Thesis (Ph.D.)--Cleveland State University, 2010. / Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on June 3, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-178). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center and also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Hollie Thomas, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 20, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 363 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

The study explored the domains of graduateness and employability at one polytechnic in Zimbabwe. The focus was on how instructional delivery strategies and assessment tools could embed domains of graduateness and employer expectations. A phenomenological research approach was used in conducting the study. This qualitative research paradigm allowed the research to take place in a natural setting which enabled a holistic picture and use of an inductive mode of inquiry through the researcher’s immersion in the research setting. Human capital, teaching methods and flexible training models, among others, emerged as major strengths in training. However, these key strengths were marred by unprofessional practices and limited resources. In assessment, proficiency schedules, trade testing and use of external assessors emerged as key strengths. Pertaining to the curriculum, it emerged that on paper, curriculum specifications and design for implementation appeared relevant to the production of a graduate exhibiting attributes of graduateness. It however emerged that there was need to revisit the hidden curriculum, as training was dependent on the availability of resources. The study proposes a framework for promoting graduateness and enhancing employability through creation of mutual partnerships to collectively develop a curriculum that is acceptable to institutions and industry. Moreover, graduateness domains should be enshrined in the curriculum. A need for strategic selection of teaching and assessment methods which promote critical thinking, interaction, decision making and retention of information was identified. Major recommendations are that institutions should align themselves with market demands and technological changes to ensure employability. Institutions should also prepare graduates for transition to the world of work, by rendering adequate preparation through teaming up with industry and the use of appropriate teaching methodology.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the professional requirements of employers across all industries for graduates. Based on the gathered knowledge then submit proposals for the Faculty of Economics of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, which are useful for adapting of faculty's syllabus. It should help its graduates to meet the most of the requirements of employers and thus to become the most competitive in the labor market.

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Town and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The South African (town) planning education system has been influenced by philosophies of European and American planning education models. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) planning school is no exception to this influence. The planning school adopted the technical and physical design model which was meant to respond to the need for technically skilled labourers of the 19th century. In the 19th century, education was security to a lifetime job, however in the current technological revolution this is no longer the case; it is the learned skills and experiences that can be added to your portfolio. Employers argue that graduates are out of sync with the needs and demands of the workplace; they are unable to express what they have learnt in the classroom in the workplace. The argument of this research is that the dominance of the technical skills component in the CPUT planning programme meant that graduates had a high level of technical skills while their “soft skills” were insufficiently developed. The “soft skills” that graduates need are enterprise skills. Enterprise skills are the result of enterprise education. There are two forms of enterprise education: education for enterprise aims to equip students with business start up skills, education through enterprise (which is the focus of this research) aims to teach students interpersonal skills through “learning by doing”; this enables students to translate the theory learnt in the classroom in the workplace. The objective of education through an enterprise approach is to develop behavioural skills, attitude and values which students can use in their professions. The research problem is that the current town planning curriculum of CPUT does not motivate nor support graduates to be enterprising. The first objective of this research is to investigate enterprise skills that are relevant for planning graduates. The second objective is to investigate the existence of enterprise skills development in the town planning curriculum of CPUT. Therefore, the research questions are: 1. Which enterprise skills are relevant for town planning graduates? 2. Is there an existence of enterprise skills development in the CPUT town planning curriculum? A mixed method research approach was used to answer the above-mentioned research questions. A quantitative research approach was used to answer the first research question, and this took the form of a questionnaire. There were two research participants: employers of CPUT graduates in the Western Cape were asked to identify relevant skills that graduates should have for the workplace. The other research participants were lecturers at the CPUT Department of Town and Regional Planning. They were asked to identify the skills that they developed through their teaching. The qualitative research approach was used to answer the second research question, this was in the form of structured interviews, and it was directed at the lecturers of the CPUT planning department. The objective of the qualitative method was to investigate the teaching styles of lecturers whether they promoted the development of enterprise skills. Employers have confirmed that CPUT graduates demonstrate more technical skills than the interpersonal skills. Although employers are content with the quality of technical skills, they have indicated that the workplace needs graduates with thinking skills, teamwork, planning and organising, the ability to recognise the importance of stakeholders, time management, the ability to adapt to change and the ability to act resourcefully. On the other hand, lecturers believed that they developed graduates that have thinking skills, self-learning, problem solving, analytical skills, planning and organising, decision making, communication skills, independence and confidence. The skills that employers get, do not correlate with those skills that graduates demonstrate. The skills that graduates demonstrate do not correlate with the skills that they have been taught. Literature confirms this trend by stating that planning practitioners and planning educators share a common misunderstanding about what skills graduates should have. The teaching styles of lecturers at the CPUT planning department were analysed using the principles of teaching through an enterprise approach which is: student centeredness, collaborative, experiential, flexible and negotiated teaching methods. It was found that the principles of collaboration and experiential learning were evident teaching practices. However, the principles of student centeredness, flexibility and negotiation were non-existent practices. In other words, there is some existence of an enterprise approach in teaching. Is it sufficient enough to develop enterprise skills that graduates need in industry? No, employers have confirmed that what they want from graduates is not what they get. Even though literature does not explicitly link planning education and enterprise education, there are numerous planning education authors who believe in the concept and principles of enterprise education. The findings of this research have also indicated that indeed enterprise skills are vital for the workplace. The advantage of integrating enterprise education is that it can be moulded to fit the purpose and objective of any subject; it can be weaved into already existing subjects so that it does not overwhelm the system. There are numerous opportunities in the CPUT planning curriculum that provide a platform for the inclusion of enterprise education, such as planning design studios, service learning projects, etc. What is needed is a mind-shift from authoritarian teaching to a more student centred approach.

