In Initial Teacher Training (ITT), one of the technologies rapidly being adopted to support the development of trainee teachers is the e-portfolio. Research into successful use of e-portfolios beyond their function as a repository has been scanty to date. The purpose of the current study was to extend the boundaries of understanding of e-portfolios beyond this function. This was undertaken through two in-depth case studies where e-portfolios were used as a pedagogical tool intended to support the development of reflective practice on a one year postgraduate ITT course, during two years of investigation in one university A mixed-methods approach was adopted to capture the richness of participants’ self reports of their experiences, statistical data regarding interactions on the e-portfolios and analysis of reflective writing. Data were collected and analysed from questionnaires, student and tutor interviews and interactions with the e-portfolio together with analysis of the content of reflective e-journals, with a special emphasis on the place and depth of reflection. What emerged was a rich contextual understanding of e-portfolio use by trainee teachers and tutors and the problematic nature of conceptualising and assessing reflective thinking, together with the extent to which the development and depth of their reflective thinking had been supported by e-portfolio use. The results confirm previous concerns related to the training requirements of users and also the time needed for students and tutors to engage in interactions. Further they imply that the prerequisites of successful use of e-portfolios, as a pedagogical tool, to support the development of reflective thinking include common agreement about what constitutes reflection and reflective thinking embedded within a strong, rigorous and well theorised conceptualisation of course structure and content. Implied also is the need for a well understood and transparent framework to assess the depth of reflective thinking that should complement the competencies that underpin Standards, and support the professional development of teachers.

The training needs of managers in the public and private sectors were investigated and compared. Future trends in training that are foreseen by these managers were also researched. Forty-four public sector managers and 34 private sector managers completed a questionnaire covering such topics as: current training needs, current training efficiency, and future trends in training. Topics covered included an overview of the problem, identification and explanation of current trends in topical literature, results of the research, and conclusions drawn from the findings. The results indicated a small difference in current training needs of the two sectors. Recommendations for future studies included a larger sample population and a follow-up study of the private sector managers.

Historically, horse trainers have relied primarily upon repetition, negative reinforcement, and punishment to teach new behaviors. Positive reinforcement has been eschewed, largely on the basis of the wides read belief that positive reinforcement is not effective with horses. Additional difficulties in the timely application of such reinforcement have further inhibited its use. After repeated pairing of an auditory stimulus with an established primary reinforcer, the auditory stimulus was predicted to be a reinforcer. An equine subject was then successfully trained to perform five different, novel tasks using only the auditory stimulus. Subsequently, extinction of behavior was noted in the absence of the conditioned reinforcer. Implications for many phases of horse training were discussed. Some weaknesses of the present study were noted along with suggested issues for future investigations.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of recommendations from selected educational reports and state mandates on curriculum, standards and policy in teacher education programs. The survey population included deans of teacher education in thirty-five public and private colleges in the states of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. The study also determined the attitude of the deans regarding the recommendations from the selected reports and state mandates in the survey states and colleges. The recommendations analyzed in the study were from the reports: A Nation At Risk. The Imperative for Education Reform, High School. A Report on Secondary Education in America, Meeting-the Need for Quality. Action in-the South, Paideia Proposal: An Educational-Manifesto, and A Place Called School. Prospects for the Future.A thirty item questionnaire containing recommendations from the selected reports and state mandates related to states surveyed was developed and utilized. Six research questions were tested statistically by use of percent response, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation,analysis of variance and covariance, and Chi-Square. The .05 level of significance was established as the critical probability level for the significant results. The .01 level was also indicated to further identify levels of significance.Conclusions1. There was a greater tendency for the deans of teacher education to agree with the recommendations that had been implemented and a tendency to disagree with the recommendations that were not implemented.2. The majority of the recommendations that were standard oriented were implemented or proposed for implementation.3. A majority of the recommendations that were policy oriented were not considered for implementation.4. The majority of the deans did not favor recommendations that stressed stringent standards regarding the admittance of students to teacher education programs.5. The majority of the deans did not favor reform in curriculum such as the recommendations related to pedagogy and teaching methods, and were divided between disagree and undecided regarding the merits of a five year teacher education program.6. The type of institution did make a difference when responding to recommendations from the reports. The private colleges favored more of the recommendations that were curricula oriented. The public colleges favored more recommendations that were standard oriented. The majorityof the predominantly black colleges did not favor recommendations that emphasized raising the entrance and exit standards in teacher education.This study found that state mandates had greatest influence on teacher education since the release of the national reform reports of 1983-1984. The national reports were not found to have significant influence on teacher education reform regarding implementation of suggested reform; however, the attitudes of the deans supported such reform effort in teacher education.

