Technical Education and Its Importance in Pakistan
STUDENTS’ VIEWS OF CAREERAND TECHNICAL EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE STUDY A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts
by ANGELA BROWDER
Dr. David Bergin, Thesis Advisor AUGUST 2007
The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the [thesis or dissertation] entitled STUDENT’S VIEWS OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION presented by Angela Browder, a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance.
Professor David Bergin
Professor Peggy Placier
Professor Norm Gysbers
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor David Bergin for providing me with support and guidance throughout my research. Through my experiences working with him I learned a great deal about the research process and how to structure my writing and feel better prepared to move forward with research in the future. I would also like to thank my thesis committee members who provided me with a lot of feedback on how to improve my research topic and gave me ideas to build on in future research studies. A great amount of thanks goes to the schools sampled in this study. The director of the Area Career Center was very welcoming and open to my research topic allowing me to gain as much exposure to career and technical education and their students as I wanted. Without the ACC’s interest in my study this research would not have been possible. I also want to thank the local high school that allowed me access to a few students even though they had very demanding schedules. Gaining insight from Advanced Placement students creating an interesting element to my study that I have found very valuable. Finally, I thank the University of Missouri-Columbia’s campus IRB who approved my research study
TABLE OF CONTENTS
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts
by ANGELA BROWDER
Dr. David Bergin, Thesis Advisor AUGUST 2007
The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the [thesis or dissertation] entitled STUDENT’S VIEWS OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION presented by Angela Browder, a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance.
Professor David Bergin
Professor Peggy Placier
Professor Norm Gysbers
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor David Bergin for providing me with support and guidance throughout my research. Through my experiences working with him I learned a great deal about the research process and how to structure my writing and feel better prepared to move forward with research in the future. I would also like to thank my thesis committee members who provided me with a lot of feedback on how to improve my research topic and gave me ideas to build on in future research studies. A great amount of thanks goes to the schools sampled in this study. The director of the Area Career Center was very welcoming and open to my research topic allowing me to gain as much exposure to career and technical education and their students as I wanted. Without the ACC’s interest in my study this research would not have been possible. I also want to thank the local high school that allowed me access to a few students even though they had very demanding schedules. Gaining insight from Advanced Placement students creating an interesting element to my study that I have found very valuable. Finally, I thank the University of Missouri-Columbia’s campus IRB who approved my research study
TABLE OF CONTENTS