Preparing Job Coaches to Implement Systematic Instructional Strategies to Teach Vocational Tasks

Job coaches are not typically trained to implement systematic instructional strategies to teach vocational skills to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This study replicated and expanded the evaluation of a job coach behavioral skills training program designed by Brock et al. (2016) to teach participants to implement task analysis, simultaneous prompting, and system of least prompts to teach vocational tasks to students with IDD. We used a multiple probe design with probe conditions across strategies, replicated across three participants, to assess acquisition and generalization. Participants demonstrated mastery of the three instructional strategies in simulated assessments with actors and generalized use of the strategies to teach novel vocational tasks to student interns with IDD. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

LANGUAGE NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR WORKING ABROAD: A CASE-STUDY IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE

Needs analysis is the first essential step of designing a language curriculum [26]. Needs analysis provides a mechanism for obtaining a wider range of input in the contents, design, and implementation of a language program. The process identifies general or specific language needs so that they can be addressed while developing goals, objectives, and content for a language program. In this study, we aimed to explore the language needs analysis for labor export. We regarded foreign language for labor export with a view that all decisions in instructions are based on the learners’ reasons for learning. As a case in point, we studied the language needs for labor export of laborers in Thua Thien Hue province. A task-based needs analysis approach [17] was utilized due to its methodological cogency. 45 laborers who were working abroad participated in our study. Five were interviewed and 40 were surveyed to elicit the foreign language needed for everyday life tasks and occupational domains. The results outlined export laborers language needs in regards to everyday survival (i.e. language at the supermarket, hospital, etc.) and vocational tasks (i.e. understanding employer’s requests, interacting with customers/clients, etc.). The findings of this study inform the design of an English language curriculum for labor export and serve as the basis for reviewing and evaluating existing language programs for labor export. The research also affords implications for future designs of task-based needs analysis.

Diseño de un instrumento de preferencias vocacionales en Administración, Materiales y Biotecnología/Design of an Instrument for Vocational Preferences in Administration, Materials and Biotechnology

<p><strong>Español</strong></p><p>Este estudio buscó diseñar y evaluar una prueba de preferencias vocacionales para las carreras de Administración de Empresas, Ingeniería en Materiales e Ingeniería en Biotecnología en el Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR). Para ello, se construyó previamente el perfil vocacional de cada carrera a partir del cual se redactaron los ítems de la prueba. Participaron 480 estudiantes con una media de edad de 22.07 años, 53.19% mujeres y 46.81% hombres. Se obtuvo información del perfil de cada carrera por parte de estudiantes y docentes. Posteriormente, la revisaron grupos de expertos. A partir del perfil definido, se redactaron los ítems de la prueba. Luego, se evaluaron sus características psicométricas con análisis factoriales. Se obtuvieron adecuados indicadores de bondad de ajuste. La prueba vocacional incluyó tres escalas: habilidades, intereses y tareas vocacionales. La escala de habilidades evaluó seis factores: lógico-matemática, física, química, biológica, liderazgo y autorregulación-disciplina. Por su parte, las escalas de tareas e interés se utilizaron para definir las preferencias por los tres factores evaluados: Administración, Materiales y Biotecnología. Finalmente, se evidenciaron diferencias según sexo, carrera y nivel de satisfacción vocacional.</p><p><strong>English</strong></p><p>This study sought to design and evaluate a vocational preference test for Business Administration, Materials Engineering and Biotechnology Engineering majors at the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR). For this goal, first of all a vocational profile of each career was constructed, from which the test items were written. 480 students took part, with an average age of 22.07 years, 53.19% of them women and 46.81% men. Descriptions of the profile of each career were collected by students and teachers, and later analyzed by expert groups. From the defined profile, items were drawn up and later evaluated with factor analysis, for the selection of the items, obtaining adequate indicators of goodness of fit. The vocational test includes three factors: Skills, Interests and Vocational Tasks. In turn, the Skills scale evaluated six areas: Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Leadership and Self-regulationdiscipline. For its part, the scale of preferences contemplated the three areas evaluated: Administration, Materials and Biotechnology. On the other hand, there were differences according to sex, major and level of vocational satisfaction.</p>

Balancing ‘flexibility’ and ‘employability’: The changing role of general studies in the Finnish and Swedish VET curricula of the 1990s and 2010s

This article analyses and compares the evolving role of general subjects in the curricula of initial upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) in Finland and Sweden during the 1990s and 2010s. The research illustrates how Bernstein’s concept of ‘pedagogic code’ supports comparative studies on principles guiding changes to curricula and how the role of general studies in VET has been redefined. The findings show that while a principle of ‘market relevance’ has been central to VET over the decades since the 1990s, it has been subject to varying interpretations. The shifts in interpretations have guided the organisation of VET in these two countries in different directions, including the role of general subjects within the curriculum. On a general level, the countries share some key similarities. Both countries emphasised lifelong learning and a broadening of VET in the 1990s, based on a core principle of ‘flexibility’. In the 2010s, the earlier promotion of flexibility and universal access to higher education was superseded by a stronger focus on employability and entrepreneurship in addition to students’ command of more specific vocational tasks.

Training a Paraprofessional to Implement Video Prompting With Error Correction to Teach a Vocational Skill

Very few individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been trained in the vocational skills needed to obtain gainful employment. Moreover, although there is an abundance of research evaluating the practice of training practitioners of students with ASD to use evidence-based practices to teach a wide variety of skills, there have been few that apply this training to the acquisition of vocational tasks. This study uses a multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design to evaluate the training methods used to train a paraprofessional in the preparation and implementation of video prompting and error correction with his student with ASD. Furthermore, the behavior and learning of both the paraprofessional and student are measured. Results indicate that the training package resulted in increased video prompting implementation behavior for the paraprofessional, as well as corresponding, increased vocational skill behavior for the student.

Effects of Self-Directed Video Prompting on Vocational Task Acquisition

Efficient vocational skills instruction is needed to meet the needs of a growing number of job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This study examined the effects of self-directed video prompting used to teach transition-age students with IDD chained vocational tasks. A multiple probe design across behaviors was replicated across two students. Both students mastered iPhone navigation after observing a model and completing two to three sessions in a training phase. After training, students independently navigated the iPhone and played video prompts. Both students made substantial progress on all three tasks, reaching 100% accuracy in two of the tasks.

A Systematic Review of the Career Adaptability Literature and Future Outlook

Researchers in the career domain have embraced the concept of career adaptability as denoted by a rapid growth in the number of published articles in recent years. Career adaptability is a psychosocial construct including both readiness and resources for successfully facing vocational tasks, occupational transitions, and unexpected challenges. To synthesize the research in this field and to suggest directions for future development, this article systematically reviews the studies on career adaptability. The 116 published pieces covered in the review include book chapters and articles, including cross-sectional, longitudinal, and qualitative papers, along with intervention studies, and theoretical contributions. First, the different instruments available to measure career adaptability are presented, after which the research is reviewed in the categories of adaptability resources and adapting responses. Both resources and responses contribute to positive transitions and personal functioning in teenagers through to adults. The article concludes by offering several suggestions for future research, highlighting the theoretical, practical, empirical, and methodological contributions that future work in this domain could make.