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Higher Education; Community Education; Vocational Education; Foreign Countries; Criticism; Community Colleges; Institutional Mission; Comparative Education; Colleges; Case Studies; Economic Development; Educational Change

Abstract:
Long seen as adaptive, responsive, and flexible higher education institutions in the face of educational, economic, and social changes, the American community college model has been adapted in many parts of the world. However, the extent to which the American community college model could be successfully adapted and implemented depends on the political, educational, and socioeconomic contexts of each country. Therefore, to better understand how the American community college model has been adapted by other countries requires critical analysis of these systems case by case. This article aims to critically analyze how American community college models are adapted in other countries, particularly focusing on the systems in Taiwan and Turkey. The article starts with a literature review on the community college systems around the world and the accompanying challenges that these countries face in the adaptation process. Before presenting the Taiwanese and Turkish community college models in detail, their American counterparts are introduced to provide a theoretical/conceptual context for understanding international case studies. This article concludes with discussions on the commonality and differences of this form of higher education in Taiwan and Turkey and highlights emerging themes that draw attention to community college researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Community Colleges; Internet; Video Technology; Protocol Analysis; Usability; Higher Education; Two Year Colleges; Web Sites; Vocational Education; Careers; Enrollment; College Students; Testing; Evaluation; Interviews; Disadvantaged Youth; Minority Group Students; Educational Attainment; Graduation; Student Personnel Services

Abstract:
This study explored whether community college websites are a useful medium for providing knowledge relevant to degree completion. Ten community students used one of three community college websites to answer 10 questions about occupational degree programs. A facilitator asked participants to think aloud while using the website to answer these questions; their responses were video-recorded and coded in terms of correctness of answers and types of usability problems encountered. The findings suggest that participants frequently encountered problems with finding and understanding information needed to understand degree selection and completion. The content analysis of these problems yields several suggestions for improving the usability of community college websites for answering common questions about degree completion. (Contains 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Vocational Education; Engineering Education; Technology Education; Leaders; Industrial Arts; Educational History; Higher Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Community Colleges; Teacher Education Programs; Public Schools; Experimental Programs

Abstract:
Many vocational education, technology education, and now technology and engineering education leaders have made their mark on their profession. Their legacy is something that members of the profession enjoy and have a responsibility to continue and build upon. This is the third in a series of articles entitled The Legacy Project, which focuses on the lives and actions of leaders who have forged the profession into what it is today. Members of the profession owe a debt of gratitude to these leaders. One simple way to demonstrate that gratitude is to recognize these leaders and some of their accomplishments. The focus in this issue will be on Dr. Ralph Bohn, who graciously responded to a series of questions about himself and the influence that he and others had on the vocation/technology engineering education profession. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Workplace Learning; Vocational Education; Education Work Relationship; Communities of Practice; Expertise; Competence; Literature Reviews; Holistic Approach; Models; Educational Research; Organizational Development; Work Environment; Teaching Methods; College Instruction; Learning Processes; Educational Trends

Abstract:
The interest in research focusing on learning taking place at work, through work and for work has considerably increased over the past two decades. The purpose of the paper is to review and structure this wide and diverse research field. A tentative holistic model--the 3-P model of workplace learning--is presented, in relation to which the following six lines of research are identified: (1) studies describing the nature of workplace learning, (2) research on work identities and agency in workplace learning, (3) studies on the development of professional expertise, (4) analyses of competence development in education-work contexts in vocational education and training as well as in higher education, (5) research on communities of practice, and (6) research on organisational learning. The research lines and the holistic 3-P model should be seen as analytic tools for understanding the diversity in workplace learning research. They may also serve as a kind of map for individual researchers, helping them to locate their main areas of interest in this broad field of research and to outline research designs for future studies. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Workplace Learning; Vocational Education; Learning Processes; Task Analysis; Predictor Variables; Research Methodology; Trainees; Novelty (Stimulus Dimension); Feedback (Response); Diaries; Education Work Relationship; Regression (Statistics); Helping Relationship; Office Occupations; Clerical Occupations; Sales Occupations

Abstract:
Most learning in the workplace occurs while pursuing working rather than learning goals. The studies at hand aimed to identify task characteristics that foster learning in the workplace. Task characteristics are supposed to exert a major effect on the learning potential. However, the fact that learning is more often than not a rather unconscious by-product of working poses methodological challenges because respondents might not be capable of accurately recalling daily work experiences. Diaries were applied in order to bring measurement closer to the processes. Three diary studies were conducted in the field of office work within vocational education and training, with trainees requested to record particular work tasks several times a day. Each diary record, i.e., each work task, required a rating of ten standardized items relating to task characteristics including the perceived learning potential of the present task. Eighteen trainees aiming to become retail salespersons recorded 488 work tasks, 10 trainees aiming to become bank clerks recorded 1,113 work tasks, and 20 trainees aiming to become industrial clerks recorded 573 work tasks. The aim of these studies was to explain the variance in the perceived learning potentials from further task characteristics using regression analyses. The extent of the explained variance ranged from 46.6% in study 1 to 77.8% in study 3. Interestingness, novelty, assistance from others, and feedback turned out to be the best predictors, whereas scope of action even showed negative influences. Practical implications for workplace learning as well as methodological recommendations for using diary methods in the workplace are discussed. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Work Environment; Vocational Education Teachers; Teaching Methods; College Instruction; Immigrants; Student Diversity; Constructivism (Learning); Intervention; Faculty Development; Teacher Competencies; Vocational Education; Intercultural Communication; Cultural Pluralism; Multicultural Education

