2,185 research outputs found
A framework for future training in marine and coastal protected area management
No full textTraining, Protected areas, Marine environment, Coastal zone management
Retraining displaced workers : what can developing countries learn from OECD nations?
No full textThe governments of most industrial countries provide financial support for adult training programs intended to retrain displaced workers. The author draws lessons from the experience of six industrial countries (Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, Sweden, and the United States) on how to design and implement such retraining programs in low-income developing nations and middle-income countries. By retraining, the author means both improving job skills and remediating deficiencies in basic education. These are the lessons he emphasizes: Training programs should be independent of the educational system, with its rigid ties to degree requirements and academic schedules; links to employers must be developed and maintained so that trainees have marketable skills on completing the program. Training programs should be designed to minimize trainees'foregone earnings; basic education should be relevant to the jobs the trainees might seek. External providers of education must be made accountable - but with care; the system of accountability should also ensure that the needs of displaced workers most likely to suffer long-term unemployment are met. Not all displaced workers require relatively expansive retraining; some may need only inexpensive job-search assistance services. A permanent, institutionalized training system is preferable to short-term intervention.Labor Standards,Tertiary Education,ICT Policy and Strategies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning
Evidence summary : public library training program for older adults addresses their computer and health literacy needs
No full textObjective – To evaluate the efficacy of an e-health literacy educational intervention aimed at older adults.
Design – Pre and post intervention questionnaires administered in an experimental study.
Setting – Two public library branches in Maryland.
Subjects – 218 adults between 60 and 89 years of age.
Methods – A convenience sample of older adults was recruited to participate in a four week training program structured around the National Institutes of Health toolkit Helping Older Adults Search for Health Information Online. During the program, classes met at the participating libraries twice a week. Sessions were two hours in length, and employed hands on exercises led by Master of Library Science students. The training included an introduction to the Internet, as well as in depth training in the use of the NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus websites. In the first class, participants were asked to complete a pre-training questionnaire that included questions relating to demographics and previous computer and Internet experience, as well as measures from the Computer Anxiety Scale and two subscales of the Attitudes toward Computers Questionnaire. Participants between September 2008 and June 2009 also completed pre-training computer and web knowledge tests that asked individuals to label the parts of a computer and of a website using a provided list of terms. At the end of the program, participants were asked to complete post-training questionnaires that included the previously employed questions from the Computer Anxiety Scale and Attitudes towards Computer Questionnaire. New questions were added relating to the participants’ satisfaction with the training, its impact on their health decision making, their perceptions of public libraries, and the perceived usability and utility of the two websites highlighted during the training program. Those who completed pre-training knowledge tests were also asked to complete the same exercises at the end of the program.
Main Results – Participants showed significant decreases in their levels of computer anxiety, and significant increases in their interest in computers at the end of the program (p>0.01). Computer and web knowledge also increased among those completing the knowledge tests. Most participants (78%) indicated that something they had learned in the program impacted their health decision making, and just over half of respondents (55%) changed how they took medication as a result of the program. Participants were also very satisfied with the program’s delivery and format, with 97% indicating that they had learned a lot from the course. Most (68%) participants said that they wished the class had been longer, and there was full support for similar programming to be offered at public libraries. Participants also reported that they found the NIHSeniorHealth website more useful, but not significantly more usable, than MedlinePlus.
Conclusion – The intervention as designed successfully addressed issues of computer and health literacy with older adult participants. By using existing resources, such as public library computer facilities and curricula developed by the National Institutes of Health, the intervention also provides a model that could be easily replicated in other locations without the need for significant financial resources
The evaluation on the international tour leader training program in Taiwan, R.O.C.
No full textPlan BThe overall impression of the tour leader for travel business not only affects the travel service’s image, but also customer loyalty. Furthermore, tour leader is the primary factor that differentiates the tour in question from the competitors’ tour. In particular, tour leader’s ability to give service and company’s image is the crucial competitive advantage for the travel industry.
Nevertheless, not all of the international tour leaders in Taiwan are able to offer sufficient knowledge and information about the destinations to fulfill the tourists’ expectation. Although tour leaders are not responsible for all the events, the truth is that tour leader’s abilities on handling law and liability, problem solving skills, and other difficult situations should be reinforced. Other negative attitude changes are also connected to their abilities to deal with complaints and to solve difficult situations.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the existing tour leader’s training program is accomplishing its objectives to prepare qualified tour leaders for tourism industry in Taiwan. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were distributed to licensed tour leaders, and 84 completed and valid questionnaires were returned throughout this study. The overall response rate was 70 percent.
The findings of this study indicate that the majority of tour leaders are satisfied
with the present training program in Taiwan. Indeed, tour leaders value the training program as a foundation when they first start their career in this industry. Throughout this training program, new tour leaders will have a better knowledge on the job and the industry. Also, tour leaders will be able to network with other tour leaders or experts. In addition, tour leaders perceive tourism operational knowledge and skills and personal skills are the essential for future success in the industry. For the program contents, tour
leaders anticipate more practicable skills instead of theoretical knowledge. Both
interpersonal and intrapersonal skills are also demanded by the tour leaders in order to maintain excellent relationship with customers and suppliers. However, tour leaders expect that each courses or curriculum should be expanded further. Tour leaders suggest that the training program should be extended to annual basis and focus on few subjects at one time
Psychological treatments in schizophrenia: II. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of social skills training and cognitive remediation
No full textBackground. Social skills training and cognitive remediation are psychological techniques with considerable face validity for the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia and their consequences. This paper provides a meta-analytical review of these treatments. It includes an appreciable number of randomized controlled trials, using comparisons against both standard care and other active interventions. However, the assessment of particular outcomes sometimes had to be based on single studies.Method. A detailed search strategy was used to identify randomized controlled trials of social skills training and cognitive remediation, primarily employing electronic databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that met predefined criteria were then subjected to meta-analysis on a variety of outcome measures.Results. There was no clear evidence for any benefits of social skills training on relapse rate, global adjustment, social functioning, quality of life or treatment compliance. Cognitive remediation had no benefit on attention, verbal memory, visual memory, planning, cognitive flexibility or mental state.Conclusions. Social skills training and cognitive remediation do not appear to confer reliable benefits for patients with schizophrenia and cannot be recommended for clinical practice
A case study in the evaluation of English training courses using a version of the CIPP model as an evaluative tool
No full textThis thesis presents an evaluative case study of the 20 English training courses offered in the Applied English Department (AED) of an Institute, given the pseudonym W.G, in southern Taiwan. No evaluation had been done since the AED had been set up and using Stufflebeam’s CIPP (Context, Input, Process and Product) evaluation model this research was carried out. The purpose of the research was to attempt, through the gathering of qualitative data from a variety of sources and using a variety of research instruments, an evaluation of the 20 English training courses which were designed for and taken by students who hoped, mainly, to become children's English language teachers. The courses were examined through four key components, namely, "course aims and objectives", "course contents and materials", "course conduct and teaching-learning process" and "assessment and student performance". Data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews and the review of existing documents and was obtained from current students, directors of the AED, instructors, alumni and employers of alumni. The resultant data served to present a comprehensive overview of the AED and the 20 English training courses and furnished evidence sufficient to allow for a number of recommendations for improvement and change to emerge. Fundamentally it is not clear that there is sufficient congruence of students needs and the courses offered. It emerged that the AED would probably benefit from a refocusing of student needs, a review of AED structures and governance, uniform syllabus design and presentation, a review of student feedback on instructor performance and a number of fundamental adjustments to the courses, in particular, their content, teaching methodology and assessment. Overall the AED had many positive aspects all of which could be built on and added to as the results of the data suggested. It emerged that the CIPP evaluation model has, in the educational context, a lot to commend it and this has been illustrated in this research. If followed carefully it covers all aspects and features of a program and provides a methodical, all-embracing design which can produce useful material for exploration and adoption if appropriate. It is in most cases a positive program enhancing exercise designed to develop rather than close existing programs
