Program Objectives
Character Education Program is the plan that is designed for instructors to learn the psychological peculiarities of students whose behavior and learning goals are partially predetermined by their character. Additionally, the program has also worked on different projects and testing for students to check the connection of skills and their abilities. The program under consideration is aimed at defining the role of character analysis and development necessary for improving learning skills. It is also focused on establishing specific educational and academic programs that will contribute to creating favorable conditions for the learning process. Finally, the character education program also emphasizes the design of different communication strategies for the improvement of an academic setting for students of different characters and tempers. In other words, the researchers intend to examine what academic tools should be introduced to meet the needs of students and to facilitate the process of knowledge acquisition.
To accomplish this task, the program is based on several steps. First of all, the program provides a questionnaire that serves to reveal negative character traits among the students and their reasons. These are different psychological tests and they consist of leading questions. Second, the program involves new curriculum plans that can contribute to shaping good positive features like friendship, curiosity, leadership, and communicability (McElmeel, 2002, p. xxiii).
Program Target Group
For purposes of the study, the identified target audience is two groups of students of different ages: freshmen and senior students (20 persons in each group; male and female participants are also equal). The variation in age is explained by the necessity to identify the effectiveness of the program in terms of age and level of knowledge and how character traits are connected with these two variables. Arising from this, the researchers use a mixed methodology thus applying quantitative and qualitative methods to the research.
When choosing the groups for further examination, the researcher is guided by the psychological and gender aspects to identify how the implemented programs will affect the knowledge acquisition of students and their actual interest in the learning process. In particular, the freshmen will be engaged in the character formation projects and testing and seniors should participate in programs defining their characters and their correlation with their skills and abilities.
Choice Justification
The experiment has some limitations connected with cultural and social issues. Hence, the results of the research are impossible to apply to all ethnic groups of the population and all age variations. Therefore, the research is valid for students of this particular age and nationality. In the program is evaluated according to external aspects, the given task has been accomplished, as the researcher has managed to identify specific generalized benefits of the program. About character analysis and development, the program has defined that it is easier to impose some restrictions and rules on freshmen learners and generate positive character traits creation. The implemented academic programs and testing have also defined that seniors have more distinct character traits and, therefore, they have a rigid level of knowledge acquisition. As a whole, despite the limitation imposed on the research, it proved to be reliable and valid. However, the finding obtained during this research cannot be applied to adult learners due to fact that their character traits are impossible to alter and develop (Boeije, 2009, p. 180).
Reference
Boeije, H. R. (2009). Analysis in Quantitative Research. US: SAGE Publications, Ltd.
McEmeel, S. L. (2002). Character education: a book guide for teachers, librarians, and parents. US: Libraries Unlimited.