JVTE v14n2 - Notes From The Editor

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

As I assume the new responsibility as editor of The Journal of Vocational and Technical Education , both our paper Journal and our electronic Journal are in place. The availability of our journal on the web can be attributed to our previous editor, Bill Camp.

This spring, 1998 issue (14-2) marks the twenty-eighth issue of JVTE in print and the sixth issue currently on-line. The printed journal is mailed to members and other subscribers around the world and is indexed in ERIC. The electronic journal is available worldwide on the Internet and can be accessed at the following (case sensitive) location:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVTE/jvte.html

Establishing the journal as an electronic journal as well as a paper one means whole new responsibility for the editor, one of making sure that the files are properly formatted in order to be converted to HTML. This also will call for authors paying closer attention to using the proper formatting features on the wordprocessor.

In this issue:

1. Phyllis Bunn and Daisy Stewart provide us with an understanding of the perceptions of a national industry-based skill standard technical committee regarding the adoption of skill standards in vocational education programs at the secondary and post secondary levels. As a result of what they found, they discuss the value of continued communications between business and industry and education and suggest that skill standards should be used for developing curriculum for vocational education.
2. Carol Conroy examined relationships of gender and program of enrollment to adolescentsí occupational and educational aspirations. She found that students desire professional jobs, yet they expect to work in lower positions than their college preparatory counterparts. The results of the study provide evidence that adolescents hold unrealistic occupational and educational aspirations. She recommends that students have more opportunities to explore careers that are within keeping of their abilities and interests.
3. Carol Decker studied computer self-efficacy among university employees. With computer technology being a major component in workplace performance, creating educational and training programs that actually transfer computer technology skills from the classroom to the work environment is a vital focus of vocational education. As a result of her study, she recommends that educators make a continuous effort to develop curriculum that is based on skills needed in the workforce. She recommends in order to contribute to their computer self-efficacy, that students have an opportunity to train others. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining an up-dated computer education program for employees to maintain confidence and consistency in performance.
4. Nelson Foell and Bob Fritz looked at new formats that combine conventional classroom objectives with evolving technologies in order to transfer knowledge to students at remote sites. They found that in technology based systems, it may be important to plan instruction with learning tempo in mind. Strategies that increase learning tempo and enhance student-teacher interaction should be used in distance learning. They concluded that multimedia in teaching cannot substitute for the sensory nature of learning, that skill with instruction is linked to skill in working with individuals.
5. Jane Learch Wells ethnographic study provides evidence that when vocational work ethics are taught via direct, indirect, and self-evaluative methods, students are more likely to be aware of the behavior employers expect from entry-level employees. The patterns of studentsí behavior suggest that old workplace behavior is replaced with the desired behaviors as vocational work ethics are learned.

As usual, this issue of JVTE presents our readers with some interesting research that should lead the way to improving the delivery of vocational education.

The Editor

Betty Heath-Camp, Spring 1998