Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Environmental Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Zululand, 2010. / Skills development is a crucial issue in South Africa as the economy of the country will only grow if there are people with the right skills and expertise to run all sectors of the economy. This study examined the career choices of Black Grade twelve learners in order to determine whether at this level learners have broadened their career choices to include scarce areas such as, for example, Science, Mathematics and Economics Management Science. The choice of careers is an important sustainable development issue, because without relevant expertise the economy of the country will not improve. Secondly, the demise of apartheid opened up careers which were previously denied to Black people; it is for this reason that the researcher examined the career choices of Black Grade twelve learners in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in the Republic of South Africa. The study made use of questionnaires to establish what kind of career choices Black Grade twelve learners made and also to find out whether there was any difference between the careers chosen by girls and boys and also between rural and urban learners. The study found that the general career choices of both males and females had changed by the time they reached Grade twelve, seen against career studies done at Primary school level (Mmema, 2010). In this study, some males currently chose careers that were previously only popular with females in grade seven, such as nursing, information technology, tourism, and computer sciences. Similarly, girls had begun to choose careers that were traditionally popular with the boys, such as mining, land surveying, doctor, civil engineering, prison warden, journalism, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. The strategy of the Department of Education in encouraging girls to participate in science projects seems to be working, even though it is at this stage concentrated at urban schools. The study indicated that the Department of Education needed to put more effort into career guidance in rural schools where the learners were not exposed to diverse career choices and information about technology. Learners in the urban areas seemed to be more familiar with career choices in general than the rural learners. Very few males and females intended to choose any of the many apprenticeships available in the trades, with the result that foreign people often take up the trades after following an apprenticeship. This is one of the important factors that cause xenophobia. Many of the sectors of the economy in this country are experiencing crisis. The result is that most of the economy of the country is controlled by people who have not chosen their professions with the necessary foresight and are therefore square pegs in round holes. This poses a serious challenge to the government and also to the Department of Education; they have to make learners more aware of the shortage of skills in the different sectors and prepare them to make wise career choices. As a recommendation, it is suggested that the government put more effort into assisting learners with career choices, particularly in the Black rural areas since Blacks form a two-third majority in the country. Career guidance will also stimulate and increase awareness of the professional and semi-professional careers that are available in the workplace.

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to explore what psychological skills were used by complexly physically injured military members who had self-reported successfully recovered. Data collection included the OMSAT-3 questionnaire, a semi-structed interview, and a second semi-structured interview with participants who volunteered. One manuscript was written. Using both deductive and inductive thematic analysis, the manuscript explored what psychological skills were used by complexly physically injured (N= 8, Mage= 36) military members. The findings revealed sixteen skills were used, four skills commonly used amongst all participants (i.e., goal setting, confidence, commitment, and motivation). Collectively, the findings from this master’s thesis contributes to the literature by providing a novel exploration into what mental skills may be used throughout rehabilitation from grave injury.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / This quasi-experimental study was undertaken to determine the effect of context on learning a functional living skill for individuals with cognitive deficits associated with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Forty-six people (ages 27-62) with non-paranoid schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were matched on cognitive level (Allen Cognitive Level Screen- 90, Allen, Kerberg, & Bums, 1992), cooking experience, and living situation (group home or apartment). They were then randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, clinic or home. All participants were evaluated and taught basic cooking skills in either the clinic or their homes. Finally, all participants were evaluated in their homes. Both groups scored significantly higher after cooking lessons (t=5.57, df = 21, p<.0001 for those in the clinic; t = 7.81. df = 21, p<.0002 for those learning at home); there was no significant difference between the two groups in where the learning took place (B = -1.8, df = 42, p<0.23). Those who learned in the clinic scored lower than the home group when tested at home (t = -2.07, df = 42, p<.0489) although this result must be accepted with caution because of a significant difference between the two groups on the first assessment of cooking skill. Additional questions yielded the following: there was a positive correlation between cognitive level and cooking skill (df = 44, r =.55, p <.001); there was a positive correlation between cognitive level and transfer of learning (df = 21, F = 52.49, p < .0000); no significant correlation was found between amount of practice and increase in cooking skill ( df = 27, r = .256, r2 = .066). People with cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia can learn a specific functional living skill in different contexts. Qualitative aspects of those contexts are discussed. Further research is recommended to describe/understand transfer of learning from one context to another. Cognitive level is highly correlated with both ability to learn and ability to transfer learning. Additional research is recommended to adequately describe the effect of practice on learning a functional living skill. Implications for treatment and suggestions for clinical research are presented.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a correlation between spatial skills and creativity in interior design students. Participants were subjects who took a visualization assessment and created the 33 projects used in the study, and 11 judges, professional design experts who rated the projects. The sample of subjects was comprised of interior design students at a FIDER-accredited institution in southwest Virginia. The judges included interior design educators and interior design graduate students having previous practice experience. Subjects completed a pencil-and-paper Visualization Assessment consisting of 36 questions using two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings (Isham, 1997). A percentage score for spatial skills was calculated for each subject based on the number of correct answers. Design projects created by the students were assessed by subjective ratings on three Dimensions of Judgment taken from the Consensual Technique for Creativity Assessment (Barnard, 1992; Amabile, 1982). The three dimensions used in this study included Appropriateness, Creativity, and Novelty. Ratings were collected in two judging sessions at a local site. Interjudge reliabilities exceeded the established criterion level (.70 or greater) on all three dimensions, with coefficients ranging from .729 to .866. Interjudge reliability for the Creativity dimension was .866, indicating a high level of agreement among judges on creativity. Intercorrelations among the dimensions indicated a high degree of association between the variables with Appropriateness and Novelty both significantly correlated with the Creativity dimension. Pearson product-moment correlation was used to determine if there was a significant correlation between visualization and creativity in interior design students. No significant correlation was found. / Master of Science

