet based training programs be developed in sales, communication skills, technical knowledge, time management, retail merchandising, and business management for these small agribusinesses.

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2017-03-17T19:16:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alda Mendes Baffa.pdf: 1300022 bytes, checksum: 83bc1381afd0939a6cbecd3991dfee59 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-17T19:16:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alda Mendes Baffa.pdf: 1300022 bytes, checksum: 83bc1381afd0939a6cbecd3991dfee59 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This paper conducted an investigation which prioritized the unveiling of representations of students of a pedagogy distance learning course on teaching and dialogical language. This is a qualitative research that conducted a case study involving 17 students from last year (8th semester) of a pedagogy course the distance, a higher education institution, private, located in the Greater ABC region. The guiding research question was: What is the knowledge that the students of the Faculty of Education at a distance have on teaching language, dialogical and its importance for the construction of knowledge? The hypothesis assumes that the studies and training in ODL bring a new type of reflective and operative teaching, but the development and importance attributed to the teaching language come not only from the Faculty of Education in distance education, but also other experiences subjects who are in training. The purpose was to investigate and reflect on the representations of students about the training they are receiving interface with language/dialogicity. To collect data, a questionnaire was applied – with open questions and closed questions – to the profile disclosure and representations about the guiding question of research and analysis of these data was to reference Franco (2003) and Szymanski (2010) for the methodology of content analysis. The theoretical framework that based the research included authors who helped us produce reflections on language, constitution of the subject and the importance of language in the construction of knowledge, as Bakhtin (1999 and 2000), Geraldi (1997) and Orlandi (1997). For the recovery of historical and discussions on the classroom pedagogy course and distance, we selected some authors as Gatti and Barretto (2009); to the crisis of degrees and teaching identity, Gatti and Barretto (2008 and 2010); to research the public policies of training, recovery and encouraging teaching career, Brzenzinski (2013), Tardiff and Lessard (2014), and we seek in Nóvoa (1992) and Libâneo (2002) the professionalism of ideas, professionalization and professionalism; in Saviani (2012) a critical study of the National Curriculum Guidelines for Education Course. In Bahia and Duran (2009) we seek reflections on the training of teachers in distance courses; in Bahia (2014) studies on initial teacher training at a distance, and Azevedo (2013) learning and language in Distance Education. The results of the research point to the great importance given by the students of distance learning to language, their dialogical and interlocutive development, their importance in the construction of knowledge and in the development of the interaction between the interlocutors in Distance Education and the contribution however, as far as dialogue is concerned, the dialogic language is somewhat impaired because the interaction is small (although it exists), and the lack of real-time debates compromises the construction of a dialogue / O presente trabalho realizou uma investigação que priorizou o desvelamento das representações de alunos, de um curso de Pedagogia a distância, sobre linguagem docente e dialogicidade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de cunho qualitativo, especificamente, um estudo de caso envolvendo 17 alunos do último ano (8º semestre) de um curso de Pedagogia a distância, de uma instituição de ensino superior, particular, localizada na região do Grande ABC paulista. A questão norteadora da investigação foi: Qual o conhecimento que os alunos do curso de Pedagogia a distância têm sobre linguagem docente, dialogicidade e sua importância para a construção do conhecimento? A hipótese parte do pressuposto de que os estudos e a formação em EAD trazem uma nova modalidade de docência reflexiva e decisória, porém, o desenvolvimento e importância atribuídos à linguagem docente vêm, não só do curso de Pedagogia em EAD, mas também de outras experiências dos sujeitos que estão em formação. O objetivo foi o de investigar e refletir sobre as representações dos alunos acerca da formação que estão recebendo em interface com a linguagem/dialogicidade. Para a coleta de dados foi aplicado um questionário – com questões abertas e questões fechadas – para o desvelamento do perfil e das representações acerca da questão norteadora da investigação e, a análise destes dados, teve como referência Franco (2003) e Szymanski (2010) para a metodologia de análise de conteúdo. O referencial teórico que embasou a pesquisa contou com autores que nos auxiliaram a produzir reflexões sobre linguagem, constituição do sujeito e a importância da linguagem na construção do conhecimento, como Bakhtin (1999 e 2000), Geraldi (1997) e Orlandi (1997). Para a recuperação do histórico e discussões sobre do curso de Pedagogia presencial e a distância selecionamos alguns autores como Gatti e Barretto (2009); para a crise das licenciaturas e identidade docente, Gatti e Barretto (2008 e 2010); para pesquisarmos as políticas públicas de formação, valorização e incentivo à carreira docente, Brzenzinski (2013), Tardiff e Lessard (2014), e fomos buscar em Nóvoa (1992) e Libâneo (2002) as ideias de profissionalidade, profissionalização e profissionalismo; em Saviani (2012) um estudo crítico sobre as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do Curso de Pedagogia. Em Bahia e Duran (2009) buscamos reflexões sobre a formação de professores em cursos a distância; em Bahia (2014) estudos sobre a formação inicial de professores a distância, e em Azevedo (2013) a aprendizagem e a linguagem na Educação a Distância. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para a grande importância, dada pelos alunos do curso de Pedagogia a distância, à linguagem, seu desenvolvimento dialógico e interlocutivo, sua importância na construção do conhecimento e no desenvolvimento da interação entre os interlocutores na Educação a Distância e a contribuição desta para a construção de um novo discurso educacional, porém, no que se refere à dialogicidade, a linguagem dialógica fica um pouco prejudicada, pois a interação é pequena (embora exista), e a falta de debates em tempo real compromete a construção de um diálogo mais efetivo.