Thesis (Ph.D.)--Case Western Reserve University, 2007. / Adviser: David A. Kolb. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.B.A.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

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The subject of study of this research is the assessment of vocational knowledge in the health andsocial care program in upper secondary school. The study focuses on the first period of workplacelearning in health and social care program, which mostly occurs in elderly care. Eight tutors invarious nursing homes and seven nursing teachers at three schools participated in the interviews. Thestudy was conducted using qualitative analysis grounded on socio-cultural theory. The purpose ofthis study was to examine how tutors and health teachers interact and assess skills and knowledge inworkplace-based learning. The study reveals core aspects of vocational knowledge in health andsocial care. Findings of the study allow identifying four different categories of vocationalknowledge: Relational-, Medical-, Organizational- and administrative- and Theoretical skills inworkplace learning. The study highlights various tools and situations used in the assessment ofvocational knowledge, such as various checklists, assessment forms and student self-assessment. Thestudy also showed situations that consisted of consulting colleagues, consulting health teachers andtutors. The results of the study shows that students` personal qualities such as sociable, empathetic,initiative taking and being punctual was highly valued in the assessment. The study also showeddifferences in the assessment made by health teachers and tutors. Health teachers strongly focus onthe key goals of the course when they assessed the student's professionalism, whereas the tutorsfocused more on personal qualities important in the field.

E-learning in organizations is gaining more attention as it can be a step forward in the competitive market. Businesses are more in need of skilful employees and at the same time employee turnover can have costs. Although the organizations are offering elearning systems, these systems are not being used as much as they should be. This research concerns continued use of e-learning system in the organizations. The purpose of the study is to understand the motivations for and problems in the continued use oforganizational e-learning. The case under study is a Telecommunication Company in Iran which is investing noticeably on the organizational e-learning. For this purpose, a qualitative research method was adopted and semi-structured interviews with 8 users of an organizational e-learning system were conducted to collect the data. The Data were analyzed and interpreted using codes and categories, based on the research questions and related literature. The result indicated some details about the motivations and barriers in the continued use of organizational e-learning system and it has implication for the Company under the study and other organizations which use or intend to use e-learningsystems. / Motivations for and Problems in the Continued Use of Organizational E-learning System: A Case of Telecommunication Company in Iran

The university sector at the beginning of the 21st Century is shifting in response to national and global changes in the role and purpose of Higher Education. Some universities, including the University of Hertfordshire, have chosen to focus attention on engagement with business and commerce. This practice based research examines the experience of academics in relation to the new challenges posed by this strategic development. There are three threads of investigation; interviews, examination of key concepts and the practitioner dimension. Drawing on a qualitative and constructivist approach, individual interviews with a range of business facing academics explore their experience of engaging with new activities. My perspective, as a manager of business facing academics, provides an important thread and situates the work firmly in the practice context. The implicit expectations arising from strategic positioning as a business facing university are examined. A conceptual framework is established with a focus on the nature of business facing activity, including its relationship with traditional forms of teaching and research, learning through work in the Higher Education setting and the idea of an enabling local context. The research found that amongst those undertaking business facing activity, academic identity is a fluid and multi-faceted construct reconfigured through experience and learning in the workplace; by its nature not easily defined, labelled or bounded. The challenge for universities is to nurture and sustain individuals in the creation and use of academic identities, in order to meet the undoubted challenges to come. This requires a forward looking, inclusive and innovative stance, resisting the temptation to judge current academic identities by the established notions of the past. Management of academics involved in business facing activity requires a more flexible, trusting and individual approach than is traditionally seen in universities.

The purpose of this examination was to find how supervisors interpreted the terms vocational identity and vocational culture, found in the diploma goals in workplace-based learning at the Child- and Recreation Programme. To reach the purpose, I formulated questions that I answered through a qualitative study. I made six interviews with pre-school teachers who had been supervisors for students at the Child- and Recreation Programme. The informants answered the same questions and the answers were recorded. The result of the study showed that the supervisors made a fairly consistent interpretation of the terms. The conclusions in the study were that supervisors interpreted vocational identity as who you are at work, including issues of responsibility and security. The supervisors strengthened the vocational identities of their students by treating them in a positive way and they were able to see practical signs that the students had developed their vocational identity as they began to take responsibility in their work and dared to question the activities. The supervisors interpreted the concept of vocational culture as teamwork and the ability to have a holistic approach for children. The supervisors mediated the vocational culture by showing pride in their work and talking with the students. They were able to see concrete signs that the students had developed an understanding of vocational culture when the students weaved learning into everyday routines by talking with the children. / Syftet med mitt examensarbete var att ta del av hur handledare tolkar begreppen yrkesidentitet och yrkeskultur, som finns angivna i examensmålen för det arbetsplatsförlagda lärandet på barn- och fritidsprogrammet. För att uppnå syftet formulerade jag frågeställningar som jag sedan besvarade genom en kvalitativ undersökning. Jag intervjuade sex handledare för elever på barn- och fritidsprogrammet. Alla informanter svarade på samma frågor och svaren spelades in. Undersökningens resultat visade att handledarna gjorde en relativt samstämmig tolkning av begreppen. Några av de slutsatser som jag drog av min undersökning var att handledarna tolkade yrkesidentitet som vem man är på jobbet och i detta ligger även de båda begreppen ansvar och trygghet. Handledarna stärkte yrkesidentiteten hos sina elever genom att bemöta dem på ett positivt sätt och kunde se konkreta tecken på att elever utvecklat sin yrkesidentitet när de började våga ta ansvar och vågade ifrågasätta. De intervjuade handledarna tolkade begreppet yrkeskultur som arbetslagsarbete och helhetstänkandet kring barn. Handledarna förmedlade yrkeskulturen genom att de visade upp en yrkesstolthet och samtalade med eleverna och kunde se konkreta kännetecken på att eleven utvecklat förståelsen för yrkeskulturen när eleven vävde in lärandet i de vardagliga rutinerna genom att samtala med barnen.