Diversity and transformation demands on higher education require that all universities of technology revisit and redesign their qualifications and curricula in order to meet the challenges facing the higher education system in the 21st century, and to align with the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework. The study focused on the knowledge bases of the current and new Diplomas in Office Management curricula, and how these were aligned with the broader aim of enhancing the employability of graduates. The problem investigated was the contribution of higher education to the work readiness of graduates within a diploma curriculum at a university of technology. This thesis argues that employability is enhanced by the programme and its content. The National Diploma in Office Management is currently being phased out, and a new programme, the Diploma in Office Management, is being developed. These two qualifications are the main focus of this thesis. Knowledge is considered an important component of modern societies, and thus the knowledge bases of the Office Management curricula can play a vital role in fostering the employability of graduates. The theoretical framework draws on three dimensions of Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory. These dimensions are Autonomy, Semantics and Specialisation, which allow for the analysis of the Office Management curriculum to enable the researcher to develop an understanding of the knowledge base of service and professional knowledge bases of the curriculum. The recontextualisation processes for professional curricula involve the recontextualisation of work practices into academic subjects as well as the recontextualisation of disciplinary knowledge into applied subject areas. This process involves a series of knowledge translations involving choices and struggles, for example, to determine which disciplines are essential in a National Diploma Office Management curriculum. These choices of what makes different categories of knowledge practices legitimate, and the purposes and interests they serve are conceptualised in Legitimation Code Theory. The use of Legitimation Code Theory determined the multi-method approach used to include the views of graduates, employers and academics, who were able to bring their own experiences, expectations, concerns and perspectives into the research process. The methods of data collection included Delphi surveys, documentary data from minutes of DACUM and curriculum workshops, curricular documents and course material, third-year student and alumni surveys, and interview documentation with academics from international and local institutions. These sources were used to secure triangulation of data gathering. The Autonomy dimension of Legitimation Code Theory was drawn on to analyse the documentary and curricular data to examine the history, origin and mission of the Office Management curricula to determine who decided on the knowledge bases of the curricula. The Delphi survey was designed to determine the knowledge areas which form the basis of the Office Management curricula, and to obtain additional content which had been omitted from the current curriculum to assist with the recurriculation of the new Diploma in Office Management. The data from the Delphi surveys, curricular and documentary data and interview data, were analysed by drawing on the Semantic dimension of Legitimation Code Theory to examine the content and knowledge areas which give the Office Management curricula meaning. The design of the Delphi survey also aimed to determine the attributes necessary for the role of the office administrator. The analysis of data produced from a variety of sources utilising the dimensions of the Legitimation Code Theory established that the knowledge base of office management work is that of professional service and support. The findings show that the Office Management curricula focus on technical and highly practical and contextual components with less emphasis given to the significant role of the linguistic knowledge base. Language, writing and oral communication skills are the foundation of the work of office administrators and office managers who are required to communicate at all levels of the organisation with employees and senior staff, and between the company and its stakeholders. The workplace demands of the field of information technology are continuously changing, and focusing on the “technology” without focusing on the communication knowledge principles that support this technology, gives evidence of what Maton calls knowledge blindness in the curriculum. This harks to when the focus on the mechanics of typing and shorthand caused the work of secretaries to become underrated as the focus was not on the multiple and complex literacies associated with this work. A solid disciplinary core of communication theory and a sound knowledge of business communication genres and technical communication are essential for graduates. This will provide graduates with the complex knowledge they will need to draw on to cope with the demands of the dynamic workplace, changing technology and society, and an unknown future.

