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In the Swiss vocational education system, which is often called a 'Dual System', trainees enter into an apprenticeship contract with a training company. On average, 25 per cent of those contracts are terminated prematurely (PCT). This article examines the relationship between training companies' selection methods and PCTs. The investigation is based on a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design and on qualitative interviews. Trainers and operations managers (N = 335) of Swiss training companies for cooks and painters were surveyed. Half of the companies have been affected by a PCT in the past and the other half have not. The findings indicate that a certain amount of the explained variance between companies with and without reported PCTs can be explained by the companies' selection process. Companies that were affected by a PCT use a job interview and a company visit significantly less often in their selection process than companies without a PCT.

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Addressing individual differences among students within the same classroom is a challenge for vocational teachers in their daily work. Not only do they have to take various instructional strategies into consideration, but they also have to assess their effectiveness in a specific vocational classroom. To provide individualized or differentiated forms of instruction, teachers face the problem of assessing students' individual characteristics (learning needs and prerequisites) and situational states (learning experiences and learning progress). In order to support teachers in gathering and interpreting complex diagnostic information during class, we have developed a client-server based software prototype for mobile devices: the Teachers' Diagnostic Support System (TDSS). The paper delineates implications for system requirements drawn from a literature review and describes the implemented system functions. We conclude with a discussion on how our system may assist teachers' daily tasks of diagnosing student learning needs and implementing appropriate instructional measures.

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The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.801. Show less

Background: The Federal Vocational Baccalaureate constitutes the major link between the academic and vocational tracks in the Swiss educational system. Statistics show that only 20 per cent of a cohort move immediately to an academic track after graduation. Regarding the effects of economic competencies on these transitions, there is a substantial lack within the current state of research. This study thus aims to elucidate these effects by following a prevailing explorative approach. Methods: A cross-sectional design is used, and the data are based on a representative sample of N = 1.051 Federal Vocational Baccalaureate students of the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Data were gathered at the end of the school year 2010/2011 via an achievement test and a questionnaire.

Results: Results show positive interrelations for economic knowledge and skills, value-oriented dispositions as well as attitude towards economics on the one side and educational aspirations on the other side. Thus, interrelations regarding the intention to study in economics or a related field are stronger than for other fields. Conclusion: The study offers new insights on the effects of economic competencies and supports the assumption that economic competencies are part of prerequisites of students' educational aspirations and in the long run for social participation.

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Context: Following the social cognitive career theory of Lent, Brown, and Hackett (1994), the current study examines the effect of role models' professions and practical internship experiences on the choice of professional environment independent of professional interests. Embedded in the Swiss context with its strong vocational training system, the paper outlines to what extent the desired professional environment is realized in the chosen apprenticeship two years later and how this realization can be predicted. The theoretical model proposes that students form direct professional experiences during their first internship(s). If those experiences are positive, students choose an apprenticeship in the same professional environment. Students have indirect (vicarious) professional experiences through their role models. If those experiences are positive, students choose an apprenticeship in the role model's professional environment. The study examined whether, independent of professional interests, direct experiences in internships and indirect experiences through role models' professions predict the realization of a desired professional environment in an apprenticeship.

Method: The longitudinal sample consists of N=348 seventh-and ninth-grade students from four German-speaking Swiss cantons. Professional interests and environments were measured using standardized questionnaires. The professional environments of the desired professions, the chosen apprenticeships, the role model's professions, and the internship's professions were coded using Holland's (1997) interest types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (RIASEC). In 53 per cent of the cases, students chose an apprenticeship in the professional environment they desired.

Results: In 53 per cent of the cases, the chosen professional environment corresponded with the professional environment of the student's two most important role models. In 39 per cent of the cases, those role models were their parents. By means of logistic regression analyses, we can show that role models' professional environments and the professional environment of the first internship influenced the realization of the desired professional environment at the end of lower secondary school, independent of the effect of the individuals' interests.

Conclusions: Results show that direct professional experiences in internships and indirect experiences of role models influence the realization of the desired professional environment, independent of professional interests. In a contextual approach, career counselling should include the role model's profession and how it corresponds with the client's interests and professional desires. Moreover, role models, especially parents, have a responsibility to reflect on how their goals influence students' career choice processes.

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In modern society, the ability to deal with financial and economic matters is becoming increasingly important. This ability is generally described as economic competence, economic literacy or financial literacy. This book concentrates on economic competence and financial literacy of young adults in the US, Europe and South America. The subjects of the research are mainly individuals who have begun an apprenticeship or university education. It contains two sections: the first delves into financial literacy; the second covers different facets of economic competence.

Section I, 'Financial literacy', contains: Towards a comprehensive financial literacy framework: voices from stakeholders in European vocational education and training / Seraina Leumann, Michael Heumann, Fatima Syed and Carmela Aprea; Secondary school students' understanding of the financial system / Peter Davies, Fatima Syed and Lindsey Appleyard; Analysis of banks' online information regarding mortgages as a basis for financially literate decision-making in first-time homebuying / Barbel Furstenau, Mandy Hommel, Claudia Leopold, Hector Ponce, and Mario Lopez; Financial literacy and financial behavior among young adults in the United States / Elizabeth Breitbach and William B. Walstad.

Section II, 'Economic competence', contains: Learners' economic competence in Switzerland: conceptual foundations and considerations for measurement / Doreen Holtsch and Franz Eberle; Effects of students sociocultural background on economic competencies in upper secondary Education / Andreas Juttler and Stephan Schumann; Facing commercial competence: modeling domain-linked and domain-specific competence as key elements of vocational development / Esther Winther, Dagmar Festner, Julia Sangmeister, and Viola Katharina Klotz; Opportunity recognition as part of intrapreneurship competence an analysis of exam essays of German industrial clerks / Christine Weiss and Susanne Weber; Increasing heterogeneity in students' prior economic content knowledge: impact on and implications for teaching in higher education / Roland Happ, Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Klaus Beck, and Manuel Forster; The necessity for well-founded teacher education in Economics: findings from curriculum analyses / Christin Siegfried.

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Selected chapters are available in VOCEDplus from TD/TNC 145.860 to TD/TNC 145.864. Show less

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) based simulation and training is gaining increasing importance in vocational education and training (VET). However, while IVR is primarily investigated and utilized in technical domains, its implementation and the resulting effects in commercial education remain largely unexplored. Moreover, the experience of motion sickness is a widely reported phenomenon while using IVR, which can interfere with cognitive processes and should therefore be considered more closely in terms of learning and instruction. This explorative study focuses on domain-specific knowledge acquisition in vocational apprenticeship for retailers and the accompanying side effects on students' wellbeing in an IVR-based learning environment. For this purpose, an IVR-based scenario in a virtual supermarket was developed and tested with trainees in the field of retail at a German commercial vocational school. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, we compared the effects of IVR-based and conventional instruction on domain-specific knowledge acquisition in a sample of first-year trainees (N = 79). The findings indicate an advantage of IVR in the acquisition of domain-specific knowledge (n2 = .261). Although moderate motion sickness symptoms were reported in the experimental group, no direct links between the experience of motion sickness and learning outcomes could be identified. These findings advance the current knowledge about learning-related effects of IVR-based instruction in the field of VET and provide further understanding about the special conditions of IVR scenarios conducive to learning.

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The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of the digital transformation of educational organizations. The effects of this transformation process are not limited to the classroom level but extend into various areas of the school, such as Equipment and Technology, Strategy and Leadership, Organization, Employees, and Culture. Against this background, we assessed the status quo of the digital transformation in Swiss vocational schools from the perspective of both school management members and teachers. For this endeavor, two surveys were conducted: the first one in the period from November 2019 to January 2020 (school management members) and the second one between June and September 2020 (teachers). In total, 202 school management members and 1,739 teachers from 62 schools participated in the study. The results of the analyses indicate that the digitization-related dimensions of Strategy and Leadership, as well as Pedagogical [Information Technology] IT Support, were perceived better by school management members, whereas teachers considered the areas of Digital Competencies, Attitudes, and Culture to be more advanced. Furthermore, linear regression models show that the dimensions considered important when assessing the status quo of digital transformation differ between the groups. The results emphasize the importance of communication between and the inclusion of all school stakeholders for the successful management of the digital transformation.

