With the number of people living longer and with more chronic problems, it is important that health educators examine who they are educating as well as the methods and circumstances of the education. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between self-directedness and health promotion in the elderly. A convenience sample of 108 elders who use Senior Centers in rural East Tennessee comprised the study group. The sample was asked to complete the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, and a demographic information survey at a regular meeting of a Senior Center. A positive relationship (r=.394; p<.005) was found between self-directedness as a measure of intrinsic motivation with participation in health promoting behaviors. Demographic information was used to describe the sample and was also used to determine if there was a relationship between any of the demographic items and health promotion practices or self-directed learning readiness. Participation in religious/spiritual activities was significant for both self-directed learning readiness and health promotion practices. Pender’s Revised Health Promotion Model and the Personal Responsibility Orientation Model provided an excellent basis for this study. The study confirmed the need for personal motivation in the elderly to accomplish increased participation in health promotion practices. Both self-directed learning readiness and health promoting behaviors were reviewed for consideration of previous research in the area, and theoretical perspectives. The key implication for practice is that health educators need to understand the motivation of their client prior to educating them regarding an aspect of health promotion. Recommendations for research include more qualitative studies. Almost all the studies available at present are quantitative and the reason for participation needs further investigation. Qualitative studies would enhance the information regarding the reasons for participation in health promotion.

The intent of this research is to create a qualitative framework to guide perceptions and observations about informal self-directed learning in the arena of contemporary Web 2.0 e-learning. Drawing influence from the studies on self-directed learning conducted by Allen Tough and his associates, the writings on educational connoisseurship and criticism by Elliot Eisner, as well as research and literature about contemporary e-learning contexts, this exploratory study is comprised of a hermeneutic analysis that seeks to discover themes, patterns and points of intersection in these three areas. The analysis presents the application of the resulting framework to three illustrative scenarios, constructed from ideas and themes drawn from the major elements of the study, and discusses the findings revealed by the investigation. The study concludes with reflection and recommendations for application and further research.

The intent of this research is to create a qualitative framework to guide perceptions and observations about informal self-directed learning in the arena of contemporary Web 2.0 e-learning. Drawing influence from the studies on self-directed learning conducted by Allen Tough and his associates, the writings on educational connoisseurship and criticism by Elliot Eisner, as well as research and literature about contemporary e-learning contexts, this exploratory study is comprised of a hermeneutic analysis that seeks to discover themes, patterns and points of intersection in these three areas. The analysis presents the application of the resulting framework to three illustrative scenarios, constructed from ideas and themes drawn from the major elements of the study, and discusses the findings revealed by the investigation. The study concludes with reflection and recommendations for application and further research.

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between how EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners positioned themselves and how they approached their learning in an English club. Three focuses formed the basis of this study: 1) the process of learners' enactment of different social positions in the English club meeting; 2) the relationship between learners' perceptions of the English club and their self-positioning in the English club meeting; 3) the relationship between learners' self-positioning and the meaning of learning in the English club meeting. This study adopted a case study approach focusing on 3 participants in an English club. Data were collected from a variety of sources for triangulation, including personal information survey, interviews, and field observations. Data collection was comprised of 2 stages of participant observation and 3 rounds of individual interviews. The observational data was approximately 54 hours in total. The interview data for the 3 focal participants was approximately 14 hours in total, while the interview data for the other club members was approximately 15 hours in total. Constant comparative method was employed to analyze collected data at the early stage. Zimmerman' s (1998) three identity categories (i.e., situated identity, discourse identity, and transportable identity) were adopted to be the analytical framework for future theorization. There were three major findings in this study: 1) the 3 focal participants demonstrated different forms of self-positioning in the English club meeting based on Zimmerman's three identity categories; 2) the 3 focal participants' perceptions of English clubs had a bearing on their self-positioning in the English club meeting; 3) the 3 focal participants made their own meaning of learning in relation to their self-positioning in the English club meeting. On the basis of the findings, the present study has six major discussion focuses: 1) shifting forms of self-positioning; 2) levels of self-positioning; 3) perceptions of English clubs and self-positioning; 4) meaning of learning and self-positioning; 5) continuum of a social community; 6) English club members as language users. To enrich the understanding of social positioning, the researcher suggest the following: 1) comparing the differences between how other members in an English club position the focal participants and how focal participants position themselves; 2) investigating EFL learners' social positioning in an English club with native English speakers; 3) exploring how EFL learners position themselves in two or more English clubs; 4) understanding how silent members think of their participation in an English club To enhance the participation in and usefulness of an English club, three practical suggestions are provided: 1) members should be granted enough freedom to adopt different routes of participation in an English club, such as being a listener, a story teller, or a merrymaker; 2) activities and practices in such an English club should be as diverse as possible to embrace and accommodate different types of members; 3) particular attention should be given to diversify the grouping of members.