The problem of practice that has been identified is the lack of games as a social skills tool. Individuals with Autism may face many daily challenges. One of the known deficits for this population is their challenges related to social skills. One way to provide social skills instruction is through game-based strategies. When thinking about play it is not uncommon to automatically envision young children, but the inclusion of game-based play during social skills instruction can be appropriate for all age groups. As children age interventions tend to move away from the inclusion of play. In order to teach social skills the individuals must first be willing to come together as a group and interact with each other. One way to bring resistant individuals together is through play. During the pilot study of social skills training, for middle school aged students with high functioning autism, it was discovered that the inclusion of playing board games became a positive and productive way to bring resistant individuals together for the purpose of social skills training. With the inclusion of game playing as part of the social skills pilot study the results were positive interactions between individuals who initially avoided any interactions, other than negative ones, with each other. The model will be implemented with individuals who have autism and may also have other disabilities who are functioning at a much lower cognitive level. The goals of the pilot program are to increase social interactions and to improve social skills through the inclusion of play during social skills instruction. Social skills instruction requires individuals to be engaged; the inclusion of play is a natural non-threatening way to promote cooperative social interactions as a precursor to social skills instruction.

Postsecondary graduates often do not have the skills needed for entry level employment in today’s workforce. Postsecondary students should have a curriculum that is relevant to today’s workforce needs to increase the graduates marketability and success in our global economy. This study examined the workplace readiness skills desired by the high-tech industries in Alabama compared to the perceived importance of those skills from educators in Alabama’s Two-Year College System and the integration of those skills in the curricula. It was believed that there was no significant difference in the perceptions of educators and industry supervisors in reference to their perceptions of workplace skills and integrating those skills into the curricula. A web-based survey was sent to a select group of high-tech industry supervisors and educators from technical programs in Alabama. A total of 161 responses were received from the educator group for a 51% response rate while there were 62 industry supervisors that responded for a 31% response rate. The findings indicate that high-tech firms are looking for people who have basic workplace skills and competencies that include but are not limited to the following: honesty and integrity, service to customers, responsibility, ability to work in teams, listening skills, and the ability to solve problems. There was general agreement among the educators and supervisors on the importance of 22 of the 36 workplace readiness skills. However, for 14 of the workplace readiness skills, there was sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis. Industry supervisors indicated that a worker having the following workplace skills were not as important to their operation as the educator group thought they were: 1) selecting materials and facilities usage, 2) acquiring and evaluating information, 3) organizing and maintaining information, 4) understanding systems, 5) selecting technology, 6) maintaining and troubleshooting equipment, 7) reads well, 8) making good decisions, 9) seeing things in the mind’s eye, 10) knows how to learn, 11) knows how to reason, 12) applies technology to tasks, 13) does simple arithmetic, and 14) has self-esteem. Future research is needed to determine whether the findings in this study can be replicated. The researcher recommends expanding the research to include more participants in the study.

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