Syftet med den här studien är få kunskap om yrkeselevers syn på arbetsplatsförlagt lärande (APL) Genom kvalitativa intervjuerna synliggjordes vad yrkeselever lär sig under APL-perioderna, utifrån elevernas perspektiv och deras uppfattningar. Frågeställningarna besvarade även hur de kunskaper de har omvandlades till lärande samt vikten att ta hjälp från andra för att få stöttning i sin utveckling inom det yrke de kommer att lära sig under sin utbildning. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten är situerat lärande med det sociokulturella perspektivet som utgångspunkt.  Resultatet visar på yrkeselevers upplevelser av vad, hur och med vilket stöd de lär sig om sitt blivande yrke under sitt arbetsplatsförlagda lärande. Det är tydligt att yrkeskunnandet och anställningsbarheten är viktiga områden att utveckla under det arbetsplatsförlagda lärandet. Det framkommer att eleverna har mycket kunskap med sig från skolan. På arbetsplatserna lär de sig att fråga om hjälp, öva upp sin snabbhet inom yrket och lära sig av sina misstag.  Erfarenheten hos andra yrkesutövare, till exempel handledaren, blir central och eleverna får möjligheten att tydligt se yrket som en helhet.  Interaktionen mellan elev och andra på arbetsplatsen behövs för att eleven ska kunna ta sig framåt i sin kunskapsutveckling. Här blir praktikgemenskapen viktig då den blir ett stöd för elevens fortsatta lärande. / The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about the students' views on workplace-based learning (WBL). Based on the students' perspectives and their perceptions, their learning during the WBL was made visible, through qualitative interviews. The questions also answered how they have transformed their knowledge into learning, as well as the importance of getting help from others to get support in their development in the profession they will learn during their education. The theoretical perspective is situated learning with a socio-cultural perspective as the starting point. The result shows students' experiences of what, how and with which support they learn about their future profession during their workplace-based learning. It is clear that professional knowledge and employability are important areas to develop during workplace-based learning. It appears that the students have a lot of knowledge with them from school, but in the workplaces, they learn to ask for help, practice their speed in the profession and learn from their mistakes. The experience of other co-workers, such as the supervisor, becomes central and the students have the opportunity to obtain a clear view of the profession as a whole. The interaction between the student and others in the workplace is necessary for the student to be able to progress in its knowledge development. Here, the community of practice becomes important, as it becomes a support for the student's continued learning.

Modern approach to process of workplace learning is called The workplace learning concept. It is defined as an interaction between person and his/her workplace. This approach redefines conservative classification of profession education and brings new insight on the process of permanent learning inside company in defined workplace boundaries. Primary objective of this diploma thesis is to verify dependencies between informal employee's relationships on a workplace and process of their learning. Informal relationships analysis is done via sociometric questionnaire and qualitative interviews with chosen employees who represents each hierarchy levels inside organization. Empiric evaluation was executed in three different industrial oriented Moravian companies in three administrative regions of Czech Republic: South Moravian Region, Zlin Region and Moravian−Silesian Region.

Universities in Zimbabwe have universally adopted a full-year integrated undergraduate student workplace-based learning pedagogy following the precedent set in 1991 by one pioneering university, the National University of Science and Technology. In this explorative study I analyse participants’ views, reflections and understanding of how the full-year model of workplace-based learning enhances quality academic practices and impacts on short, medium and long-term visions and opportunities for students and other stakeholders. I employed the embedded concurrent mixed methods research design (Creswell&Clark, 2007) using interviews with lecturers, university administrators and industry supervisors, as well as open-ended questions in three matched versions of a questionnaire to students, lecturers and industry supervisors respectively. The same questionnaire provided quantitative data that was statistically analysed. Interviews were conducted with 24 participants from the university under study, industry and other universities, while 363 university students, 40 NUST lecturers and 34 industry supervisors responded to the respective questionnaires. Students, lecturers and industry supervisors concurred on the coherence between industry experiences and university learning, the beneficial experiences at the workplace, and the relevance of those experiences to society, confirming the expressed view that industry-based learning promoted quality learning and teaching, and enabled students to become work-ready. However there were perceptions of inadequate student supervision and assessment, unsatisfactory student welfare safeguards, inadequate research enthusiasm among lecturers, and the lack of involvement of the whole spectrum of industry categories. There was an underlying regard for lifelong learning enabling societal transformation into the increasingly dominant industrialised culture. Lecturers indicated an appreciation for a holistic orientation to teaching and learning (Taylor, 2009), and were inclined towards adopting the hermeneutic approach to education (Danner, 2002). It is recommended, among other things, to revitalise effective practices through staff development efforts, increasing student knowledge and empowerment, and strengthening collaborative platforms between the university and its industry partners. Chief among the suggestions for future research is the understanding and promotion of student welfare during their placement in the workplaces. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted