Challenges of Evening Educational Program for Working Children and Young People

This article reports the findings from a study aimed at assessing the challenges of evening educational programs for working children and young people. A descriptive research design and mixed research approach were employed. The design helped to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena and to describe “what exists” with respect to conditions in a situation. A total of 367 students participated in the study. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the evening students are females. There are ongoing access issues for disadvantaged children and young people who cannot attend school on a regular basis, despite the provision of evening educational programs. Challenges include deficits in policy framework and the adopted curriculum, political drivers, teacher motivation, and facilities. Due to a lack of time, some courses are excluded from the evening programs. As a result, children and young people who are enrolled in this program achieve low academic performance as compared to the students in the regular program.

Transformative Learning

The aim of this article is to connect transformative learning theory with the practice of teaching in higher education. Connecting theory to effective active learning pedagogy is good practice in teaching adults, andragogy. Using transformative learning theory as a guide, this article describes the historical evolution of transformative learning theory and describes specific application in higher education using Chickering and Gamson's principles of undergraduate education. The discussion of teaching and learning examples from face-to-face, online, service-learning, and short-term study abroad contexts provide the reader with concrete applications.

The Effect of Wellness Programs on Long-Term Contract Employees' Workplace Stress, Absenteeism, and Presenteeism

The quasi-experimental study reported in the present article is aimed at increasing the understanding of the effects of long-term contract employees participating in wellness programs. The reported study examines the effect (if any) that a wellness program has on workplace stress, absenteeism, and presenteeism for long-term contract employees participating in a wellness program. A one group pretest-posttest design was used. Convenience sampling was conducted in a hospital in the New York City Metro area. Data was collected from 19 participants. Paired sample t-test and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to determine if there was a significant statistical difference before and after a dance aerobic exercise intervention. The instruments used to gather data were the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the World Health Organization Health Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). The results indicated a statistical difference for workplace stress, but no statistical difference for absenteeism and presenteeism.

Strategies to Reorienting Higher Education Institutions Toward Lifelong Learning Higher Education Institutions in Thailand

The study proposes strategies to reorient higher education institutions toward lifelong learning to serve lifelong adult learners in Thailand. The Ethnographic Delphi Futures Research (EDFR) approach was used for data collection. Additional research instruments used were in-depth interviews, a questionnaire “Measurable Performance Indicators [MPI] for Lifelong Learning,” SWOT Analysis form, focus group discussions, and a strategic assessment form. The results revealed five national and seven institutional strategies with several sub-details for each strategy. Finally, the suggested strategies could help higher education institutions world-wide to strengthen the policies, processes, and change apparatuses.

Redesign of Prior Learning Assessment in an Award-Winning Degree Completion Program

In the 21st century economic landscape, many argue the importance of a college degree, as entry into many occupations now requires advanced credentials. Pursuing a college degree costs time and money, often presenting barriers to those pursuing the dream. Prior learning assessment (PLA) offers a solution to spend less time and money earning a college degree by documenting outside learning. PLA shortens time-to-degree, reduces tuition costs, supports student persistence, and boosts degree completion, particularly for adult learners (non- and post-traditional students) and underserved populations. The purpose of this article was to examine PLA within an award-winning degree completion program primarily serving adult learners in order to improve practice. Aligned with the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning's (CAEL) standards for assessing learning, this article discusses the degree completion program, PLA course and competency portfolio, block credit competency model and block credit competency model and portfolio assessment, program administration, and implications.

Creating a Scale for Service

This article presents a model that is based on Eyler and Giles' Five Elements of Citizenship, where students learn about Volunteer UCF through marketing strategies, participate in one-time service or educational events, and then pursue continuous involvement based on their positive experiences. Students transition to leadership roles by serving on a social topic committee and move up to social topic director managing their own committee. Some students aspire to be an administrative student leader and incorporate large-scale institutional projects and events. The final stage for students is committing to lifelong community engagement opportunities post-graduation. The results will inform where the touch points are at the higher education institution, so administrators can apprise bureaucracy and cultural barriers to help students progress through the scale for service within the continuum.

Transformative Learning and Lean Six Sigma Programs

In the competitive world of recruiting, the better an applicant can apply what has already been learned to a new environment, the greater the career opportunity. This study captured the transformative learning experience of students, guided by their instructors and industry partners, related to learning and executing Lean Six Sigma principles in a variety of environments. Lean Six Sigma principles which seek to reduce inefficiencies and thus improve the customer experience have long since been associated with manufacturing. Expanding the application of Lean Six Sigma from blue-collar settings to include white-collar and green-collar work provides students additional problem-solving approaches to process challenges in all-collar environments. Additionally, the experience aided students in viewing customers from both internal and external lenses, linked customer loyalty to organization success, and demonstrated the value such skills were to both personal career growth. Suggestions for faculty and recommendations for future studies are included.

An Adult-Learner Approach to the Learning Design of Safety Management System Training in Aviation

The goal of training is to improve employee performance, and ultimately support organizational success. However, training does not always effectively transfer to workplaces to positively affect work practices, particularly because of disconnect between behaviourist approaches and contemporary work arrangements. The transfer of training to the workplace remains problematic. The present article is motivated by the need to challenge the status quo of training design and draw greater attention to learning design, beyond the confines of behaviourism. The aim of the article is to provoke critical discussion around learning theories and training design. We propose Knowles' adult learning principles and Mezirow's transformative learning theory, useful guide for the learning design of training. The learning design of a university-based safety management systems training course in aviation is discussed from the vantage point of the proposed guiding philosophy. Six specific strategies are presented supported by the evaluation of the course effectiveness conducted after the first iteration.

Critical Consciousness and Empowerment Issues in Undergraduate Classrooms

It is important to practice critical skills in the classroom in order to empower learners and to have a critical consciousness, such as critical thinking, dialogue, and problem solving. In the present study, undergraduate students' perceptions (by gender) of the practice of critical consciousness in the classroom at Taif University, Saudi Arabia is investigated. Freire's conceptualization of critical consciousness is used as the study's theoretical framework. That conceptualization is focused on critical thinking, dialogue, and problem-solving. A quantitative approach is utilized with a self-administered questionnaire in collecting data from the respondents. The results of this study indicated that Saudi undergraduate students' perspective was positive about the practice of the three elements of critical consciousness. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences at α = 0.05 among undergraduate students' perspective on the practice of critical consciousness, including dialogue, critical thinking, and the total practice based on their gender. The direction of the differences was a benefit for females.

Workplace Incivility and Job Satisfaction

Workplace incivility is common in organizations across the world and can have negative effects on individuals and organizations. The purpose of the reported study is to examine the effects of supervisor and coworker incivility on job satisfaction and examines emotion management as a mediator of these relationships. Data from 268 working adults were collected by survey battery and analyzed via a number of multivariate techniques. The model was supported in that both supervisor and coworker incivility had strong direct negative effects on emotion management and job satisfaction, and emotion management partially mediated the incivility-job satisfaction relationship. With supervisor and coworker incivility, the participants reported lower levels of job satisfaction. However, the participants' emotion management mitigated the negative effect of incivility on job satisfaction partially. The findings suggest that organizations need to be aware of the unfavorable consequences of incivility. Organizations need to discover ways to reduce incivility and implement efforts to help employees develop positive emotional management strategies. These actions may help reduce the negative influences of incivility on important organizational outcomes like job satisfaction.