Thesis (M.S.)--Marshall University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 75,6 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-72).

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This dissertation focuses on the transfer of training at Standard Executors and Trustees. Studies indicate that too often managers in organisations get involved in what they call training, which they carry out as a matter of routine (Erasmus and Van Dyk,1999:10). This form of training, which is done merely for the sake of training, does not add any tangible benefits for the employee or the organisation. Chapter one of this study presents a background to the company and the issues surrounding the transfer of training as well as some of the benefits that may be achieved by positive transfer of training within an organisation. The chapter also contains a statement of the objectives and hypotheses of the study. Chapters two, three and four present the literature, which was reviewed for the study. In Chapter two various definitions of training, development, learning and transfer of training are explored. Chapter three looks at a systematic approach to transfer of training and Chapter four looks at the transfer process model, which focuses on work Environment Factors that influence transfer of training in organisations. Chapter five outlines the research methodology that was followed in this study. Chapter six presents the field study, which involved the following: • The design of a research questionnaire to investigate the perceptions held by employees in relation to the factors they believe influence transfer of training at Standard Executors and Trustees. • The development of a research model. • The presentation of the research findings. The study ends with Chapter seven which provides a conclusion, discussion and recommendations in respect of the research findings. The key research findings are that Transfer of Training within Standard Executors and Trustees is greatly influenced by: • The assessment of training needs. • The employee's motivation to learn. • The employee's ability to learn. The research also indicates that the while the under-mentioned variables have an influence on Transfer of Training at Standard Executors and Trustees, their influence is not significant: • The design of training. • The selection of an appropriate training venue. • The evaluation of employee performance during and after attending a training course. • The use of goal setting and relapse prevention techniques. • The issue of organisational support was also investigated, however the statements investigating this aspect of the study had very low reliability values and in the final analysis this area will need further research. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Today's economic environment requires for a greater emphasis to be placed on the development of cost-effective solutions to meet military capability based requirements. The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process is designed to identify materiel and non-materiel solutions to fill defense department capability requirements and gaps. Non-materiel solutions include: Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel, Facilities, and Policy (DOTMLPF-P) changes. JCIDS specifies that all non-materiel solutions be analyzed and recommendations be made accordingly following a capability-based assessment (CBA). Guidance for performing CBA analysis provides minimal information on how to predict training effectiveness and as a result training investments are not properly assessed and considered as a viable alternative. Investigations into the ability to predict versus evaluate training performance and to quantify uncertainty in training system design are two identified gaps in the capability of existing training evaluation methods. To address these issues, a Methodology to Predict and Evaluate the Effectiveness of Training (MPEET) has been developed. To address the gap in predictive capability MPEET uses primary elements of learning theory and instructional design to predict the cost-effectiveness of a training program, and recommends training alternatives based on decision-maker preferences for each of the cost and effectiveness criteria. The use of educational and instructional theory involves developing and ensuring human performance requirements will be met after training. Utility theory is used to derive an overall criterion consisting of both cost and effectiveness attributes. MPEET uses this criterion as a key variable in determining how to properly allocate resources to gain maximum training effectiveness. To address the gap in quantifying uncertainty in training performance, probability theory is used within a modeling and simulation environment to create and evaluate previously deterministic variables. Effectiveness and cost variables are assigned probability distributions that reflect the applicable range of uncertainty. MPEET is a systems engineering based decision-making tool. It enhances the instructional design process, which is rooted in the fields of education and psychology, by adding an objective verification step to determine how well instructional strategies are used in the design of a training program to meet the required learning objectives. A C-130J pilot case study is used to demonstrate the application of MPEET and to show the plausibility of the approach. For the case study, metrics are derived to quantify the requirement for knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the C-130J pilot training system design. Instructional strategies were defined specifically for the C-130J training program. Feasible training alternatives were generated and evaluated for cost and effectiveness. Using information collected from decision-maker preferences for cost and effectiveness variables, a new training program is created and comparisons are made to the original. The case study allows tradeoffs to be performed quantitatively between the variable importance weightings and mean value of the probabilistic variables. Overall, it is demonstrated that MPEET provides the capability to assess the cost and effectiveness of training system design and is an enabler to the inclusion of training as an independent non-materiel alternative solution during the CBA process. Although capability gaps in the defense acquisition process motivated the development of MPEET its applicability extends to any training program following the instructional design process where the assumed constraints are not prohibitive.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves 151-158. / Photocopy. / x, 158 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1932.