Die voorspelling van handvaardigheid by aspirant meganiese vakleerlinge
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The training of apprentices in the Gold Mining Industry is based on the principles of Criterion Referenced Instruction. During the first phase of the training period of apprentices in the trade of fitter and turner, a relatively large number fail to perform to the specified criteria of certain modules. These "problem" modules have one thing in common. viz. they all deal with tasks demanding a high degree of manual dexterity. The drop-out apprentices seem unable to learn these skills, even after considerable periods of hands-on practice. Recently several hypotheses attempting to explain this phenomenon have been proposed. One of these, namely that prospective apprentices are not properly screened for trainability in tasks demanding high levels of dexterity, was addressed in this study. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: The selection battery for apprentices in use at the Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Co. Ltd. (Trade Aptitude Test Battery or TRAT) was to be evaluated in terms of its predictive validity for predicting training success in tasks which require high levels of manual dexterity. A secondary objective was to evaluate an extension of the existing battery, which includes work sample and trainability tests, in an attempt to improve the level of predictive validity of the selection instrument. METHOD: A literature search was conducted to investigate the concept of dexterity and recent research on the topics of selection for trainability and the validity of prediction instruments. For the empirical research, the population of 34 mechanical apprentices signed on during the period June 1992 to January 1993 served as subjects. The existing and the extended batteries were applied to the groups, after which they were subjected to the training programme. The criterion tests of selected moduJes of the training programme acted as trainability criteria for evaluation of the test instruments. RES UL TS AND CONCLUSIONS:
The sub-tests of dexterity and co-ordination of the TRAT, as well as three identified factors in the worksample/trainability extension, correlated highly with the trainability criteria. One reason why the TRAT failed to predict manual dexterity in the past could be the way in which the results of this test were applied in selecting apprentices. When selection for fitter and turner apprentices took place, no special weight was allocated to sub-tests concerned with dexterity. The set of identified practical items, with its high predictive validity for manual dexterity, may be considered as an alternative selection instrument for the trade concerned, in cases where the adverse impact of conventional tests is viewed as undesirable.
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