Search Results for
"learning"

In this paper we comment on the notion of competence and on the widely-recommended practice of defining learning and assessment in terms of competence statements. Two lines of comment are explored. Firstly, we consider the meaning of competence as an aspect of the description of human activity, and find that it has not yet been coherently specified. In particular, it is not clear whether a competence is a personal attribute, an act, or an outcome of action; moreover, the idea of competence, as currently used, is open to complaints that it is atomistic, individualistic, and unable to cover all types of relevant behaviour or mental activity. Secondly, we discuss the implications for education and training of the adoption of competence as a model of outcome. We note difficulties with the design of competence statements, which can be empty and uninformative. In addition, the idea of competence seems to lack reference to the personal processes entailed in a skill, over-simplifies the theory/practice relationship, and so on — all of which can lead to serious difficulties in training and education. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Vocations" are distinguished by specialized clusters of skills and to examine vocational education and training in a development context is to examine formation of progressively more refined mixes of skills. Of critical importance are diverse agencies and institutions in the formation of competencies that are not readily acquired in schools even where complementary with school learning. Predominantly this means attachment in learning to a producing individual or enterprise. "Attachment learning" ranges from the most familistic through various forms of apprenticeships to "firm-specific" and related human capital formation in large modern organizations. Common to all variants are arrangements (formal or informal) for the sharing of costs and returns to human investments. A major problem for LDCs lies in the limitations of social capital and skill base for the provision of such learning opportunities. This issue calls for intensive consideration in labor market and industrial policies. © 1990.

A nationally representative sample of youth with disabilities who recently exited high school was studied to determine the participation of the youth in postsecondary educational programs. The results show that youth with disabilities participate in postsecondary programs at only one-quarter the rate attained by their counterparts without disabilities and at only one-third the rate attained by economically disadvantaged youth. The relationship of postsecondary education for youth with disabilities to long-term success in employment is yet to be determined. © 1990, Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved.

Developmental pediatricians are being consulted by medical school promotion committees with regard to the course of action to be taken with learning-disabled medical students experiencing academic difficulties. Faculty attitude, a difficulty understanding the nature of learning disabilities, appears to be a major contributor to poor medical school performance on the part of learning-disabled adults. Utilizing the sequential-simultaneous information processing model as a simplified introduction to learning disability patterns, the authors argue that recommending intensive remediation of rote spelling and writing skills in students engaged in graduate education represents both a waste of time and a further emotional trauma to these young professionals. © 1989 by Williams & Wilkins Co.

Previous attempts to predict resident clinical performance based solely on measures of cognitive skills have been uniformly unsuccessful. For the past 8 years, a formative residency evaluation system has been used that includes yearly comprehensive oral in-training examinations (OITEs) assessing each resident's performance in the three areas of professional competence: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. The results of these examinations and scores received on the written in-training examination (WITE) given by the American Board of Pediatrics were compared with faculty ratings received during the subsequent year of residency. No significant correlation was found at any level of training between WITE scores and clinical performance. Analysis based on clinical setting did not improve these results. Oral in-training examination scores, however, were highly correlated with clinical performance ratings. In addition, with oral in-training examination scores, the 'problem' interns - those whose clinical performance rating placed them in the lower 10% of interns - were predicted with a high degree of significance, sensitivity, and specificity. Predictions based on WITEs were not significant. Simultaneous evaluation of all three areas of professional competence should be done when predictions of resident performance are attempted. The OITE is a powerful formative evaluation tool, providing valuable learning experiences as residents are objectively assessed while they perform patient-centered tasks that represent critical skills in the practice of medicine. It allows early detection and possible amelioration of future problems in the clinical performance of a resident.

The answer is YES. The hallmark of successful schooling is the creation of portable skills and efficiency in future learning. This paper examines the linkages between and within levels of schooling, and between education in schools and apprenticeships and other forms of work-associated training. It shows that elementary schooling is of too great a vocational importance to risk feeding children vocationalism. School-work programmes are rarely effective pedagogy, but theory is an important element in apprenticeships. Quality counts heavily whatever the educational content and setting. And the 'general' elements in skill development are critical for both individuals and societies in a world of change. © 1988 Unesco Institute for Education and Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Fieldwork constitutes approximately thirty‐five per cent of occupational therapy undergraduate programme of study. It is of concern to occupational therapy educators that the fieldwork portion of the curriculum be planned and implemented to provide educationally sound learning experiences. Whatever the level of training and experience of fieldwork supervisors, implementation of a fieldwork training programme which will provide the necessary levels of learning, is dependent on the supervisor's understanding and use of methods of supervision. These include a knowledge of learning theories, skill in directing, supervising and guiding students in the performance of desired action. This paper will focus on effective and ineffective supervisors and how an understanding of student learning styles can increase the supervisor's ability to provide quality learning experience. 1986 Occupational Therapy Australia Limited

Community college field placements often reflect a “vocational education” approach to outside‐the‐classroom learning, attempting to train students in specific skills and prerequisites for predetermined job slots. In the human services area, however, this may not be the most advantageous approach to producing innovative workers who will generate creative solutions to persistent and serious social problems. This study examined the impact of utilizing one popular university approach to field learning‐experiential learning coupled with social change agentry—with community college students. A criterion‐group field experiment was conducted, looking at paper‐and‐pencil measures, interviews, and archival data. It was found that the community college students were as willing to participate, were equally satisfied with the experience, and were as effective with their assigned cases as were the university students in this rigorous and demanding field placement. Community college administrators who are seeking to broaden their human service field settings should also consider successful university models of experiential learning as alternatives. © 1984 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Thirty men aged 17-48 years with pure 47,XXY Klinefelter syndrome have been studied. The group was a positive selection diagnosed not on account of behavior problems but infertility or hypogonadism. Interviews and additional information revealed, almost without exception, the characteristic personality traits of XXY patients. At school, problems arose early, particularly in relation to language. Routine administrative acts such as 15 class repetitions had predominantly negative effects, thus increasing the patients' tendency towards social isolation. In manually oriented professions the patients were quite successful, but in apprenticeship several had to drop out due to problems in theoretical courses, especially foreign languages and mathematics. The diagnosis could nearly always have been suspected by pediatricians, school doctors or school psychologists when the patients were aged 4-8. Early diagnosis is crucial for counseling of parents and teachers, for vocational guidance and for timely testosterone replacement therapy. Patients, and their parents, could thus be spared much unnecessary suffering.

A humanistic education model was implemented in a 2-year associate degree curriculum for occupational therapy assistants. The goal of this model was to help students to become responsible and successful with their own lives. This prepares students with higher levels of ability to cope effectively with clients in crises. The curriculum presented here supports the framework of The American Occupational Therapy Association role delineation document (Entry-Level Role Delineation for OTRs and COTAs, approved by the Representative Assembly, AOTA, March 1981).