Threat Assessment in Community Colleges

Threat assessment and management in higher education is still in the early stages of development. Little is noted in the research literature about the practices of threat assessment teams in this environment, particularly in community colleges. To fill this knowledge gap, a random national sample of 15% (n = 148) of public community colleges were surveyed as to: (a) threat assessment practices, (b) continuing education needs, and (c) training delivery preferences. Lead threat assessment practitioners were surveyed from those institutions. A total of 113 participants returned a completed survey. This number represented a return rate of 76%. A post hoc power analysis reported an actual power (i.e., 1-β error probability) of 0.84. The professional breakdown of respondents was law enforcement/security (n = 52), college administration (n = 55) and other (n = 6). The vast majority (73%) of the community colleges operated with a formalized threat assessment team, yet 67% of respondents reported fewer than 40 hours of threat assessment training. The leading types of team composition were: (a) employees only (57%), and (b) mix of employees and outside personnel (32%). Most college threat assessment teams addressed more than just students as threat sources (69%). The top continuing education needs reported ranged from legal implications to advanced training of threat assessment and management. Inferential statistical analyses revealed that, in reference to their professional background, threat assessment practitioners similarly rank their: (a) continuing education needs, and (b) training delivery preferences (i.e., in person vs. online). Implications for both research and practice were discussed.

Initiations of Employer Engagement in Training Delivery of TVET Programmes

Engagement of employers in the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system is needed not only to increase the training capacity but to ensure the TVET is demand-driven, quality oriented, future focused and provides the economy with the skilled workers it needs. Employer engagement in TVET system covers a spectrum of cooperation and involves small participation to build the trust required to develop more robust long-term engagement strategies. Developing engagements with employer and employer’s associations at all levels of the training programmes life cycle facilitate the development of workable solutions for training-to-work transitions. The employer has a crucial role to play in the delivery of training programmes. Engagement of employer is an essential component of overall training programmes and leads to developing responsive labour market skill needs, supporting priority economic sectors, training design and development, training delivery and post training support to develop ongoing dialogue with employer and employer associations. The need to increase the engagement of employers in TVET programmes has been known for many years in the country, however, employer engagement in training delivery of TVET programme is under-explored in Nepal. This article addresses the existing situation, explores issues, and share some practicable initiations of employer engagement in the TVET programme.

Continuing the Journey of Education, Training and Research

Issue 6, Volume 6 of the Journal of Training and Development has been published with the objectives of sharing the recent research findings in the field of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in research, training and development. This publication has a collection of valuable articles from TVET experts, scholars and educationalist. This training and development journals are considered to be valuable resources for the scholars, educationist and TVET experts and stakeholders. This issue consists of seven articles on different aspects of Training and Development. The first article by Jiwak Raj Bajrachrya examines the existing models and framework that has been used to integrate technology into Teaching and Training (2Ts). As described in numerous literatures, currently instructors use TPACK, SMAR, and TPACK-based ID models such as TPACK-COPR model, TPACK-IDDIRR1 model, and TPACK-IDDIRR2 model to achieve the specific goal of an effective 2Ts. He highlighted a few hurdles found in the empirical-based studies in the above-mentioned models and framework and how those hurdles could be alleviated by addressing an extraneous cognitive load of an instructors carrying out technology integration as well as future recommendations for research. The article by Rajendra Bahadur Shrestha highlights the current situation, discovers issues, and share some feasible initiations of employer engagement in the TVET programme. The involvement of employer in TVET system is important to ensure the TVET is demand-driven, quality oriented, future focused and provides skills workers who contributes to the economy’s growth. It also assists to develop responsive labour market skill needs, training design and development, training delivery and post training support. Employer involvement in TVET programs has long been a priority in many nations, however in Nepal, employer involvement in training delivery of TVET programme is under-explored. The article by Thakur Prasad Bhatta aims to explore the governing issue of TVET in the framework of Nepal’s federal government. He focuses on qualitative research approach in scrutinizing policy and practice of TVET in Nepal. This paper explores how the process of governing TVET in Nepal has remained highly centralized despite the rhetoric of decentralization as the main agenda of regulating development over the decades. Arguably, there is a reluctant tendency in devolving TVET as per the new structure of federal governance. Instead, like in other development sectors, disputes between the three levels of government – federal, provincial, and local – are emerging in the case of TVET. He concludes the paper by drawing insights on the federal form of TVET governance. The article by Dr. Prakash C. Bhattarai, Durga Prasad Baral and Prakash Kumar Paudel focus on establishing a TVET fund and sketches the possible alternative approaches with a reformed TVET structure. The literature review focuses on international practices of implementing TVET fund. In addition, the authors have collected opinions from TVET stakeholders on the establishment of a TVET fund in Nepal and based on the findings, they have proposed five possible models for TVET fund mechanism in Nepal. They revealed that all the models have their strengths and challenges, so it would be rational to adopt the idea of strengthening an existing structure rather than attempting to make it stand alone. Its effective implementation requires strong research and innovation, an effective implementing body and an independent quality assurance and accreditation system. The instructors of TECS schools and their perspectives of profession is discussed by Bikash Ghaju, and Dr. Prakash C. Bhattarai. The authors focused to comprehend the experience of TECS instructors on their teaching profession. The narrative inquiry approach was utilized to study the cases in-depth for which four instructors from the Diploma in Civil Engineering program of two TECSs were purposively selected. The paper concludes that while instructors are interested in the teaching profession which assists in career growth but they are unwilling to work at remote TECS schools due to limited career advancement and earning opportunities. Mobile technology has brought about innovative changes in all aspects of life, including interpersonal communication, the economics, and teaching and learning.. Shesha Kanta Pangeni discusses the use of android mobile in education institute of Nepal. His paper is based on the persistence of encouraging the Mobile App for e-learning, which subsidizes access to e-learning resources and prompt communication for learning activities. He collected data through online survey, informal interaction and interview. He discovered that although the facilitators rarely used Mobile App, students used the Mobile App and they wanted the updated version with more user-friendly interface. He summarized that the responsibilities of institutions and facilitators are critical in creating and providing mobile-friendly learning options, and that the success of App use is dependent on facilitators' active role in technology learning facilitation. Devendra Adhikari explores the life experiences of workers in the construction-sector during and after the COVID-pandemic. He implements a qualitative approach under the socio-constructionism paradigm and selected three participants from different sectors masonry, house-painting, and plumbing for in-depth interviews. He discovers that the COVID-pandemic has brought new resilient strategies in the lives of the construction workers such as maintaining high concern for personal safety and the well-being of their families and exploring employment opportunities of the construction sector. Finally, the editorial team wishes to convey their profound gratitude to all of the authors who have contributed by sharing their relevant and significant creations. We would also like to express gratitude to the reviewers and TITI management team for their continuous support in publishing this journal. The team would also like to welcome articles from TVET experts, trainers and stakeholders in the field of training, development and research. We are also grateful to Tribhuvan University Central Library (TUCL) for providing their professionals support and encouragement to publish this journal online. Last but not least, we are thankful to the publisher for the publication of the print version of this journal.

