CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Of central importance in a social work, practicum is the ongoing evaluation of the student’s performance. The term evaluation means to examine, judge, appraise, and assign value or worth. The word performance refers to the actions of carrying out or completing some function, role, or obligation. Thus, the social work practicum evaluation focuses on the student’s behaviors and actions related to the role and obligations of a professional social worker. The primary question addressed is whether the students’ performance is meeting the specified standards expected of the social work practitioner at their level of practice. Ahmed, (2000).
Every program of social work education uses some type of rating scale or evaluation tool to monitor and evaluate student progress. The evaluation process compares the student’s performance to established standards and criteria and also to the learning objectives, and strategies outlined in the student’s learning contract.
Evaluations of student performance are of two types: formal and informal. An informal evaluation consists of the ongoing feedback and suggestions offered by the practicum instructor. This type of evaluation takes place on a weekly or even a daily basis. A formal evaluation is a detailed review and comparison of the student’s performance with evaluation criteria, standards, and learning objectives for the practicum. It occurs at the end of each academic term or more often, depending on school policy or special circumstances.
The findings or the results of the formal evaluation are placed in a written report. This report typically consists of the ratings assigned to the various items on the school’s evaluation tool and a few paragraphs of narrative that describe special strengths and abilities and/or special problems and deficiencies in performance. The report may also describe how needed learning experiences will be secured or deficiencies corrected prior to the next formal evaluation.
The areas addressed in the practicum evaluation are similar to those addressed in the performance evaluation of the social workers employed by an agency. In order to ensure high-quality performance and reduce their exposure to lawsuits and employee grievances, agencies strive to make their expectations of employees as clear as possible and to use personnel evaluation tools (i.e., rating scales) that are as objective as possible. These same forces have prompted programs of social work education to develop evaluation tools that are as valid and reliable as possible.
However, it must be recognized that it is difficult to develop an evaluation tool that is both clear and specific in its descriptions of standards and criteria, and also flexible enough to accurately and fairly evaluate the practice of social work, which is complex and difficult to observe directly. An evaluation should be objective to the degree possible, but even a well-designed procedure will require judgments by the practicum instructor, and some of these may be open to charges of subjectivity.
There are several theories on how the concept of performance measurement appeared. Morgan (2004) believes that modern performance measurement appeared in Venice in the fifteenth century, with the appearance of the double entry accounting. Another view is that of the authors Johnson and Kaplan (1987) that consider that performance measurement appeared during the industrial revolution. Either way we can say with fair certainty that performance management has emerged as the dominant research area in the early ’50s, when academics and practitioners have become interested in the need to measure performance and measurement consequences (Argyris, 1952).
Interest in management and performance measurement has increased considerably in the last 20 years (Taticchi, 2008). Number of publications on this topic has grown significantly over the last decade (Beamon 1999, Lohman et al. 2004, Gunasekaran et al. 2004). We believe that this is mainly due to a fundamental change in business. Furthermore, performance is not a subject easily addressed. It is clear the need to study and rethink the concept and, in this context, to rethink how performance measurement it is done.
According to Atkinson et al. (1997) performance measurement should help the economic entity
to understand and assess the value received from suppliers and employees, the value provided by
the stakeholders and the effectiveness of processes implemented in the economic entity and its
strategic properties. Therefore, we can say that performance measurement plays the role of
coordination, monitoring and diagnosis of economic entity’s activities.
Over the past three years planners have paid much attention to the question of what should be taught in schools. What sort of instructional or study materials should be prepared for students and by whom? What type of learning activities should contending out by the students? In short, much concern has been devoted to decision related to the school curriculum.
Universities here introduced graduates and post graduate in curriculum planning and professional journals dealing with these topics have been launched. The term curriculum had been sued in a variety of ways to designate a programmes a given subject matter at a specific grade level. In most cases a curriculum did not contain more than a brief list of education objectives and contents to be taught in schools. In the recent years, however, the meaning of the term has been broadened to encompass, detailed plans students activities.
A variety of study materials suggestions arrangements for butting the programmes into use etc. Balogun 1981 et al perceived curriculum as a written statement of the educational experiences which the school proposes to provide or create for children and the aims, materials and procedures of such experiences.
According to Key (1968), a curriculum means all the learning planned and guided by the school. This definition takes place in the school. For example, the Bi – annual NATCEGA in which College participate, whether the institution is the host or not in part of the guided programme by the school on the other hand, Onyika (1980) defined curriculum as an educational programme of experiences offered to the learner under the guidance of the school in order to effect certain change in his behaviour.
As educational programme like any activity depends on proper planning for its success. Teachers need to establish very clearly what they are typing to achieve with their pupils, then the derive how they have been in their attempts.
This process of planning, learning opportunities intended to bring about certain changes in which these changes have taken places is what referred to as educational literature as curriculum development is Onwuka (1981) says curriculum of education consists of all the situations that the school may select and consistently organize for the purpose of bringing about changes in developing personality of the individuals. Through the above definitions of curriculum, we shall see that it is a way of preparing the child for educational activities and guide him in the school or outside school so that desirable behavioural changes can take place in him.
The Business has been variously defined by different authors. Business can be defined as the human activity of converting resources into goods and services for the purpose of bringing about transactions that will result in a profit to the organization. However, Business deals with various method of conducting activities aims of Business activity is to maximize the utility that will derived from consuming a particular good or product so as to satisfy the needs of such consumer. The development may lead to helping pupils to achieve a work. When living, and which will also provide students with the understanding and knowledge needed for the heading of personal affairs and using the services for the business society.
In other words, business education deals with relationship method and techniques attitudes and skill facilitating an individual to understand the social institution of business and the environment where it is operated. It uncovers business experience in too dimensions i.e. specialized and general occupation form the observation from the Olaleye (1985) Business education came into existence as an after mail of the out break of the second world war. The ideas of using machines to write words were being introduce to people most especially in the foreign countries when these set of people come back to Nigeria, their Colonial masters brought some of the machines to be used in Government offices, the service men, who returned from the war front were being employed to work as clerk. Students enrolled in Business schools are categorized into sex major group based on their motivations as follows some that are unable to complete secondary school education as a result of their inability i.e. those that are disabled physically.
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