Effectiveness of Secretary on Adequate Training With Modern Equipment
Chapter One
Research Objectives
- determine the relevance of modern office automation to secretaries‘ accuracy in minutes taking in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
- determine the relevance of modern office automation to secretaries‘ speed in minutes taking in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
- determine the relevance of modern office automation to report writing ability of secretaries in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
- determine the difference between the opinion of managers and secretaries on relevance of modern office automation to secretarial duties in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this study derives from the theory of Skill Acquisition/development as propounded by Hubert Dreyfus and Stuart Dreyfus (1986). The main idea behind Dreyfus theory is the distinction between “knowing that” and “knowing how”. They argued that there are definite stages that an agent should go through to evolve from “knowing that” (novice) to “knowing how” (expert). The theory is appropriate to the study because the study is assessing the effect of adequate training with modern equipment to secretaries‟ performance in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex in North-West geo-political zone, Nigeria. Dreyfus proposed the model of skill acquisition in 1986, in an influential 18-page report on their research at University of California Berkeley Operations Research Centre for U.S.A, Air Force office of Scientific Research (Dreyfus 1986). Thus, the main thrust of the research is skill acquisition. The main idea of the theory is to provide a means of assessing and supporting progress in the development of skills on competencies and to provide a definition of acceptable level for the assessment of competence or capability which is in tandem with the focus of this study.
One of the major aspects of traditional epistemology, and its manifestation in artificial intelligence research and the philosophy of mind is its emphasis on the formal system of deduction and premises and propositional knowledge. However, Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) argue that this formal system of education is one of the problems with traditional epistemology, since much of our sense of judgment and the process, which we go through to form beliefs, is not a matter of starting with premises and by plugging them into a formula in order to deduct conclusions. Rather a gradual process that involves being embodied in different ways and developing skills would make it possible for us to deal with the world. By explaining the stages that an individual goes through in order to become an expert, Dreyfus and Dreyfus justify their point of view on learning process and skill development (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 1986 Theory of Skill Acquisition).
The main idea behind Dreyfus Theory is the distinction they make between “knowing that” and “knowing how”. They argue that many skills, such as riding a bike or playing chess, could not simply be reduced to “knowing that”. The reason that many of us are not conscious of our “knowing how” is possibly that we take our knowing-how for granted. In traditional epistemology, the knowing-how and knowing-that is considered as one concept, which is acquired through a formal system of deduction. However, Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) argue that there are definite stages that an agent goes through in order to evolve from knowing-that (novice) to knowing-how (expert). As human beings acquire a skill through instruction and experiences, they do not appear suddenly from rule-guided and Dreyfus (1986) believed that there is a gradual process involved for an agent to go through in order to reach the stage of expertise or knowing-how. Their skill acquisition process shows that a person goes through at least five stages of different knowledge of a specific task and ways of decision-making as he improves his skill. Unlike other models or assessment that rate the whole person, the Dreyfus model is applicable per skill. In other words, it‟s a situational model and not a trait or talent model. The five stages according to these scholars are novice, advanced beginner, competence, proficiency and expertise.
According to Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986), you are neither “expert” nor “novice” at all things: rather, you are at one of these stages in some particular skill domain. You might be a novice cook but an expert skydiver, or vice versa. Most nondisabled adults are experts at walking – we do so without planning or thinking. It has become instinct.
Stage 1 – Novice: By definition, the novices have little or no previous experience in this skill area. By “experience”, Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) mean specifically that performing this skill results in a change of thinking. Novices are very concerned about their ability to succeed, with little experience to guide them; they really do not know whether their actions will all turn out okay. Novices do not particularly want to learn; they just want to accomplish an immediate goal. They do not know how to respond to mistakes and so are vulnerable to confusion when things to awry. Novices can however, be somewhat effective if they are given context-free rules to follow, that is, rules of the form “whenever X happens, do Y”. In other words, they need a recipe. The problem with recipes – with the context-free rules – is that you can never specify everything fully. Novices also face the problem of not knowing which rules are most relevant in a given situation and when something unexpected comes up, they will be completely flummox.
Stage 2 – Advanced beginner: According to Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986), once past the hurdles of the novice, one begins to see the problem from the viewpoint of the advanced beginner. Advanced beginners can start to break away from the fixed rules a little bit. They can try tasks on their own but they will have difficulty trouble shooting. Advanced beginners can start using advice in the correct context, based on similar situations they have experienced in the recent past but just barely. Although they can start formulating some overall principles, there is no “big picture”. They have no holistic understanding and rally does not want it yet. If larger context are forced on advanced beginners, they would probably dismiss it as irrelevant.