At the new knowledge economy era, knowledge and human have become the important asset in the enterprise. The enterprise looks upon knowledge management and e-leaning as important development. Progressing in information technology, it provides the best environment to permit enterprise putting much of knowledge and resource in internet. Internet can spread rapidly without limit and reduce the learning time and distance, as less as we can not feel the time and distance exist. E-learning is very important in educational discipline of enterprise and should be a learning fashion in future. In the commercial competition environment that we pay much attention to cost and performance, enterprise must reduce learning cost and enhance learning effectiveness for e-learning development in the enterprise. The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship among of self-directed learning readiness, computer attitude and e-learning effectiveness. The procedures of this study are to adopt the literature analysis and empirical study. First, to build the theoretical basis we must analyze the relative and practical research of the elder learner of domestic and foreign scholars, including reference of the theory and relative practical research of the e-learning, learning effectiveness, self-directed learning readiness and computer attitude. Second, we developed the research questionnaire according to the theoretical basis. Our study object is the employees who participate in e-learning at Taiwan Power Company and we attain the 401 effective samples. Putting the data into the statistical analysis, we induce the research result. Finally, according to the research result we achieve the following eight important conclusions. First, business employees who spent much time on surveying internet every week have higher self-directed learning readiness. Second, with the different individual varies such as less age, higher education degree, fewer service seniority, spending much time on surveying internet every week, the computer attitude is higher. Third, there are no difference for the trainers who have different individual varies on e-learning effectiveness. Fourth, both of the self-directed learning readiness and computer attitude are positive relations for the trainers. Fifth, both of the self-directed learning readiness and e-learning effectiveness are positive relations for the trainers. Sixth, both of the computer attitude and e-learning effectiveness are positive relations for the trainers. Seventh, continuing to love learning of self-directed learning readiness is the most predictable to the computer attitude for the trainers. Eighth, independant learning of self-directed learning readiness is the most predictable to the e-learning effectiveness for the trainers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between self-directed learning readiness and the cultural values of individualism/collectivism in two sample groups drawn from different cultures. The research design used for this study was descriptive and correlational in nature. The target population for this study consisted of two sample groups: Korean and American college students who seek teacher certification in the field of agriculture. Data were collected using a web-formatted questionnaire. Results were computed statistically, including the means, standard deviations, effect size, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, bivariate correlations, and multiple regression. Findings indicated that in a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, scores for the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) (R2 = .03, adjusted R2 = .01, p = .30) in Step 1 was not statistically significantly related by gender, student classification, and GPA. Gender, student classification, and GPA accounted for only 3% of the variance and the three beta weights for the gender, student classification, and GPA variables were not statistically significantly related to the SDLRS. However, scores for SDLRS (R2= .34, adjusted R2 = .30, ¨R2 = .31, p =.00) in Step 2 was statistically significantly related by gender, student classification, GPA, nationality, vertical individualism (VI), horizontal individualism (HI), vertical collectivism(VC), and horizontal collectivism(HC). This model accounted for 34 % of the variance in the SDLRS (R2 change = .31). It appears that nationality, VI, HI, VC, and HC accounted for a further 31% of the variance. However, in Step 1, the gender, student classification, and GPA variables did not account for a significant amount of variance in Step 2. The beta weight for nationality and VI variables were not statistically significantly related to the SDLRS (E = -0.15, t = -1.67, p = .10; E = 0.01, t = 0.10, p = .92, respectively). However, the beta for the HI variable was statistically significant and positive (E = 0.40, t = 4.31, p = .00). The beta for the VC variable also was statistically significant and positive (E = 0.20, t = 2.12, p = .04). The beta for the HC variable also was statistically significant and positive (E = 0.21, t = 2.19, p = .03). These findings indicated that if HI, VC, and HC attitudes are high, the SDLRS scores tend to be high. That is, differences in the students’ SDLRS can be best explained through HI, VC, and HC among the cultural values of individualism/collectivism.