Participatory Development of Demand-Driven Curriculum for Career-Ready E-Extension Services in Nigeria

This paper described and contextualized participatory development of demand-driven curriculum for career-ready e-extension services in Nigeria as introduced by the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education. The stages of participatory development were participatory need assessment, participatory stakeholders’ workshop and validation among 124 stakeholders selected as key informants in relation to agricultural extension training, delivery, end users and policy makers. The stakeholders were grouped as follows: community leaders and policy makers; extension agencies / organisations / institutions / employers; farmers; input suppliers / marketers / agro-based traders / other value actors; and potential candidate groups. Stakeholder meetings were held separately with different groups three times, and then a combined meeting took place. The aggregated major decisions/consensus were subjected to content analysis using ATLAS.ti. The validation process included reading of each agreed decision to all participants, then participants indicated their agreement or otherwise, which led to either rejection or acceptance of the decision. This paper concludes that participatory curriculum development has enhanced the stakeholders to identify areas of demand-driven training in response to community needs. The stakeholders preferred more online than face-to-face training. The major perceived advantages of e-extension were reduced risk, time and cost effectiveness while infrastructural and human challenges were the perceived challenges that could possibly hinder the smooth running of e extension.

Developing Organizational Workforce by Successfully Facing and Overcoming Current Challenges

During the year 2018, an operator evaluated the career paths and professional development of its technical personnel, extending its evaluation to how the contracting department acquired such training, which wasn't consistent with regard to a training provider, training topics, course agendas or training delivery. Some of the main challenges in providing training are the engineers’ availability to attend classes and the scheduling constraints throughout the operator's five field locations. As an example, planning a class in the current organization might not reach the entire intended audience within the desired time frame because that class may only be scheduled in one of the five locations, and the engineers from the other four locations would need to travel to attend it. The impact of this may be that without the advantage of travelling to attend a specific training, the engineer may not be able to achieve all the promotional requirements for the next step in his/her career path.