Increasing women's participation in the primary school teaching force and teacher training in Nepal
No full textAlthough research shows that Nepalese parents prefer sending girls to schools with female teachers, only 12.8 percent of Nepalese primary school teachers are women. Nepal has among the lowest enrollment and retention rates for girls in the world. One strategy to correct the situation is to increase the number of women who become and remain teachers. But teacher training is also important; 60 percent of Nepalese teachers are untrained, so the quality of education is poor - often rote memorization, with the teacher simply reading textbooks aloud. The author tried to find out what factors affect Nepali women's decision to join the primary school teaching force and to participate in in-service teacher training. Prior studies, using large survey methods, did not provide the information program planners needed. The author chose a research strategy more appropriate to the Nepali culture by combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The author focused on the participation of women in the primary teaching force and on two in-service teacher training projects: the Primary Education Project (PEP); and the Radio Education Teacher Training Project (RETT). In the PEP, teachers from 10 to 15 primary schools receive in-service training in short sessions at a resource center. They get roughly a dollar a day to cover their food and lodging costs. The RETT provides in-service training to primary teachers through daily radio broadcasts, plus written assignments and monthly meetings in resource centers. Gender disaggregated information on the RETT and the PEP programs had never been collected. The author hypothesized that female teachers'needs are different from those of their male counterparts and this would reflect in differential participation rates. Some of the author's conclusions are below. First, women are more likely to be recruited as teachers or into training programs if information about positions and programs is made available to them in a timely, accessible way. To do this, extension agents could be hired to bring information from the ministry or program to intended beneficiaries. Teaching positions and training programs could be advertised in short radio messages and in letters to primary school principals. Second, women are less likely to get training if the resource center is inaccessible. To counter disincentives for women to travel away from their homes and villages, culturally acceptable travel companions, lodging, and child care should be provided. Third, the current broadcast time for radio training conflicted with women's household responsibilities. Changing the time to later in the evening would increase female participation in the program. Lastly, women often lacked family support to become teachers or to become trained. To increase such support, existing incentives (including allowances and salary increases) should be publicized.Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,ICT Policy and Strategies,Primary Education,Teaching and Learning
Occupational training among Peruvian men : does it make a difference?
No full textThis report presents the first evaluation of the outcomes of the Peruvian training sector since its outset in the 1960s. The paper examines the private returns to post-school training among male (wage and non-farm self-employed) workers in the urban areas of Peru. In particular, the study focuses on two issues: first, who are the recipients of post-school training, and what are the determinants of participation in post-school training? Second, what is the impact of job-training on the wages of employees and self-employed workers? In general, the results of the study imply that investments in training have significant benefits vis a vis formal schooling, when related to wage employment in the private sector of the economy. However, since no information is available in the"costs"of the post-school training investments examined, the results should not be regarded as a complete evaluation of the economic benefits of training in Peru.ICT Policy and Strategies,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Tertiary Education,Labor Standards
Credit Constraints And Training After Job Loss
No full textIt is a widely held view that imperfect capital markets mean that individuals from poor backgrounds cannot borrow in order to finance educational investments. This view pervades policy formation, and is reflected in the fact that post-compulsory education processes in all countries involve considerable government intervention and large public subsidies. But are the existence of credit constraints an empirical reality? This paper uses unique data to take a new approach to this question. Specifically, the 1995 Canadian Out of Employment Panel (COEP) allows us to explore the financial resources and skill formation choices of a large number of recent job losers. This approach has several advantages, including: a direct test of the role of finances in determining training; the availability of considerable information concerning individual histories; and the fact that the unemployed are a particularly apposite group with which to explore the questions of credit constraints. We find that credit constraints do appear to limit the human capital investments of a significant minority of job seekers. In particular, controlling for a broad range of background characteristics (including past educational investments and labour market outcomes), the possession of liquid assets at the time of job loss is strongly associated with subsequent self-financed training. This basic finding is corroborated with several different kinds of evidence drawn from the survey. The data also allow us to make a rough estimate of the extent to which participation in training would have been increased, had no part of our sample been credit constrained.
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