Technical education

The purpose of this study was to perform a graduate
survey of technology students utilizing a design model so
as to produce an employability index (E.I.) that would
indicate relationships existing between the graduates' prior
experiences and current employability. It was intended to
explore relationships between variates that exist in the
graduates' educational experiences and the ultimate achievements
of the graduate in terms of employment status and job
responsibility. This research indicates the particular
traits and factors that produce the greatest correlation
with employment success. It also indicates apparent deficiencies
that may exist in the graduates' overall educational
experiences. It was felt that there was a need for a study design
that would employ a statistical methodology in comparing
individual employability data to performance data derived
from official records. In this manner the more salient
elements of the graduate's academic and prior experience
profiles were compared to post-baccalaureate performance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether statistically significant differences existed between high school Honors Physics websites and those of Advanced Placement (AP) Physics in terms of web-design, National Science Education Standards (NSES) Physics content, and NSES Science Process standards. The procedure began with the selection of 152 sites comprising two groups with equal sample sizes of 76 for Honors Physics and for Advanced Placement Physics. The websites used in the study were accumulated using the Google[TM] search engine. To find Honors Physics websites, the search words "honors physics high school" were entered as the query into the search engine. To find sites for Advanced Placement Physics, the query, "advanced placement physics high school," was entered into the search engine. The evaluation of each website was performed using an instrument developed by the researcher based on three attributes: Web-design, NSES Physics content, and NSES Science Process standards. A "1" was scored if the website was found to have each attribute, otherwise a "0" was given. This process continued until all 76 websites were evaluated for each of the two types of physics websites, Honors and Advanced Placement. Subsequently the data were processed using Excel functions and the SPSS statistical software program. The mean and standard deviation were computed individually for the three attributes under consideration. Three, 2-tailed, independent samples t tests were performed to compare the two groups of physics websites separately on the basis of Web Design, Physics Content, and Science Process. The results of the study indicated that there was only one statistically significant difference between high school Honors Physics websites and those of AP Physics.