Polytechnic Tutor Training After Learning for Life: A Study of the Effects of Funding Policy Changes

<p>This thesis presents the findings of an investigation into the effects of a change in government policy for the funding of polytechnic tutor training in New Zealand after 1990. The new policy arose from Learning for Life: Two, and was part of a major reform of the administration and funding of all tertiary education and training in New Zealand. The main intentions of Learning for Life: Two were to make individual institutions more autonomous, through the decentralisation of management and funding, and so to create increased equity and excellence in tertiary education. From 1973 to 1990, tutor training had been directly funded by the Department of Education; the 1990 Tutor Training Policy required each polytechnic thenceforward to provide for tutor training from its annual bulk funding. Comparative data was collected by survey and interview, relating to polytechnics' treatment of initial tutor training in 1990 and 1993, and a more detailed case study was carried out at one polytechnic that had made substantial changes in practice. In 1990 all new tutors had been entitled to 12 weeks of initial training at one of three regional centres, with all training costs met centrally, including travel, accommodation and relief staffing. Analysis of the findings showed that by 1993, despite some transitional funding protection for the regional centres, tutor training provision varied considerably around the country, as polytechnics made local decisions about funding and implemented various forms of training delivery. When the emerging trends and effects were compared with the policy intentions of Learning for Life, it was concluded that the equity and access intentions had not been achieved consistently around the country in respect of tutor training. Longer term research was recommended into the effects of changes in tutor training on teaching quality in polytechnics.</p>

Polytechnic Tutor Training After Learning for Life: A Study of the Effects of Funding Policy Changes

<p>This thesis presents the findings of an investigation into the effects of a change in government policy for the funding of polytechnic tutor training in New Zealand after 1990. The new policy arose from Learning for Life: Two, and was part of a major reform of the administration and funding of all tertiary education and training in New Zealand. The main intentions of Learning for Life: Two were to make individual institutions more autonomous, through the decentralisation of management and funding, and so to create increased equity and excellence in tertiary education. From 1973 to 1990, tutor training had been directly funded by the Department of Education; the 1990 Tutor Training Policy required each polytechnic thenceforward to provide for tutor training from its annual bulk funding. Comparative data was collected by survey and interview, relating to polytechnics' treatment of initial tutor training in 1990 and 1993, and a more detailed case study was carried out at one polytechnic that had made substantial changes in practice. In 1990 all new tutors had been entitled to 12 weeks of initial training at one of three regional centres, with all training costs met centrally, including travel, accommodation and relief staffing. Analysis of the findings showed that by 1993, despite some transitional funding protection for the regional centres, tutor training provision varied considerably around the country, as polytechnics made local decisions about funding and implemented various forms of training delivery. When the emerging trends and effects were compared with the policy intentions of Learning for Life, it was concluded that the equity and access intentions had not been achieved consistently around the country in respect of tutor training. Longer term research was recommended into the effects of changes in tutor training on teaching quality in polytechnics.</p>

Toward Optimized Effectiveness of Employee Training Programs

Although organizations invest heavily on employee training, the effectiveness of employee training programs has not been well-established. In the current study, we examine the training delivery features of employee training programs to derive a better understanding of features that may be of best benefit in the improvement of employee affective outcomes. Specifically, and via the use of meta-analysis ( k = 79 studies totaling 107 independent effect sizes), we focus on two broad classes of affective employee training outcomes including attitudinal and motivational outcomes. Results evidence support for the effectiveness of employee workplace training interventions and indicate that employee training programs associated with attitudinal versus motivational outcomes require different features while being delivered to reach optimal effectiveness.

EP.TU.657Scoping the role and content of a simulator-based endosim curriculum

Background Endoscopy training requires simultaneous acquisition of practical skill and knowledge. Virtual reality Simulators, such as EndoSim (SurgicalScience), offer the opportunity to deconstruct a skill into fundamental components (1), to allow repetitive practice, and achievement of task-specific objectives. Trainees with the least endoscopy experience benefit most from early simulated training (2,3), supporting the introduction of a simulation curriculum into SPRINT: Structured PRogramme for INduction and Training, an existing initiative to improve endoscopy training delivery in Wales. (4) The aim of this study was to design a pilot simulator curriculum for the EndoSim (Surgical Science, Gothemberg) simulator. Methods A focus group completed all EndoSim modules. Each EndoSim exercise was cross-examined against the relevant DOPS tool “Direct Observation of Procedural Skill” used by the Joint Advisory Group for Endoscopy Training and Certification. Exercises were chosen that represented each DOPS domain to teach basic skills in endoscopy scope handling. Results 12 exercises were chosen. These exercises addressed the insertion and withdrawal, and visualisation components of the JAG DOPS tool. Pre-procedural skills, management of findings, post-procedural skills and endoscopic non-technical Skills (ENTS) are beyond the scope of this simulator and require additional taught sessions to provide the context for current simulation training. Discussion This is the first step in developing and refining appropriate exercises to inform the proposed curriculum. The next step will be validating the chosen exercises against expert benchmark performance.

In the Company of My Peers: Implementation of RDA in Canada

Describes the progress made toward implementing <i>Resource Description and Access</i> (RDA) in libraries across Canada, as of Fall 2013. Differences in the training experiences in the English-speaking cataloging communities and French-speaking cataloging communities are discussed. Preliminary results of a survey of implementation in English-Canadian libraries are included as well as a summary of the support provided for French-Canadian libraries. Data analysis includes an examination of the rate of adoption in Canada by region and by sector. Challenges in RDA training delivery in a Canadian context are identified, as well as opportunities for improvement and expansion of RDA training in the future.