Selection Of Students For Hotel Schools: A Comparative Study

In the discussion - Selection Of Students For Hotel Schools: A Comparative Study - by William Morgan, Professor, School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, Morgan’s initial observation is: “Standards for the selection of students into schools of hospitality management around the world vary considerably when it comes to measuring attitudes toward the industry. The author discusses current standards and recommends some changes.” In addition to intellectual ability, Professor Morgan wants you to know that an intangible element such as attitude is an equally important consideration to students seeking curriculum and careers in the hospitality field. “…breaches in behavior or problems in the tourist employee encounter are often caused by attitudinal conditions which pre exist the training and which were not able to be totally corrected by the unfreezing, movement, and refreezing processes required in attitudinal change,” says Morgan. “…other than for some requirements for level or grade completed or marks obtained, 26 of the 54 countries sampled (48.1 percent) had no pre-selection process at all. Of those having some form of a selection process (in addition to grades), 14 schools in 12 countries (22.2 percent) had a formal admissions examination,” Professor Morgan empirically provides. “It was impossible, however, to determine the scope of this admissions examination as it might relate to attitude.” The attitude intangible is a difficult one to quantify. With an apparent sameness in hotels, restaurants, and their facilities the significant distinctions are to be found in their employees. This makes the selection process for both schools and employers a high priority. Moreover, can a student, or a prospective employee, overcome stereotypes and prejudices to provide a high degree of service in the hospitality industry? This query is an important element of this article. “If utilized in the hotel, technical, or trade school or in the hiring process at the individual facility, this [hiring] process would provide an opportunity to determine if the prospective student or worker is receptive to the training to be received,” advises Professor Morgan. “Such a student or worker is realistic in his aims and aspirations, ready in his ability to receive training, and responsive to the needs of the guest, often someone very different from himself in language, dress, or degree of creature comforts desired,” your author further counsels. Professor Morgan looks to transactional analysis, role playing, languages, and cross cultural education as playing significant roles in producing well intentioned and knowledgeable employees. He expands upon these concepts in the article. Professor Morgan holds The International Center of Glion, Switzerland in high regard and cites that program’s efforts to maintain relationships and provide graduates with ongoing attitudinal enlightenment programs.

Diversity in Education: Profiles of Students at FIU's School of Hospitality Management

The authors are conducting a study of career patterns for students enrolled in the Florida International University School of Hospitality Management. A preliminary ethnographic phase of the study was to profile a variety of student participants in order to identify potential factors which might affect career patterns. The result is a fascinating and diverse mosaic of ambitious young people and a wealth of insight for corporate recruiting.

Categorical Differences in Scores of Students with Disabilities on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test

Students with disabilities participate in statewide assessments as required by federal law, and the success of schools is contingent on this group making Adequate Yearly Progress. This report on research includes the findings of differences between disability categories scoring proficient on the FCAT from the years 2005 through 2010.

Perceptions of students, teachers, and parents of the student disciplinary code in Ying -Ko Vocational High School, Ying-Ko, Taiwan

Ying-Ko Vocational High School prepares students to become trained craftspeople to support the local industry. At the School it is understood that part of the mission is to build good citizens who will work and live in the emerging democratic society in modern Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of the students, parents, and teachers regarding their understanding and appreciation of the code of student conduct currently in use at the school. A three-stage sample clustering was used to obtain the samples of students (N = 2,216), parents (N = 100), and teachers (N = 115) who were surveyed using three distinct but comparable questionnaires. Data were analyzed using t test and ANOVA. ^ After reviewing the results of the analysis of the questionnaire no significant differences were noted which set any one group apart from the others. Each group demonstrated acceptance of the code as written and implemented. It was concluded that Chinese culture and tradition might be stronger than initially thought. This is an important finding as schools in Taiwan move toward teaching democracy and independence to their students. ^

The relationship of instructor technical literacy to the academic performance of students in career academies