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The dominant organizational form of vocational education and training in Switzerland is the dual-track system, in which trainees sign an apprenticeship contract with a training company. Notably, 10 per cent to 40 per cent of those contracts are terminated prematurely each year, depending on region and occupational category, which is an important topic of concern for politics, practice and research. Thus, premature contract terminations (PCTs) are associated with high costs for society, companies, and young people. This study of 335 companies involving cooks and painters from German-speaking Switzerland aims to investigate the relationship between training quality and PCT. Of these companies, 136 had been affected by a PCT, and 199 had not. The results indicate that training at the workplace is universally of rather high quality. In line with the previous literature, trainees evaluate quality significantly lower than trainers. Furthermore, there are considerable differences between the two occupations: cooks evaluate their training quality more positively than painters. Moreover, cluster analyses indicate that high quality training can help companies avoid PCTs.

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Background: Citizens in modern democratic societies are confronted with complex demands, challenges, and economic problems, and they typically act as consumers, savers, voters, and employees. It is highly desirable for citizens to be able to competently manage these various demands. This ability we call economic-civic competence. Given the lack of empirical findings and adequate instruments on this issue, [the authors] analyze the economic-civic competence of commercial apprentices in Germany and Switzerland. In Swiss commercial apprenticeships, the fostering of this competence is explicitly anchored in the curricula of vocational schools. In Germany, the curricula coverage is not as broad as in Switzerland, which leads to an assumption of country differences in civic-economic competence.

Methods: A total of 1255 apprentices in the commercial occupations/branches of industrial clerk and logistic clerk were assessed at the end of their second or third training year. [The] newly developed, reliable and valid technology-based assessment on economic-civic competence includes issues such as the Euro crisis and public debt.

Results and conclusions: An advantage among the male trainees, which was expected from previous research, was confirmed only among the German logistic clerks. The expected gender effect was not observed among the German industrial clerks or the Swiss clerks. Furthermore, the results confirm the hypothesized higher scores among German trainees with a university entrance degree. In both countries, the industrial clerks scored significantly higher than the logistic clerks did, and the Swiss trainees scored higher than did their German counterparts in a comparable occupation. This difference becomes markedly stronger if only learners without a university entrance degree are considered. One possible explanation for the country difference may be that the promotion of economic-civic competence has a more prominent role in Swiss vocational schools during commercial apprenticeship. Considering the methodological restrictions, the findings should be interpreted primarily as explorative depictions of the characteristics and group differences of economic-civic competence. However, [the] study can also be seen in the broader context of contemporary interest and challenges in developing technology-based assessment within the field of education. Thus, [the] study contributes to further research on the characteristics and genesis of economic-civic competences as well as on technology-based assessments.

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Vocational education and training (VET) programs are typically regarded as the means to enable successful school-to-work transitions. However, high rates of premature contract terminations in VET programs suggest that adolescents face difficulties during this transition. This paper aims to examine the determinants of persistence intention, claiming that persistence intention is a crucial indicator of imminent dropout decisions. The analysis is based on a longitudinal data set of trainees in dual VET programs in Switzerland (n = 1,163) containing two measurement points (before and after the transition from school to VET). Drawing on Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent and Brown, 2008, 2013), we are interested in the effects of work adjustment indicators, selected characteristics of the vocational choice process, and environmental support before and after the transition on trainees' persistence intention. We use structural equation modeling to analyze both direct and indirect effects of different predictor variables on persistence intention. The results show significantly positive effects of both occupational self-efficacy and perceived person-vocation fit during the training program on trainees' persistence intention. Moreover, there are only indirect effects of anticipated person-vocation fit and occupational self-efficacy at the end of compulsory education. Trainees' relationship with the trainer also has an indirect effect on persistence intention. Social integration in the workplace is both directly and indirectly linked to persistence intention. Overall, the model explains 48 per cent of the variance in persistence intention. Implications for VET programs and future research are discussed.

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