To curtail difficulties in higher education relating to students’ learning with few or no real-life examples, poor acquisition of practical skills, a lack of confidence concerning their prospective career, and a fear of unemployment, it is imperative to engage students in real-life work environments before graduation. Drawing on the integration of Experiential Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, the authors explore the work placement learning (WPL), career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), engagement in practical skills (EPS), and perceived employability skills (PES) nexuses. The participants in the study (N = 451) were technical and vocational education undergraduates drawn from four universities in Nigeria. Using data collected via a cross-sectional survey, the study results reveal that WPL is positively and strongly associated with PES. The results also show that WPL has a positive indirect influence on PES via CDSE and EPS, indicating the presence of serial mediation. The results further show that WPL has discrete positive indirect effects on PES via the dimensions of CDSE (self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, planning and problem-solving). The implications of the findings for higher education institutions are, accordingly, set out.
Advancing inclusive education in countries where children with special needs (CWSNs) are yet to be meaningfully included in regular schools will ensure the progress of Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals. One potent determinant to the effective inclusion of CWSNs is teachers’ intention and efforts to integrate them into their classes. Yet, there is still inadequate evidence in the existing body of literature that will help stakeholders understand the psychosocial variables that will impact their intentions and efforts to include CWSNs in their classes. In view of this, our study determined the association between teachers’ sociodemographic characteristics, psychological distress, job satisfaction, and their willingness to include CWSNs in their classes using a hierarchical regression model. The sample size is made up of 502 secondary school teachers in Anambra State. Our model showed the potency of sociobiological and motivational factors on teachers’ inclusive education willingness of CWSNs in their classes. Teachers’ age, years of teaching experience, and job satisfaction are significant predictors of their inclusion willingness for CWSNs. Teachers’ psychological distress did not significantly predict their inclusion willingness for CWSNs. The significance and implications of our findings were underscored.
There is need for students of tertiary institutions to enjoy the enormous benefits of Web 2.0 technologies and tools which students use mainly for entertainment and recreation. This necessitated this investigation on the extent business educators in southeast Nigeria are aware of and adopt Web 2.0 technologies for educational instruction. Two research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The survey design was adopted for the study. Population of the study was 144 business educators and there was no sampling. The research instrument was a structured 5-point scale questionnaire validated by three experts in ICT and measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was established using Split half method. Mean was used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The study found that the respondents were highly aware of Web 2.0 technologies and adopt Web 2.0 technologies for class interaction to a very low extent. The study also found that age was a factor in business educators' rating of awareness and adoption of Web 2.0 technologies for educational instruction while sex, years of experience in teaching and type of institution did not affect their response. It was recommended, among others, that management of tertiary institutions should train business educators on the usage of Web 2.0 for educational activities.
There are diverse social networking sites which range from those that provide social sharing and interaction to those that provide networks for professionals within same and other fields. Social networking sites require a user to sign up, create a profile and begin sending short messages about what the user is doing or thinking. The study sought to establish from business education students in tertiary institutions in Anambra state Nigeria, hours of the day spent on social networking sites, social networking sited used and what they use social networking site for. Relevant theories and literature were reviewed. Population of the study was made up of 577 penultimate and final year business education students of four tertiary institutions in Anambra state. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select 236 students for the study. Three hypotheses guided the study. A structured questionnaire was used to gather information for the study. The data collection instrument was subjected to a reliability test which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.80 using Cronbach alpha. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 95% confidence interval. Findings revealed that business education students differed significantly on hours of the day spent using social networking sites and on what they use social networking sites for, but do not differ significantly on social networking sites they use as a result of age. Consequently, it was recommended, among others, that business education students of all age brackets should be taught to harness the educational potentials of social networking sites so as to effectively use these sites for educational purposes.
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