Experiencing the workplace: shaping worker identities through assessment,work and learning

This article reports on the findings of research seeking to understand the informal dimensions of online learning in the labour movement. It draws on analysis of online learning workshop participation in specially initiated sessions amongst labour activists/educators from across Canada. Findings are based on the analysis of original interview data and survey data as well as content and interaction analysis of online postings. Barriers to effective participation are discussed, as are possible functions of online learning/communication in the labour movement. I argue that there is strong evidence to suggest that online learning can be a valuable addition to the education capacity of the labour movement, and that an important part of this contribution revolves around a recognition of informal learning, the linkages between the online and the offline world, and the unique goals of the labour movement.     

A Quantitative Assessment of the Research Chefs Association Core Competencies for the Practicing Culinologist

ABSTRACT: Professional organizations have linked core competency to professional success and competitive strategy. The Research Chefs Assn. (RCA) recently released 43 core competencies for practicing culinologists. Culinology^® is a profession that links skills of culinary arts and food science and technology in the development of food products. An online survey was created asking RCA members from all 6 membership categories (Associate, Affiliate, Chef, Culinology, Food Science and Technology (FS&T), and Student) to rate their knowledge level based on a 7‐point scale and agreement to importance in job performance based on a 5‐point Likert scale for each competency statement. RCA participant's (N = 192) survey results were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 13.0 at a significance level of P < 0.05. Statistical survey validation grouped all 43 competency statements into 8 factors (groupings) according to level of competency proficiency (opposed to the 7 groups each competency was originally designated by the RC A) and into 9 factors according to job success. Results suggest that Chef Members know “Culinary Arts” best and FS&T members know “Food Science” best. A gap analysis determined what competency factors were low in knowledge level yet important to job success for each membership category. Chef members have a lower level of knowledge in “Product Development,”“Food Science,” and “Quality Assurance” factors; however, the factors are important to job success. FS&T members have a lower level of knowledge in “Nutrition” yet identified the factor important to job success. An opportunity exists to improve educational efforts for specific membership categories.     

The nature of naive explanations of natural selection

Unlike some pivotal ideas in the history of science, the basic notion of natural selection is remarkably simple and so one might expect most students to easily grasp the basic principles of the Darwinian theory; yet many students nevertheless have difficulty understanding Darwinian evolution. We suggest that misconceptions about natural selection arise from mistaken categorization. Our thesis for explaining students’ failure to understand this concept or evolution in general is not that they necessarily fail to understand individual Darwinian principles; rather, they often fail to understand the ontological features of equilibration processes, of which evolution is one instance. They thus attribute the evolutionary process in general, and natural selection in particular, with event‐like properties. For example, naive students appear to focus on the idea of survival of the fittest, but embed this idea within an event ontology that involves actors struggling to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. Results showed that most naive subjects’ evolutionary explanations reflected an event ontology. Furthermore, event ontology attributes were positively correlated with non‐Darwinian explanations; by contrast, equilibration attributes, when present, were positively correlated with key Darwinian principles. These findings suggest that students would greatly benefit from science instruction that emphasized the underlying ontology of modern evolutionary theory.     

YOU CAN TOUCH THIS: SIMULATION EXERCISES FOR AGING AND DISABILITY

Materials and exercises that may be used to simulate some of the deficits that occur in vision, hearing, mobility, and manual dexterity with increased age or disability are described. How arthritis, stroke, glaucoma, cataracts, and yellowing of the lens of the eye may be simulated is explained. The demonstrations are appropriate for educating health care professionals in gerontology and geriatrics and have been used with students of all ages.