Abstract:
Immigration is an integral phenomenon of our globalising world. The increasing flow of people creates new challenges for educational institutions and workplaces. The purpose of this article is to address challenges that vocational teachers face with diversity at colleges and workplaces. Two research questions are addressed: how do teachers prepare immigrant students for working life? What challenges related to intercultural competence do teachers preparing immigrant students for working life face? The theoretical background lies in cultural-historical activity theory, developmental work research and in the concept of intercultural competence. The change laboratory method used in study is a formative intervention method evolved within developmental work research. The data comprised two change laboratories organised at the same vocational college in 2001 and 2011. The results showed that teachers' work with multicultural students and groups can be developed by following five perspectives: preparation, reflection, contribution, guidance and responding. Intercultural competence is constructed contextually and is intertwined with activities such as teaching, facilitating students' learning and cooperating with wor kplaces. The participants of the change laboratories experienced it as a good instrument for their intercultural work. Based on the results, some implications are suggested. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Foreign Countries; Nurses; Research Methodology; Attitudes; Learning Activities; Workplace Learning; Work Environment; Reflection; Learning Processes; Decision Making; Social Environment; Misconceptions; Error Correction; Vocational Education

Abstract:
This article addresses two research questions concerning nurses' engagement in social learning activities after errors at work. Firstly, we investigated how this engagement relates to nurses' interpretations of the error situation and perceptions of a safe team climate. The results indicate that the individual estimation of an error as relevant to learning and the tendency to cover up an error significantly predict nurses' engagement in social learning activities. Secondly, by applying latent class analysis, we aimed to identify how individuals differ in their interpretations of error situations, their social learning activities after errors and their perceptions of a safe team climate. A reliable four-class solution was obtained from latent class analyses. Only one class (58.8%) showed a clear orientation towards socially shared reflection and learning from errors. The other classes were characterised by answer profiles that seem incongruent to learning from errors. We discuss implications of these findings for organisational practice as well as for professional and vocational education. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Foreign Countries; Apprenticeships; Urban Areas; Social Capital; Sustainability; Vocational Education; Postsecondary Education; Adult Education; Young Adults; Urban Renewal; Case Studies

Abstract:
Apprenticeship has always played both a social and economic role. Today, it forms part of the regeneration strategies of cities in the United Kingdom. This involves the creation and management of complex institutional relationships across the public and private domains of the civic landscape. This paper argues that it is through closely observed analysis of these meso-level developments (in contrast to studies of national systems) that we can reveal how the sustainability of vocational education and training initiatives depends on the generation of civic social capital in the pursuit of collective goals. At the same time, the path-dependent nature of the clustering of social and economic inequality in urban post-industrial settings remains a constant reminder of the scale of the problems confronting all those involved. (Contains 4 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Workplace Literacy; Vocational Education; Numeracy; Foreign Countries; Ethnography; Entry Workers; Retailing; Sales Occupations; Best Practices; English (Second Language); English Language Learners; Change Strategies; Barriers; Performance Factors; Number Concepts; Semi Structured Interviews; Sociolinguistics; Employee Attitudes; Employer Attitudes; Merchandising; Interpersonal Communication; Interpersonal Competence; Social Cognition

Abstract:
This paper reports on an ethnographically based study of entry level supermarket work. The study, carried out in a large suburban supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand, focused on the literacy and numeracy practices of supermarket assistants, all who had English as an additional language. It found that skills such as oral communication, personal presentation, reliability and motivation were considered vital by management for good "customer service", a fundamental tenet of the supermarket and essential for its successful operation. However, for some assistants, the mastery of highly context-specific literacy texts and potentially complex "embedded" numeracy was also necessary in order for them to carry out their work. This requirement was often poorly understood by management. The paper describes some of the literacy and numeracy challenges faced by assistants and their different personalised strategies for establishing meaning. It also discusses the significance of the findings for the teaching of literacy and numeracy in vocational training programmes. Findings indicate that off-site programmes have an important role in providing a learning foundation but also point to the importance of, and need for, workplace-specific, needs-based on-the-job literacy and numeracy training. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Student Attitudes; Vocational Education; Minority Groups; Minority Group Students; Dropout Rate; Educational Attitudes; Educational Experience; School Orientation; Foreign Countries; Regression (Statistics); Ethnic Groups; Prior Learning; Role

Abstract:
In this study, we examine students' educational attitudes upon the transition to Dutch senior vocational education (SVE), a transition associated with high dropout rates in the first year. Prior studies have identified differences in educational attitudes between sociodemographic groups. However, the mechanisms underlying those differences remain topic of debate: some studies point at differences in the school orientation and support in students' social communities outside school, others focus on differences in educational experiences between sociodemographic groups. Multilevel sequential regression analyses on a diverse sample of 1438 students in urban SVE schools reveal that students have very positive educational attitudes upon their transition to SVE. Ethnic minority students express particularly positive attitudes. School-related encouragement and support at home plays an important role in students' attitudes, but the attitudes of students from lower educated or ethnic minority communities are less related to this support. Prior school experiences play an essential, but occasionally counterproductive, role in students' attitudes upon transition, depicting the transition as a fresh new start for some, and an unwelcome threshold for others. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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