The Relationship between Job Training and Job Satisfaction

As stand-alone concepts, job satisfaction and job training have each been researched extensively. However, encouraged by researchers who have found a myriad of effects of job training on employee behavior in the workplace, the concepts of job training and job satisfaction are being examined together. Results of many studies indicate that the effects of job training go beyond those that might be considered traditional, that is, the acquisition of knowledge, the improvement of skill, and the increasing of efficiency in the workplace. This review of literature looks at the relationship between job training and job satisfaction, and also examines the concept of job training satisfaction. It has been found that the research on the relationship between these two concepts can be categorized as follows: job training satisfaction as a measured construct, workplace and employee studies, training methodology studies, perception and meaning, and additional outcomes. Training and development practitioners must be aware of the relationship between job training and job satisfaction when planning and promoting workplace training programs.

Emerging Framework for Planning and Implementation of Online Programs

The dramatic growth of online education over the past two decades is requiring colleges to make a shift from fragmented approaches to program planning and implementation towards a framework integrating both into a coherent support system. This article provides an overview of an emerging holistic framework for planning and implementation of online programs calling for shared strategic planning needs assessment strategies, and establishing program consensus. Guided by a program vision, curriculum and instructional strategies are identified along with internal and external supports needed for successful implementation. The framework suggests demand-driven strategic planning, benchmarking approaches to implementation practices, and interactive feedback to ensure effective program planning and implementation.

Becoming an Authentic Community College Teacher

In this paper, a study of how adult vocational educators develop authenticity in their teaching within a Canadian community college context is presented. Six participants from different disciplines, five of whom were relatively new teachers, and one of whom had considerable experience, were interviewed three times over two years. With the assistance of the participants, narratives were constructed for each educator. Three categories of issues—personal issues (such as confidence), college system issues (policies and procedures), and educational system issues (government mandated curriculum)—were identified as influencing the development of authenticity. Implications for teacher preparation and professional development within the college environment are discussed.

From the Teachings of Confucius to Western Influences

This article reports the results of a study designed to determine whether the teachings of Confucius (liberal and behavioral teaching approaches) or Western teaching approaches (humanistic, progressive, radical and analytic teaching approaches) shaped adult education in Taiwan. Thirty-nine randomly selected adult educators from three premium universities in Taipei responded to a survey about their teaching practices. The same adult educators were also interviewed to cross-validate the quantitative findings. Study results indicated that, while the Taiwanese adult educators employed Western teaching approaches to some extent, they clung dearly to Confucian methods of instruction, a finding that was consistent with reports in the literature of adult education in Taiwan.

Rethinking the Right Teaching Methods that Work for Online Learners

This article addresses the phenomenon of why andragogical instructional approaches should work for online learners in the 21st century. As some senior faculty members and institutional administrators are reluctant to embrace education delivered via web 2.0 technologies, this article reveals discussions that will change these misconceptions. This article prompts readers to rethink their instructional strategies that will work well for online learners in particular. Even for face to face courses, instructors should incorporate an online component, as the principles of adult learning lend themselves well to an online environment.

Technology as Integral to a New Paradigm of Adult Education

Technology and adult education are often discussed as two separate subjects, yet just as it is impossible to live one day without the impact of technology, it is impossible to discuss adult education without considering technology. The growth of the field of adult education and the evolution of modern technology as well as the theorists and practitioners who were instrumental in moving the fields will be considered in this article as the foundation for a paradigm shift in adult education. Since effective adult education involves not only information dissemination but communication and collaboration among its participants, online learning activities and entire online courses influence how the field itself is viewed. This new paradigm will be explored in the current and future world of adult teaching and learning.

Spiraling into Transformative Learning

This paper explores how technical and vocational learning may spiral into transformative learning. Transformative learning theory is reviewed and the learning tasks of critical theory are used to integrate various approaches to transformative learning. With this as a foundation, the paper explores how transformative learning can be fostered in adult vocational education.

Learning in 2010

Decades of research into learning have demonstrated that learners are diverse, changing, and adaptable. In this regard, the practice as educators must become flexible and adaptive to meet the wide variation of learning needs. A general consensus exists among educators, businesses, and other stakeholders that there is a significant gap between the knowledge and skills needed for success in life and the current state of education in schools throughout the world (The Conference Board et al., 2006). The internet, social networking, and distance education have created learners with a different set of characteristics, incoming skills, needs, desires, and goals. To meet the learning challenges of the 21st century, instructors must serve as catalysts of change by encouraging classrooms of open dialogue and developing the ability to effectively and efficiently use online communications. Through the process of learning from one another through problem-based activities, students and instructors improve the student-instructor relationship, encounter challenges, and solve them collaboratively.

Diversity in Career and Technical Education On-Line Classrooms

Designers and instructors of courses in career and technical education have realized the value of on-line delivery of instruction during the past several decades. Many students enrolled in career and technical education courses are what have been labeled “non-traditional” students. On-line learning is helpful to these students because it provides the flexibility to do coursework from home, or to do schoolwork at hours when brick-and-mortar colleges are not traditionally offering classes. However, it is increasingly being realized that all students may not equally embrace, or equally succeed in the on-line environment. In this paper, the authors examine recent research studies in an effort to see if there have been documented differences in preference for, or success in, on-line learning based on gender, race and/or age.

Towards More Socio-Culturally Sensitive Research and Study of Workplace E-Learning

This article advocates workplace adult education and training researchers and scholar practitioners interested in career and technical education (CTE), adult education and technology, and who are attempting social and cultural critiques of workplace e-learning. The emphasis on the technological and artefactual in workplace e-learning research and study are not producing the expected learning outcomes from workplace adult education and training to the degree anticipated. Given increasingly global and diverse workforces, the research and study of workplace e-learning as a socio-culturally ‘negotiated’ space may be an alternate approach toward a more socially and culturally informed understanding of adult learning from workplace e-learning.