Career Academy instructors' technical literacy is vital to the academic success of students. This nonexperimental ex post facto study examined the relationships between the level of technical literacy of instructors in career academies and student academic performance. It was also undertaken to explore the relationship between the pedagogical training of instructors and the academic performance of students. ^ Out of a heterogeneous population of 564 teachers in six targeted schools, 136 teachers (26.0 %) responded to an online survey. The survey was designed to gather demographic and teaching experience data. Each demographic item was linked by researchers to teachers' technology use in the classroom. Student achievement was measured by student learning gains as assessed by the reading section of the FCAT from the previous to the present school year. ^ Linear and hierarchical regressions were conducted to examine the research questions. To clarify the possibility of teacher gender and teacher race/ethnic group differences by research variable, a series of one-way ANOVAs were conducted. As revealed by the ANOVA results, there were not statistically significant group differences in any of the research variables by teacher gender or teacher race/ethnicity. Greater student learning gains were associated with greater teacher technical expertise integrating computers and technology into the classroom, even after controlling for teacher attitude towards computers. Neither teacher attitude toward technology integration nor years of experience in integrating computers into the curriculum significantly predicted student learning gains in the regression models. ^ Implications for HRD theory, research, and practice suggest that identifying teacher levels of technical literacy may help improve student academic performance by facilitating professional development strategies and new parameters for defining highly qualified instructors with 21st century skills. District professional development programs can benefit by increasing their offerings to include more computer and information communication technology courses. Teacher preparation programs can benefit by including technical literacy as part of their curriculum. State certification requirements could be expanded to include formal surveys to assess teacher use of technology.^

It takes an institution's village to retain a student: A comprehensive look at two early warning system undergraduate retention programs and administrators' perceptions of students' experiences and the retention services they provide students in the early warning system retention programs

Institutions have implemented many campus interventions to address student persistence/retention, one of which is Early Warning Systems (EWS). However, few research studies show evidence of interventions that incorporate noncognitive factors/skills, and psychotherapy/psycho-educational processes in the EWS. A qualitative study (phenomenological interview and document analysis) of EWS at both a public and private 4-year Florida university was conducted to explore EWS through the eyes of the administrators of the ways administrators make sense of students' experiences and the services they provide and do not provide to assist students. Administrators' understanding of noncognitive factors and the executive skills subset and their contribution to retention and the executive skills development of at-risk students were also explored. Hossler and Bean's multiple retention lenses theory/paradigms and Perez's retention strategies were used to guide the study. Six administrators from each institution who oversee and/or assist with EWS for first time in college undergraduate students considered academically at-risk for attrition were interviewed. Among numerous findings, at Institution X: EWS was infrequently identified as a service, EWS training was not conducted, numerous cognitive and noncognitive issues/deficits were identified for students, and services/critical departments such as EWS did not work together to share students' information to benefit students. Assessment measures were used to identify students' issues/deficits; however, they were not used to assess, track, and monitor students' issues/deficits. Additionally, the institution's EWS did address students' executive skills function beyond time management and organizational skills, but did not address students' psychotherapy/psycho-educational processes. Among numerous findings, at Institution Y: EWS was frequently identified as a service, EWS training was not conducted, numerous cognitive and noncognitive issues/deficits were identified for students, and services/critical departments such as EWS worked together to share students' information to benefit students. Assessment measures were used to identify, track, and monitor students' issues/deficits; however, they were not used to assess students' issues/deficits. Additionally, the institution's EWS addressed students' executive skills function beyond time management and organizational skills, and psychotherapy/psycho-educational processes. Based on the findings, Perez's retention strategies were not utilized in EWS at Institution X, yet were collectively utilized in EWS at Institution Y, to achieve Hossler and Bean's retention paradigms. Future research could be designed to test the link between engaging in the specific promising activities identified in this research (one-to-one coaching, participation in student success workshops, academic contracts, and tutoring) and student success (e.g., higher GPA, retention). Further, because this research uncovered some concern with how to best handle students with physical and psychological disabilities, future research could link these same promising strategies for improving student performance for example among ADHD students or those with clinical depression.

Analysis of Students’ Misconceptions and Error Patterns in Mathematics: The Case of Fractions

This study analyzed three fifth grade students’ misconceptions and error patterns when working with equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions. The findings revealed that students used both conceptual and procedural knowledge to solve the problems. They used pictures, gave examples, and made connections to other mathematical concepts and to daily life topics. Error patterns found include using addition and subtraction of numerators and denominators, and finding the greatest common factor.

