<p>Recognizing the need for companies and organizations to retain employees, one of the topics given very little attention in the research is non-attendance in face-to-face training. This study presents findings from the analysis of archival data from a 2013 employee education survey. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted on two sets of data exploring barriers to participation in employee-development education classes. Extrinsic factors were identified as &lsquo;more important things take priority&rsquo; and &lsquo;circumstances beyond the employee&rsquo;s control&rsquo;. Intrinsic factors were identified as &lsquo;personal motivation challenges&rsquo;. These factors emerged as potential reasons for non-participation or no-show behavior in employee education courses. Possible explanations for the results are discussed and recommendations for future research are presented. </p>

<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>

This thesis examines the ways in which active citizenship is conceptualised by a variety of actors within the Workers’ Educational Association South Wales and is the work of an ‘insider’ with experience of the organisation as both employee and Trustee. The Association is a democratically structured, voluntary organisation with a history of providing adult education in communities throughout south Wales for more than a hundred years. Its reliance on funding from the Welsh Government for the majority of its income is a significant aspect of the background to this study, particularly as one of the Association’s aims is the provision of courses that ‘will assist in the promotion of active citizenship’. The research is set within the contexts of changes in adult education policy during the Association’s lifetime and a contemporary emphasis on the economic purpose of education, the contested nature of the concepts of citizenship and active citizenship and the organisation’s historic role in relation to the Labour movement and past tensions in respect of the receipt of state funding. The study explores through semi-structured interviews with those responsible for the Association’s strategic direction, both senior staff and Trustees, as well those whose role is to implement policy as Development Workers and Part-time Tutors, how active citizenship is understood and whether or not there is a shared understanding within the Association. A picture emerges in which there appears to be uncertainty among a significant proportion of participants about the Association’s purpose as well as a lack of a shared understanding of what active citizenship means and of the kinds of active citizenship the Association could promote. The study also reveals shortcomings in organisational capacity to achieve the aim of promoting active citizenship. The thesis concludes with a series of policy recommendations for the Association to consider.

Background: Continuing professional education (CPE) for nurses is deemed an essential component to develop, maintain and update professional skills and practice in order to ensure that nurses respond effectively to care requirements and provide a high standard of patient care. However, there is little empirical evidence of its effectiveness or factors which may influence its application into practice. This thesis explores a continuing professional education programme on the safe administration of medication and how new knowledge and skills are transferred into clinical practice. Design: Realist evaluation provides the framework for this research study. Realist evaluation stresses the need to evaluate programmes within "context," and to ask what "mechanisms" are acting to produce which "outcomes." The realist evaluation cycle for this study had four distinct stages. Firstly, I built initial theories as conjectured CMO configurations (Stage 1 and 2), then these CMO conjectures were tested (Stage 3) and then they were refined (Stage 4). Methods: Data was collected and analysed separately for each of Stages 1, 2 and 3. However, as realist evaluation is iterative, I often returned to a previous stage to clarify meaning or understanding. Document analysis and interviews were used in Stage 1 to commence the process of building CMO conjectures. Realist interviews took place in Stage 2 to refine the conjectured CMO configurations. Stage 3 involved the testing of the conjectured CMO configurations through three embedded case studies which involved interview, clinical observation, analysis of further documents and analysis of data from reported critical incidents and nursing care metric measurements. Findings: This study has shown the significant role of the ward manager in the application of new learning from the safe medication administration education programme to practice. Local leadership was found to enable a patient safety culture and the adoption of a quality improvement approach in the local clinical area. The multi-disciplinary team at both organisation and local level was also found to be a significant context for the application of the safe medication administration education programme into practice. Reasoning skills, patient identification and receptivity to change were identified to be key mechanisms which were enabled within the described contexts. The exploration of the context and mechanisms and their relationship allowed for further exploration of outcomes associated with the context and mechanism constructs. Recommendations: The conjectured CMO configurations put forward at the end of the thesis should be further tested utilising a different CPE programme. These theoretical propositions could inform policy and practice on the factors required to ensure learning from CPE is applied in practice. The realist evaluation framework should be applied when evaluating CPE programmes as the rationale for providing CPE programmes is to maintain and improve patient care.

