Vocational training for prison inmates: a treatment model

Offenders, whether they are adults or juveniles, convicts or simply on remand are usually offered some sort of vocational training durir g the period of incarceration. For most prison service establishments, training has been elevated to a position of utmost prominence, so much so that an offender's post‐release career seems to depend largely on the success of training received in prison. Prison vocational training should address the vital aspects of offender rehabilitation and reintegration, and current agitations centre on whether offender should ‘do time’ or ‘use time’ during training sessions. By and large, training should not simply be part of prison routine, but instead should have firm features of an intervention, and also represent a treatment regime. This article discusses a treatment model of prison vocational training for all categories of offenders. The model provides for an initial diagnostic phase of offenders’ work history and training needs, which are carefully analysed in relation to labour market skills requirements. Central to this model is the provision of appropriate job and entrepreneurial skills in conjunction with aftercare services. It also places a high premium on the vocational adjustment of ex‐offenders in society, which must be closely monitored in order that success of the rehabilitation and resettlement processes can be correctly assessed.     

The Implications of the Cognitive Sciences for the Relation Between Religion and Science Education: The Case of Evolutionary Theory

This paper discusses the relationship between religion and science education in the light of the cognitive sciences. We challenge the popular view that science and religion are compatible, a view that suggests that learning and understanding evolutionary theory has no effect on students?? religious beliefs and vice versa. We develop a cognitive perspective on how students manage to reconcile evolutionary theory with their religious beliefs. We underwrite the claim developed by cognitive scientists and anthropologists that religion is natural because it taps into people??s intuitive understanding of the natural world which is constrained by essentialist, teleological and intentional biases. After contrasting the naturalness of religion with the unnaturalness of science, we discuss the difficulties cognitive and developmental scientists have identified in learning and accepting evolutionary theory. We indicate how religious beliefs impede students?? understanding and acceptance of evolutionary theory. We explore a number of options available to students for reconciling an informed understanding of evolutionary theory with their religious beliefs. To conclude, we discuss the implications of our account for science and biology teachers.     

Computer adaptive testing,big data and algorithmic approaches to education

This article critically considers the promise of computer adaptive testing (CAT) and digital data to provide better and quicker data that will improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of schooling. In particular, it uses the case of the Australian NAPLAN test that will become an online, adaptive test from 2016. The article argues that CATs are specific examples of technological ensembles which are producing, and working through, new subjectivities. In particular, CATs leverage opportunities for big data and algorithmic approaches to education that are symptomatic of what Deleuze saw as the shift from disciplinary to control institutions and societies.     

The road to collaborative and integrated education: Success and struggle in a university classroom

Abstract

Although much of the contemporary discourse on collaborative teaching is positive, there is a dearth of information about and research on the practical issues of undertaking such an endeavor at the university level. The authors of this article team taught a course that combined three educational methods classes (Instruction in Elementary Language Arts, Instruction in Elementary Reading, and Instruction in Elementary Social Studies). This undertaking evoked positive experiences for the instructors and students but also evinced areas that caused conflict and concern, including conflicts regarding student assessment, amount of time required, and lack of administrative support. As we continue to incorporate and refine collaborative teaching at the university level, economics, recognition, and status issues also need to be examined.     

Direct comparisons of the factor structures of the WISC and the WISC-R

The factor structures of the WISC and the WISC-R were compared, using the data for age groups 7.5, 10.5, and 13.5 years in the two standardization samples. The results for three different types of solution—hierarchical, multiple-group, and principal-factor—agreed in demonstrating that the structures of the two scales are as similar as the structure of either scale is for different age groups.     

Measuring The Business Impact of E‐Learning: An Empirical Study

This study fills a gap in the current HRD literature of return on investment (ROI) analysis of technology‐based learning interventions. Using a Type IV control group method as defined by Wang (2002), the study empirically analyzed and measured the learning effectiveness and the business impact of an e‐learning system implemented in General Electric Company. The e‐learning system under study demonstrated significant economic returns in regard to reduced learning response time and reduced project cycle time. The study shows that e‐learning, as a means of technology‐based HRD intervention, can be highly effective as a performance support learning mechanism, although the results also suggest that e‐learning alone is not sufficient to replace the traditional face‐to‐face learning platforms.     

Measuring the Transfer of Training

This study examined the use of self-report to measure training transfer by comparing three training transfer assessment methods. Applying a framework provided by instructional alignment theory, the study tested the hypothesis that if training transfer is measured by assessment methods that vary in their degree of alignment with the post-training learning assessment, the training transfer scores would be higher as the degree of alignment increased. Instructional alignment is the extent to which stimulus conditions match across instructional components: intended outcomes, instructional processes, and assessment. Three training transfer assessments were administered to 40 telecommunications technicians approximately 60 days after they completed a training course. The moan transfer score for the job performance assessment with high alignment was significantly higher than the two self-report assessments of moderate and low alignment with effect size differences of 0.96 (p < .01) and 0.87 (p < .01), respectively. The mean scores for the two self-report assessments did not significantly differ. This study has implications for the extensive use of self-report to assess training transfer in both research and training evaluation programs.     

Control Group Methods for HPT Program Evaluation and Measurement

This research contributes to the methodologies in HPT program evaluation and measurement that are fairly lacking to date. First, a theoretical foundation for a control group is established based on a brief review of control group applications in various fields. Then, four types of control groups applicable to HPT program evaluation and measurement are defined and classified, and threats to internal and external validity in control group applications are explored. Lastly, four evaluation and measurement scenarios are presented for an E‐learning program to demonstrate the applicability of the control group methods for HPT program evaluation and ROI measurement.