Analysis and comparison of the moral development of students required to graduate with an ethics course

Accounting students become practitioners facing ethical decision-making challenges that can be subject to various interpretations; hence, the profession is concerned with the appropriateness of their decisions. Moral development of these students has implications for a profession under legal challenges, negative publicity, and government scrutiny. Accounting students moral development has been studied by examining their responses to moral questions in Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT), their professional attitudes on Hall's Professionalism Scale Dimensions, and their ethical orientation-based professional commitment and ethical sensitivity. This study extended research in accounting ethics and moral development by examining students in a college where an ethics course is a requirement for graduation. Knowledge of differences in the moral development of accounting students may alert practitioners and educators to potential problems resulting from a lack of ethical understanding as measured by moral development levels. If student moral development levels differ by major, and accounting majors have lower levels than other students, the conclusion may be that this difference is a causative factor for the alleged acts of malfeasance in the profession that may result in malpractice suits. The current study compared 205 accounting, business, and nonbusiness students from a private university. In addition to academic major and completion of an ethics course, the other independent variable was academic level. Gender and age were tested as control variables and Rest's DIT score was the dependent variable. The primary analysis was a 2x3x3 ANOVA with post hoc tests for results with significant p-value of less than 0.05. The results of this study reveal that students who take an ethics course appear to have a higher level of moral development (p=0.013), as measured by the (DIT), than students at the same academic level who have not taken an ethics course. In addition, a statistically significant difference (p=0.034) exists between freshmen who took an ethics class and juniors who did not take an ethics class. For every analysis except one, the lower class year with an ethics class had a higher level of moral development than the higher class year without an ethics class. These results appear to show that ethics education in particular has a greater effect on the level of moral development than education in general. Findings based on the gender specific analyses appear to show that males and females respond differently to the effects of taking an ethics class. The male students do not appear to increase their moral development level after taking an ethics course (p=0.693) but male levels of moral development differ significantly (p=0.003) by major. Female levels of moral development appear to increase after taking an ethics course (p=0.002). However, they do not differ according to major (p=0.0 97). These findings indicate that accounting students should be required to have a class in ethics as part of their college curriculum. Students with an ethics class have a significantly higher level of moral development. The challenges facing the profession at the current time indicate that public confidence in the reports of client corporations has eroded and one way to restore this confidence could be to require ethics training of future accountants.

On the homotopy groups of the self-equivalences of linear spheres

Peer reviewed

On the homotopy groups of the self-equivalences of linear spheres

Peer reviewed

Groups of unstable Adams operations on p-local compact groups

Peer reviewed

Groups of unstable Adams operations on p-local compact groups

Peer reviewed

Benthic foraminifera groups of ODP Site 162-982

The pulsed decline and eventual extinction of 51 species of elongate, cylindrical deep-sea benthic foraminifera (Stilostomellidae, Pleurostomellidae, and some Nodosariidae) occurred at intermediate water depths (1145-2168 m, Sites 980 and 982) in the northern North Atlantic during the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT, 1.2-0.6 Ma). In the early Pleistocene, prior to their disappearance, these species comprised up to 20% of the total abundance of the benthic foraminiferal assemblage at 2168 m, but up to only 2% at 1145 m. The MPT extinction of 51 species represents ?20% of the total benthic foraminiferal diversity at bathyal depths in the North Atlantic (excluding the myriad of small unilocular forms). The extinction rate during the MPT was approximately 10 species per 0.1 myr, being one or two orders of magnitude greater than normal background turnover rates of deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Comparison of the precise timings of declines and disappearances (= highest occurrences) of each species shows that they were often diachronous between the two depths. The last of these species to disappear in the North Atlantic was Pleurostomella alternans at ~0.679 and ~0.694 Ma in Sites 980 and 982, respectively, which is in good agreement with the previously documented global "Stilostomella extinction" datum within the period 0.7-0.58 Ma. Comparison with similar studies in intermediate depth waters in the Southwest Pacific Gateway indicates that ~61% of the extinct species were common to both regions, and that although the pattern of pulsed decline was similar, the precise order and timing of the extinction of individual species were mostly different on opposite sides of the world. Previous studies have indicated that this extinct group of elongate, cylindrical foraminifera lived infaunally and had their greatest abundances in poorly ventilated, lower oxygen environments. This is supported by our study where there is a strong positive correlation (r = ~+ 0.8) between the flux of the extinction group and low-oxygen/high organic input species (such as Uvigerina, Bulimina and Bolivina) during the MPT, suggesting a close relationship with lower oxygen levels and high food supply to the sea floor. The absolute abundance, flux, and number of the extinction group of species show a progressive withdrawal pattern with major decreases occurring in cold periods with high d13C values. This might be related to increasing chemical ventilation of glacial intermediate water.