Stage 3 – Competent: At this third stage an individual becomes personally involved at his best. Practitioners can now develop conceptual models of the problem domain and work with those models effectively. They can troubleshoot problems on their own and begin to figure out how to solve novel problems – ones they have not faced before. They can begin to seek out and apply advice from experts and use it effectively. Instead of following the sort of knee-jerk response of the previous levels, the competent practitioners seek out and solve problems; their work is based more on deliberate planning and past experience.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Survey research design was adopted for this study. This is because it is a reliable tool for educational research. It is a means of obtaining base line data on prevailing traits and perception among segments of the population and generalizing the findings obtained from the population. It also allows the researcher to examine many variables (demographic and life style information, attitudes, motives, performance etc.). Survey research design is considered appropriate for this study in order to achieve the purpose of the study.
Population of the Study
The population of the study was two hundred and forty-six respondents (246), made up of Directors and secretaries in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex in Imo state, Nigeria. The accessible population was drawn from secretaries in the government complex in Imo state, who served as respondents for the study.
Sample Size and Sampling Procedure
The sampling procedure employed is the purposive sampling procedure in selecting 169 as tested population, made up of 18 directors and 228 secretaries‟. The researcher decided to use purposive sampling procedure because, the researcher focused on the secretaries. Conroy (2015) posited that for a population of 200, 132 respondents could be selected at an acceptable margin error of ±5%. Thus, for this study with a population of 246, a sample size of 169 is chosen at an acceptable margin error of ±3%. Purposive technique was used in selecting the sample to avoid been bias through the use of yes or No.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Analyses of Bio-Data of the Respondents
The Bio-data presented includes gender, status/designation of respondents, qualification, and grade level.
The summary of responses was presented in Tables 4.1 to 4.4.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
Based on the major findings of the study, the researcher wishes to conclude that modern office automation still has relevance even with the Oru West Local Government secretarial complex
The accuracy of secretaries in taking minutes in keyboarding was relevant in enhancing their responsibilities in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
Effective and efficient keyboarding skill of secretaries is relevant in enhancing secretaries speed in taking minutes of meetings in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
modern office automation enhance the correspondence composition ability of secretaries in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
modern office automation are relevant in boosting the reportorial writing of correspondence and minutes of meetings by secretaries in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex.
Secretaries and managers are in agreement that modern office automation are relevant to all forms of secretarial duties in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex. This is a clear indication that secretaries in Oru West Local Government secretarial complex needs modern office automation to carry out their day to day activities and that modern office automation is relevant and should not be compromised with automated equipment which was the gag that this study has filled.
Recommendations
In view of the inherent value skills acquired through keyboarding and its impact on secretarial duties in office occupation in an government secretariat environment, the researcher made the following recommendations that:
keyboarding should not be expunged from the school curriculum of secretarial education both at secondary schools and post secondary institutions of learning because of its relevance to secretaries in taking accurate minutes of meetings.
The institutions / organizations that offer keyboarding should constantly organize seminars / workshops and invite seasoned business educators who are office – biased and professional counselors to educate business education students on the relevance of modern office automation in an era of automated equipments. If business education students are well informed on the relevance of keyboarding, they will be interested in offering the course and perform well in it.
Organizations and employers of labour should educate people on the relevance of keyboarding through appropriate seminars and workshops because modern office automation still serves as a means of confidential writing in close door meetings.
Ministries of education should collaborate with the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to enable them supply equipment and teaching materials in keyboarding laboratories. This will enhance the teaching of keyboarding to be more practical and that will help in bringing out the needed secretarial skills for boosting students‘ speed and accuracy in composing of reports and taking of minutes even when out of school.
The equipment and materials already in use in keyboarding laboratories should be effectively handled by teachers and students under the supervision of the administrators for update and good maintenance which can yield good results in carrying the practical aspects while in school.
Secretaries in offices should always take dictations in keyboarding so that administrators can appreciate the use of these rare skills especially the aspect of good communication, speed, accuracy and confidentiality of handling office correspondence and matters.
Constant training and retraining of secretaries should be based mainly on modern office automation rather than other criteria.
REFERENCES
- Abijole, E.F. (2006). ―Maintaining New Horizon in the Secretarial Profession,‖ APSSON 6(1).
- Ade, U.B (2001). A keyboarding Methodology that Works. Business Education Forum. Adebayo A.E. (2000). Pitman keyboarding, Way to Success. Business Education Journal. Volume pp. 40.
- Adebayo A.E. (2006) ―Information Technology and Secretarial Profession: Implications and the way forward,‖ Journal of Office Management and Technology, ‖Auchi: Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo state. Nigerian 1(1), 26-32
- Adebayo, A.E. (2002).The need for new office skills and competencies for secretaries working in the 21s centaury office. Business Education Journal. 4(3),10-18
- Adebusi, L. S. (2010). ―A Guide towards Effective Development for the Training of Secretaries in the Era of Advanced Technology. Business Education Journal, 3 (4)
- Adebusi, L.S. (2001). ―The Relevance of keyboarding and Typewriting in Curriculum for Higher Education, Business Education Journal, 3(4). 46-48