The objective of this work has been to find out two things: how graduates from the Faculty of Agriculture of South Bohemian University in České Budějovice, who finished their studies between years 2002 {--} 2006, were of use at the labour market and how they evaluate quality of education at the faculty.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo subsidiar a avaliação e, se necessárias, as transformações do currículo do curso de graduação em enfermagem de uma Instituição confessional. Estudo na vertente qualitativa utilizou como método a Pesquisa Ação. A coleta de dados foi realizada em dois momentos. No primeiro, foram entrevistados 19 egressos de uma turma de graduados em 2007 e 15 gestores, empregadores dos egressos, em cenários diversos para apreender a avaliação destes atores sobre o processo formativo vivenciado. No segundo adotou-se a técnica de Grupo Focal para possibilitar o debate, com docentes do Núcleo Docente Estruturante do curso, sobre os aspectos resgatados no primeiro momento. A análise dos discursos dos egressos e dos gestores gerou dois Relatórios Síntese que foram utilizados como temas disparadores para reflexão-ação nos encontros com os docentes e coordenadores. Os dados foram analisados segundo a técnica de análise temática de Bardin que possibilitou abstrair Unidades de Significado quanto à representação docente, relativas aos aspectos apontados por egressos e gestores distintamente. A análise permitiu a composição de quatro categorias semelhantes para os dois grupos: 1 - Perfil do Estudante do Curso de Enfermagem e Perfil dos Gestores na perspectiva dos Docentes. 2 - Avaliação do Currículo. 3 - Aspectos intervenientes no Processo Formativo. 4 - Sugestões para aprimoramento do Currículo. Considerando a percepção dos sujeitos e os pressupostos das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os cursos de Enfermagem, foi construído coletivamente um Plano de Ação que propõe sugestões para aprimoramento do currículo relacionadas à Flexibilização curricular; Redimensionamento dos Conteúdos; Educação Permanente; Valorização da Prática; Adoção de Metodologias Ativas e a Autonomia do Estudante. Considera-se que as propostas contidas no Plano de Ação reúnem aspectos que constituem núcleos de essencialidade no direcionamento de um processo formativo alinhado às Diretrizes Curriculares Nacional para os cursos de Enfermagem. Acredita-se que o ato avaliativo conjugado à metodologia da Pesquisa Ação possibilitou um processo reflexivo com base na realidade que revelou uma ação concreta no âmbito dos sujeitos envolvidos / This research aims at facilitating the evaluation and, if necessary, the curriculum transformations of the nursing college program (RN) at a parochial institution. This study on the qualitative analysis grid used the Action Research methodology. The data collection was accomplished in two stages. In the first, 19 graduates were interviewed out of a 2007 graduating class, and 15 nurse managers, employers of the graduates, in various scenarios in order to learn the evaluation of these individuals on the formative process experienced. In the second, we adopted the Focal Group technique to foster discussion with teachers from the programs academic directing body, regarding program aspects, as well as aspects recovered in the first stage. The analysis of the graduates feedback and the nurse managers generated two Report Summaries, which were utilized as guiding themes for reflection/action in these specific meetings with teachers and coordinators. The data was analyzed according to Bardins thematic analysis technique which made it possible to abstract Meaning Units regarding teaching representation related to the aspects pointed out by graduates and nurse managers distinctively. The analysis allowed the formation of four similar categories for both groups: 1- Nursing Students Profile and Nurse Managers Profile from the Teachers perspective. 2 Curriculum Evaluation. 3 Intervening Aspects in the Formative Process. 4 Suggestions for Curriculum improvement. Considering the subjects perception and the presuppositions of the National Curricular Guidelines for Nursing programs, an Action Plan was built collectively proposing suggestions for curriculum improvement related to: Curricular Flexibility Creation; Content Reassessment; Ongoing Education; Teaching and Practicum Prioritization; Adoption of Active Methodologies, and the Students Autonomy. It is considered that the proposals contained in the Action Plan combine aspects that represent essential orientation in the steering of a formative process aligned with the National Curricular Guidelines for Nursing programs. It is believed that the evaluating action together with the Action Research methodology enabled a reflexive process based on the reality that revealed a concrete action in the realm of the subjects involved.

This diploma thesis deals with HR marketing of company aimed to students and graduates who will create the future of the company. This work contains the analysis of expectations of students as future employees, analysis of the current state of the company and external factors. The proposal will design activities that the company is about to bring to increase both the amount of quality candidates from a range of graduates and more efficient use of resources of HR department.