The main goal of this qualitative study was to explore perceptions and opinions of a group of in-service Prevocational Education (PVE) teachers to derive barriers to effective PVE implementation at the middle basic stage in Jordanian schools. The population and sample (n=35 of the study consisted of all teachers responsible for the delivery of PVE at the middle basic stage of the "North Mazar" educational directorate in the northern region in Jordan. The population and sample of the study were conveniently selected. The instrument used in this study was an interview schedule and technique used in analyzing data obtained from open-ended face-to-face interviews was that suggested by Merriam (2009) regarding qualitative data. Frequencies, percentages in addition to examples of sample quotes representing teachers' responses were provided. The results revealed that PVE lack attractiveness for pupils, parents, teachers, and principals and consequently they hold negative attitudes towards this practical provision. The results revealed four categories of barriers: (1), Barriers pertaining to perceptions and attitudes (2) barriers pertaining to economic factors, (3) barriers pertaining to administrative factors, (4) Barriers pertaining to human factors. Discussions of such barriers were provided, and concluding reflections and recommendations were presented.
The present study explored the extent of both possession and use of computer skills by Jordanian school teachers. A random sample of 74 teachers (33 males and 41 females) was selected. Data obtained were collected by a two-checklist questionnaire consisting of 52 items covering four ICT domains. Teachersʼ' responses were entered into the SPSS program. Means and standard deviations were computed, and t-test was conducted for each of the four domains to identify any statistical differences attributed to the classification variables investigated. T-test scores for both possession and use of computer skills showed significant differences due to school stage and type of job in favor of basic school stage and working full-time teachers. Overall results revealed a high degree of consistency between the degree of possession and use of computer skills. Conclusions as well as recommendations were made for continued ICT teacher training with a focus on software design and production.
This study aimed at constructing a scale to measurethe 10th grade students attitudes toward vocational work. To achieve the objectives of the study, an initial pool of 96 items was constructed using a 5-point Likert scale. The scale was first administered to a pilot sample of students and then reviewed by a jury of experts. The number of the resulting items was 68. The scale was then administered to a sample of 536 male and female students. The results revealed that 46 items obey the assumptions of the rating scale model derived from Rasch model (one of the Item Response Theory Models which is suitable for the scale used) . The results also showed that the 46-item scale in its final form was unidimensional and characterized by appropriate psychometric properties; the value of the reliability coefficients were 0.98 and 0.93 for the persons and for the items of the scale respectively. In addition, the scale provides large amount of information about individuals with medium ability (θ=b) which fits the assumptions of the model.
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