Search Results

There has been a strong shift in what research and practice tells us is good teaching and learning in vocational education and training (VET). Making this shift can be a substantial challenge for some VET teachers but many are now moving to facilitating learning through effective teaching. This publication examines teaching and learning in the VET context. Good teaching is now understood to involve a process of facilitating learning rather than being the simple transmission of knowledge from the teacher to the learner. Learning can be considered as comprising a number of different forms including, for example, formal learning, informal learning, incidental learning, problem-based learning and situated learning. Useful strategies and models are included in this publication. The major conclusion of this publication is that contemporary education and training has moved from being almost entirely instructor- and provider-controlled to being a process where learners are expected to be and are much more likely to be involved in planning what is to be learned, how and when, and how the learning will be assessed. Substantial changes such as these may involve changes in the ways some practitioners have traditionally delivered VET, and may mean developing new resources, learning and assessment methods. This may involve for practitioners significant rethinking about their VET practice. Show less

Responding to the increasing numbers of students who now study across more than one of the traditional sectors of education and training, this research explored quantitative differences in conceptions of learning between students who had entered university study on the basis of a [vocational education and training] VET qualification, and those who had entered on a basis of previous university studies. Using the Conceptions of Learning Inventory the research also used gender as an independent variable. While some differences were shown between the previously-VET and previously-university students and some differences between genders these differences were characterised by low to moderate effect sizes only. The authors conclude that the quantitative differences are not particularly important, but that qualitative research may indicate differences in kind between the conceptions of learning of the two groups.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This article seeks to provide a school perspective on the nature and quality of the partnerships which schools form with businesses in order to deliver work placements and workplace learning in Australia. It found that the ability of schools to engage with external partners depended on the ability of school leaders to define and communicate the role of [vocational education and training] VET within the school and its broader community. This dependence on individuals and leadership is vulnerable to changes in key personnel and the informality of some of the processes and relationships can lead to problems in monitoring, evaluating and replicating programmes. [This] study shows that a balance is required between carefully documented processes and the flexibility required to operate programmes successfully. The study also noted the tension between the perceived needs of the school and those of industry. A successful partnership necessarily requires school flexibility - in the decisions as to what programmes should be offered and how work placements and timetabling should be organised.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Since the 1990s the system-wide introduction of vocational learning programs into schools has now created the need for students to blend their learning experiences gained from previously discretely organised institutions such as schools, TAFEs, and workplaces. This has created new challenges to how learning needs to be conceived by students as they are exposed to potentially different conceptions of learning held by each of these institutions. This paper explores the significance of differing institutional conceptions of learning for the students who undertake these pathways. It examines potentially conflicting messages about learning that students must overcome if they are to be successful. The paper concludes by proposing that engagement with and understanding of a broader set of conceptions of learning is an opportunity for the enhancement of student experience.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

Individual papers from the conference are indexed from TD/TNC 94.97 to TD/TNC 94.100 and from TD/TNC 94.301 to TD/TNC 94.319. Show less

In most modern OECD nations, secondary schools are required to form partnerships with a large variety of organisations, ranging from other education and training providers to community groups, businesses and associations. These schools typically manage a large number and various types of relationships with external organisations. These may include work placement coordination providers, local businesses offering work placements, external vocational education providers, such as Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes in Australia, and other non-educational and community institutions. This study was undertaken to evaluate the motivations underlying the formation of the partnerships, the positive outcomes these partnerships provide for students, and the difficulties they face.

The findings of this study confirm the changing nature of secondary school programs in recent years. The most visible, and arguably the most important, of these innovations are the applied learning programs that have been introduced into all the senior certificates in Australia and which require the building of partnerships with various community actors. This study found that: schools are aware that industry exposure is an important objective of [vocational education and training] VET programs, but they faced challenges in organising work placements; a very broad range of VET and applied learning programs were offered, and over 80 different programs were named by the respondents; VET offerings are driven mostly by student demand; over 75 per cent of school staff would like to further expand their applied/VET programs in the future; and some students considered the vocational pathway to be superior to the general curriculum pathway.

Excerpts from publication. Show less