The articles featured in the current issue used regression analysis and qualitative research approaches to address important issues related to the measurement of work ethic, self-efficacy associated with applied STEM coursework, student success in high school healthcare education programs.
In the first article, Development and Validation of a Short Form of the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory, Park and Hill cross-validated an instrument measuring occupational work ethic. Using confirmatory factor analysis to reduce the instrument, the validation results indicated that the shorter version had psychometric properties similar to the original full version and was practical to administer. In turn, Sublett and Plasman reported the results of a study entitled, How Does Applied STEM Coursework Relate to Mathematics and Science Self-Efficacy Among High School Students? Evidence from a National Sample. The goal of the study was to explore whether there was a relationship between applied STEM coursework and feelings of self-efficacy and the results suggested an increase in math and science self-efficacy with the exception of female and disabled students. Finally, the third article features the results of the study, Critical Success Factors in a High School Healthcare Education Program. In this study, Thessin, Scully-Russ, & Lieberman conducted a qualitative study of a high school healthcare education program to identify success factors related to student outcomes. Based on classroom observations, interviews, and survey strategies, the authors identified the following success factors: learning environment and community, student supports, engagement through applied learning experiences, and a culture of professionalism.
The results of these studies add to the growing body of knowledge regarding the connection between applied learning opportunities and student outcomes. Using regression analyses and a large dataset, Sublett and Plasman established a related connection in the context of applied STEM coursework and self-efficacy. Concurrently, Thessin, Scully-Russ, and Lieberman found similar results following a qualitative approach in the context of a high school healthcare program. The latter results also pointed to the ecology of a school and community in terms of other factor of success that should be considered in career and technical education. To that end, the work of Park and Hill is also relevant in the quest to study work ethic, a construct that has been hard to measure. In that regard, developing and producing instruments to help measure important constructs contributing to student college and career readiness represents a worthwhile research endeavor.
As Co-Editors of the Journal of Career and Technical Education, we value the work of researchers in the field and choosing our journal for publication consideration and keep readers abreast of new developments in the field. As such, Web analytics data indicated that 30,808 users accessed the journal electronically in 2017 (December 6, 2016 trough December 3, 2017). Users were primarily located in the United States (40%) while the rest included traffic from nine other countries (Philippines, India, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa).
Finally, we would like to extend our gratitude for the continued support of the reviewers who made the selection of articles featured in this issue possible. In addition, we also want to acknowledge the support of Robert Browder at Virginia Tech, who took over as our de facto Managing Editor. Mr. Browder is a Digital Publishing Specialist at the Newman Library at Virginia Tech and his support was instrumental in transitioning the journal site to a new publication platform and producing this issue. Thank you.
Victor M. Hernandez-Gantes & Edward C. Fletcher Jr.
Co-Editors, University of South Florida
Reading/Downloading Full Articles
The full version of this article may be accessed as part of Volume 32, Issue 1 (2017) of the Journal of Career and Technical Education, available at https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/JCTE
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