Employee learning provides significant competitive advantage for organizations. Understanding how employees learn in different work contexts can support continuing, effective, and frequent learning. Although most workplace learning is done informally, the characteristics of that learning are minimally reported and the criteria used to define learning as informal are inconsistent. Research into continuing professional development in knowledge-intense environments or distributed workforces is sparse. The pharmaceutical sales industry is a previously unexamined knowledge-intense environment with a geographically distributed workforce. This qualitative case study sought a better understanding of how pharmaceutical sales representatives learn for work by documenting and describing those ways of learning reported as most effective and most frequent. Twenty sales agents from 11 organizations participated in a Delphi collaboration to create a comprehensive list of 64 ways they learn for work. In-depth individual interviews with five agents provided deep detail about learning in this industry, including the ways of learning that the participating agents perceive to be most effective and most frequent. The Colley, Hodkinson and Malcom (2003) framework was interpreted, applied, and extended in order to identify attributes of formality and informality and other characteristics inherent in the ways of learning reported as most effective and most frequent. This study showed that agents learn in a wide variety of ways and that most of those ways are self-initiated, self-directed, minimally structured, and often involve intentional incidental learning: agents are constantly alert to capture learning while engaged in work activities. Learning during customer interactions on the job was reported as particularly effective and frequent. Other reported effective ways of learning varied with the agent but usually involved self-directed learning with mixed formal and informal attributes. It was determined that learning plays a special role in this industry: much of what is learned for work is not being applied directly to the job of sales promotion. Instead, agents use learning to develop themselves as resources for physicians in order to gain the customer-access required to promote their products. In this way, learning on the job is the job. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-23 16:16:11.431

Service-learning helps students experience the practical applications of learning to write well; it also offers opportunities for students to develop a sense of civic responsibility. Although service-learning is growing in popularity, this pedagogy is not prevalent in English departments. Additionally, service-learning courses across all disciplines typically do not empower students to make their own project decisions. Given these tendencies, it is useful to consider whether service-learning is an effective pedagogy for writing, whether students should be designing their own projects, and what writing instructors could do to facilitate students' growth as writers while completing projects in the community. This is a qualitative case study, incorporating quantitative data, of two technical writing courses. I reviewed the students' answers to surveys developed for this research, plus their course evaluations, individual reflective writing, and collaborative project documents, and then I compiled and collated the students' references to what they were learning and what they were struggling with. The references fall within the following themes: student decision-making; the role of the instructor; the rhetorical tenets of audience and purpose; service; collaboration with peers and community members; written expression; and professionalism and motivation. Relying upon the students' comments in regard to these themes, I suggest that service-learning can help students become invested in the outcome of their written expression, motivating them to learn how to address audience and purpose through strong writing. Students learn to work collaboratively and develop their own individual voices as they discover, reflect upon, and express their ideas and shared knowledge. Instructors should ask students to design their own projects, allowing them to engage with and learn how to contribute to the community: through self-directed experiential projects, students become more likely to understand the power of writing and to transfer their new knowledge to later situations. I conclude with a discussion of the need for targeted research and suggestions for teaching writing through community-based pedagogy to enhance civic engagement.

