JVTE v13n1 - Notes From the Editor


Volume 13, Number 1
Fall 1996

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

This issue of The Journal of Vocational and Technical Education includes several very interesting articles. When JVTE was first proposed to the OTT National Council in 1983, we envisioned it as a forum that would allow for the kinds of reasoned discussion that generally could not be found elsewhere in the vocational and technical education literature in this country. We have attained that goal thanks to the efforts of literally hundreds of authors, reviewers, Editorial Board members, and of a much smaller number of Editorial Board Chairs, Editors, and Publishers over the past 13 years. In fact, several of the articles in this issue are just such pieces of work. The articles in this issue range from a thought-provoking simulation of an interview that might have taken place with John Dewey if her were alive today to several very traditional data-based, quantitative research reports.

With this issue, we are well into the cyber age. The fall, 1996 issue (13-1) is the third issue of JVTE currently online and all three can be accessed at the following URL ( case sensitive ):

Please note carefully the changes in the guidelines for authors in this issue -- changes designed to help move the Journal into its "cyber-future."

The current issue (13-1) was available online even before the copy was sent to the printer. The spring 1997 issue will contain at least one article that was submitted, reviewed, revised, re-submitted, re-reviewed, and accepted with no paper ever having exchanged hands. My goal is that electronic submission and review will be the norm rather than the exception by the time the next Editor assumes responsibility for JVTE in December, 1997 and that more readers will have access to the electronic version, e-JVTE as I like to call it, through the Internet than have ever had access to our publication in paper form. I am firmly convinced that the development of e-JVTE will give OTT the same kind of visibility and boost in prestige that resulted from the original development of the printed version of the Journal. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to be involved in this exciting project.

In this issue:

  1. Lynch examines the present and future of vocational and technical teacher education. His findings are disturbing to say the least.
  2. Roegge, Wentling, and Bragg report the results of a research study of Tech Prep reforms and where teacher preparation should fit into the picture.
  3. Herrick conducts a fascinating interview with a resurrected John Dewey and elicits his comments regarding assessment as it is being used in vocational education today.
  4. Peihua Sheng, Hall, and Rojewski investigated vocational educator perceptions toward female participation in nontraditional postsecondary programs and report their findings here.
  5. Womble and Jones report that students are positive about work and career-related issues based on school awareness and work expectations, work awareness and supports, and career choice and work preparation.
  6. Hatzios reports uses two attitude-measuring models in compare the attributes of the marketing education program, tangible or symbolic, in terms of their relative importance to students' attitudes toward the program.

Bill Camp

Editor, August, 1996