<p> Early childhood education (ECE) teachers often lack the experience and skills to provide children with supports necessary to foster academic and social skill development. Professional development can improve ECE teachers&rsquo; skills, but ECE trainers often lack understanding of adult learning principles, known as andragogy. Knowles&rsquo; conceptual framework of andragogy was used to explore the knowledge and use of andragogical principles of 8 ECE trainers selected via criterion-based purposive sampling. The research questions focused on ECE trainers&rsquo; knowledge and use of andragogical principles. Three cases, each consisting of 2 or 3 live professional development trainings for early childhood educators, were used in this study. Data sources included (a) observations of ECE trainings, (b) semi-structured interviews with ECE trainers, and (c) content analysis of ECE training materials. Thematic analysis revealed that although participants were not formally trained in andragogy and were unfamiliar with the associated verbiage, most had a strong grasp of andragogy and used andragogical principles to drive the development and presentation of their training materials. The 3 main themes that emerged were (a) lack of training/background in andragogy, (b) training strategies employed, and (c) training design. Findings from this study provide an original contribution to the limited existing research on the professional development of early childhood educators and expand the existing body of research on andragogy. This study contributes to social change by revealing that trainers may benefit from formal andragogical training, which may then improve the education provided by ECE teachers to young children.</p><p>

Though continuing education is often a vibrant and thriving function in modern universities, paradoxically, little is known about the content and organization of the knowledge structures that continuing educators employ as they go about creating continuing education programs in university settings. Drawing upon the entrepreneurship literature (Mitchell and Chesteen, 1995; Mitchell, 2001), (Vesper, 1996) and the adult education program planning literature (Caffarella, 2002), this inquiry assesses the robustness and applicability of scripting as a method of examining this aspect of practice. / Graduate

Forecasts reveal an increase in the percentage of mid to older adults in the U. S. and the need of educational programs for lifelong learners. In recognition of changing demographics, the American Association of Museums urged its member institutions to place a high priority on adult programs and research into learning. While museums have experienced changes in adapting to environmental conditions and more explicit educative mission, professionals have noticed the emergence of a meaning-making, constructivist paradigm.;Previously, no study dealt with the mental constructions adults have or form as they interface with a multi-faceted museum program such as the History Forum at Colonial Williamsburg. Using a conceptual framework based on Mezirow's (1991) work, this study explored, described, documented, analyzed, and interpreted the meanings intended by program planners and constructed by audience members. Furthermore, it interpreted changes in meaning audience interviewees reported. The study was phenomenological in orientation and employed various qualitative methods, such as a questionnaire, multiple interviews, and an evaluation form.;Findings indicated that the planners wanted to provide diverse opinions so that the audience could increase their perspectives, form their own opinions, and become more intelligent contributors in dealing with modern-day problems. The audience interviewees spoke of similar program aims, but they also variously addressed finding little diversity of opinion, difficulty in expressing their opinions, and no way to take further action in their everyday lives based on what they had learned.;Whereas the content of the forum provoked participants' thoughts about the program's topic and an eighteenth-century way of thinking, it also raised concerns about race and gender and political and religious issues. Throughout the interviewees' almost paradoxical statements about similarities and differences between now and then, a strong theme emerged--namely, that there has been very little change in the last 200 years. The findings also revealed some audience interviewees' uncritical attitudes, the importance of visual materials, and the power of interpretive drama. Although inferences should not be made about other audiences, this study may be enlightening to all educators concerned with andragogical strategies and who wonder what meanings adults form from a particular program.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect the persistence of re-entry women over age twenty-five at an urban state university using Vincent Tinto's academic-social fit theory of retention and persistence which posits that once this fit is achieved, persistence and retention will be positively affected.;The re-entry women's population at Urban State University, an historically black university, was studied. It was chosen because of its mission of serving special populations, its size, its historical prominence, and its location in an urban community.;Urban State University had an available pool of eighty-eight women over age twenty-five who were academically classified as "seniors" for the 1988 fall semester. They were sent surveys containing academic and social adjustment factors found in the literature that may affect persistence. Forty-six re-entry women responded to the survey.;The survey contained demographic data, academic factors (prior educational experiences, orientation, class attendance, class assignments, study habits, tutorials, counseling, advising and career plans), and social factors (younger classmates, classmates their ages, family members, husband/mate, campus organizations, university-sponsored cultural activities, employment, day care and transportation.).;Based on the data, it was concluded that the academic and social factors had no effect on the population of re-entry women who responded to the survey; however, orientation and classmates twenty-five years and older were the responses with the highest percentages in the academic and social adjustment factors. Data were inconclusive as to what factors other than perhaps self-motivation and determination positively affects persistence. Further study is needed to evaluate what specific factors positively affect re-entry women's persistence.