Developing critical thinking in early childhood is vital especially in Western culture since it improves an individual’s skills in creative thinking and enhances a person’s sense of responsibility. This is the fundamental contention of this thesis. These skills assist in developing and implementing a state of mind of not accepting negative situations and instead directs the individual towards trying to resolve and improve it. These issues have not yet been fully explored in Arab-Palestinian society in Israel. The development and application of notions of personal responsibility, critical thinking, and kindergarten-age children’s involvement in learning has yet to emerge as a reality in this community. This is needed because existing theory and practice involving these aspects of learning within the Palestinian system is problematic. Moreover, the development of a new approach to teaching and parenting of kindergarten-age children that fosters critical thinking and personal responsibility may not be a reality that is immediately achievable, but it is a possibility. This study aims to investigate how educational leaders can help kindergarten children aged 3-5 years to develop critical thinking and personal responsibility skills. The research focuses on Arab (Palestinian) children in Israel as these skills are not traditionally taught in the home or in educational settings in this culture. The literature shows that there is a marked disparity between the educational achievements of Arab and Jewish children in Israel, making the implications of this study salient not only to practitioners, but also to policymakers and educational institutions. In order to examine these goals, a case study involving qualitative research approaches of a kindergarten classroom has been conducted. The context of this study is an important and complex set of factors determining and shaping the content and form of the thesis and of the research that is embodied in the text. This study has been conducted in a kindergarten belonging to an Arab Municipality located in Northern Israel that was established in 2010 and is situated in a rural area in the north of the country. Lesson plans following the National Curriculum for Kindergarten Education were infused with teaching activities designed to facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking skills. The findings of the project showed that the presence of a strong educational leader had a positive impact on facilitating kindergarten children’s development of personal responsibility and critical thinking skills. This was especially the case if the leader played an active role in facilitating a learning environment at home and in school in which children were acknowledged and given greater autonomy and access to opportunities in which they could engage openly with parents and peers. This study calls attention to the need to further explore educational leadership in the context of early childhood education, as its implications for childhood development, particularly regarding critical thinking and personal responsibility, have not been sufficiently examined. This study claims to open possibilities for doing this in at least the Palestinian Kindergarten communities in Israel and perhaps beyond.

The concept of self-directed learning (SDL) has been extensively studied; however, the majority of studies have explored learners’ perspectives on SDL, with less attention paid to investigating SDL from educators’ perspectives. Surprisingly, while assessment and feedback have long been recognized as powerful elements which influence how learners approach their learning, and key research studies have examined how both assessment and feedback can encourage and enhance the development of SDL, this nevertheless remains an area that would benefit from increased attention. Moreover, although there is a growing body of literature investigating the cultural dimension of SDL, most of these studies are limited to examining the formation of SDL among individuals influenced by Western or Confucian cultures, ignoring the existence of other cultural groups. This study, which investigates Malaysian teacher educators’ conceptualisations of SDL, begins to address these gaps. The key research questions which guided the study are: 1) How do teacher educators in Malaysia conceptualise learning? 2) How do teacher educators in Malaysia conceptualise SDL? 3) To what extent do teacher educators in Malaysia perceive themselves as self-directed learners? 4) What kind of learning opportunities do teacher educators in Malaysia create for their learners to foster the development of SDL, and what is the particular role of assessment and feedback in SDL? Twenty Malaysian teacher educators were interviewed to obtain their views on SDL and to identify their pedagogical practices which may foster or hinder the development of SDL approaches among their learners. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to inform the methodological framework of this study, whilst a hybrid inductive and deductive analysis approach was used to analyse the interview data. The findings of the current study suggest that most assessment and feedback practices are heavily focused on assessments designed by educators and on educator-generated feedback, in which learners are passive recipients. It is argued that these practices have significantly contradicted the primary principle of SDL, which characterises the learner as the key agent of his or her own learning. The findings of this study suggest that a more comprehensive conceptualisation of SDL is required that recognises the fundamental role of both the self and of educators in SDL, and acknowledges the impact of the socio-cultural context on SDL. Informed by the existing SDL literature, and derived from fine-grained analysis of the interview data, the proposed definition of SDL and reconceptualised SDL framework foreground SDL as socially constructed learning where the learner takes control of his or her own learning processes within complex socio cultural contexts. The thesis concludes by recommending that future research (i) explores the central role of assessment and feedback in the context of SDL and (ii) investigates the impact of various cultures on learning, in order to develop a broader and more nuanced understanding of SDL.