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Understanding the costs and benefits of vocational education and training (VET) provides a basis for decision making regarding the investment in training. This is an important consideration for many stakeholders in the VET system, including individuals, businesses and government. This paper summarises recent research investigating the costs and benefits of training, considering it from each of these three perspectives. The review also highlights the difficulties in undertaking such analyses and provides a practical guide to factors that should be considered when undertaking, or interpreting, such an exercise.

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As part of a National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) initiative to build research capacity in the sector, postgraduate students were invited to apply for a small grant to write a paper on some aspect of their research that aligns with the national research priorities for tertiary education and training. The papers of the seven successful applicants have been compiled into this compendium. The papers span a broad range of topics, including: addressing social exclusion in refugee immigrants; the labour market outcomes of Indigenous graduates; enhancing employability skills; transparency in the vocational education and training (VET) sector; social media as a learning environment; the use of immersive computer game environments in vocational education and training; and the experience of Indigenous people in the rail industry. These papers provide an insight into the breadth of research currently being conducted by postgraduate students in Australia.

Excerpt from publication.

The contents are: 'Introduction' by Tabatha Griffin; 'Labour market outcomes of Indigenous university graduates in Australia' by Ian Li; 'We were all involved with the line': Indigenous experience in rail' by Katie Maher; 'Enhancing employability skills and graduate attributes through work-integrated learning' by Leanne Baker; 'Refugee immigrants: addressing social exclusion by promoting agency in the Australian VET sector' by Gerald Onsando; 'Social media as a learning environment: how, why, where and when people learn' by Gail Casey; 'Increasing engagement with vocational education and training: a case study of computer games-based safety training' by Mark O'Rourke; 'Transparency: tracing its journey into vocational education and training' by Don Zoellner. Show less

How disadvantaged learners participate in vocational education and training (VET) is an important consideration. Employment and further study outcomes are more likely to result from completing a higher-level VET qualification, but disadvantaged learners tend to enrol in lower-level qualifications. Hence, whether or not disadvantaged learners are transitioning from lower VET qualifications to higher level VET or higher education is of interest. Based on a review of the literature, this paper synthesises what is currently known about these transitions for disadvantaged learners.

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Quality in the vocational education and training (VET) sector is an ongoing area of interest - but what does 'quality' really mean? This paper examines what quality in VET might mean from the perspectives of five key stakeholder groups: learners, employers/industry, providers, government and regulators. The research found that while there are some differences in what is important to each of the stakeholder groups, underpinning all the views is an expectation that learners gain the expected skills from their training. The paper also explores how useful any currently available measures of quality are and how they might be improved.

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The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is committed to building research capacity in the vocational education and training (VET) sector by encouraging early-career researchers. For the second year, postgraduate students were invited to apply for a small grant to write a paper on some aspect of their postgraduate research that aligns with the national research priorities for tertiary education and training. This provided the opportunity for up-and-coming researchers to submit a grant application and, if successful, to write a paper for publication by NCVER. This compendium is a collection of the papers submitted by the five successful applicants. These authors have conducted research on a diverse range of topics through their postgraduate studies, touching on many different elements of the VET sector.

Excerpt from publication.

The papers are: Early school leavers' motivations and challenges in engaging in education and training / Azusa Umemoto; A blind walk: a displaced first year experience of VET articulants to higher education / Pamela Delly; Predicting apprenticeship retention: not all trades are the same / Tim E. Powers; Start-up education and training: current state and future challenges / Zsuzsanna E. Horvath; Life rafts: supporting the continuing professional learning of novice VET teachers / Susanne Francisco. Show less

'Workforce-ready: challenges and opportunities for VET' is the theme for the 29th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference 'No Frills'. In this discussion paper, we explore the role of vocational education and training (VET) in preparing people for the current and future workforce.

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The 21st National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference, colloquially known as 'No Frills', was held from 11-13 July 2012. Co-hosted by NCVER and TAFE SA, with support from the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology and the South Australian Training and Skills Commission, the conference aimed to help delegates celebrate, collaborate and connect at this special anniversary. For the first time in the history of 'No Frills', presenters were invited to submit papers for peer review, and these have been compiled into this publication.

Published abstract.

The papers are: Indigenous education intentions: evidence from the 2006 [Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth] LSAY / Nicholas Biddle (pages 9-16); What do [vocational education and training] VET students and graduates think about 'skills for sustainability'? / Mike Brown and Fabian Sack (pages 17-24); First year apprentices' experiences of workplace learning: matching vocational choice to reality / Selena Chan (pages 25-32); Conceptualising a role for VET within the senior secondary certificates / Kira Clarke (pages 33-40); Skills recognition in Australian rail: emerging opportunities in a safety critical industry / Anne Morrison, Lisa Davies, Katie Maher and Ros Cameron (pages 41-47); Pathways, student motivations and human capital theory / Nick Fredman (pages 48-57); Chameleon leaders?: the influence of context on leadership in Australian private providers / Roger Harris and Michele Simons (pages 58-65); Life after qualification: the [continuing professional development] CPD needs of UK and Australian VET teachers / Richard Lander-Clarke (pages 66-70); VET pathways in Tasmania: collaborating for successful participation / Anne Langworthy and Susan Johns (pages 71-78); 'Way beyond my realm': using educational pathways to build confidence and capacity / Mary Leahy (pages 79-86); Workplace mentoring revisited: formal or just smart casual? / Anne Morrison, Janene Piip and Tom Short (pages 87-93); The odd couple: can skills recognition in VET cohabit with university learning? / Alicia Toohey and Mark Doran (pages 94-100); Deepening the analysis of labour market segmentation / Serena Yu (pages 101-113); Productively independent: three decades of national research capacity / Don Zoellner (pages 114-119). Show less

This research provides a contemporary view of how online learning is used to deliver entire qualifications in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. It estimates the extent that entire qualifications are delivered online, investigates what this online delivery looks like and whether online training is providing students with similar experiences and outcomes as face-to-face training. It culminates with identification of what makes for good practice in online delivery.

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This research investigated how the training sector could better meet the needs of regional, rural and remote Australia. It explored how various stakeholders in the [vocational education and training] VET system understand local skills needs, and the barriers faced by [registered training organisations] RTOs when delivering training in such locations. Understanding local skills needs relies heavily on local consultation as most national/state data sources become less reliable at the local level. RTOs face many barriers when delivering in regional, rural and remote locations, but training might be better enabled with consideration of diversity of place, funding arrangements, co-ordination of training demand and the facilitation of partnerships.

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[Vocational education and training] VET teachers often begin teaching with little or no experience in teaching, and with no education related to learning how to teach. As a result, the continuing professional learning (CPL) in which they engage is crucial in supporting the learning necessary to fulfil the role of a teacher. This paper reports on a qualitative research project that explored the CPL undertaken by novice VET teachers. Specifically, it explores the CPL strategies/activities that nine novice VET teachers used during the first two years of their teaching and the factors that enabled and constrained teacher learning as a result of these activities. These teachers were involved in various CPL activities, including accessing the support of colleagues and supervisors, the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, professional networks, and induction courses. The support of colleagues and supervisors was identified by the novice teachers involved in this research as the CPL strategy they considered most influential in supporting their learning.

The support of colleagues and supervisors was found to have a number of facets and its effectiveness was influenced by a range of factors. These included how the support was accessed, whether it was supervisor-designated, teacher-sourced, or ad hoc. The support included both formal and informal mentoring, advice provided by a former teacher, and advice and support provided by a supervisor. In the two instances in this study where the mentoring of novice teachers was a component of the workload of the experienced teachers, both successfully supported novice teacher learning. The research found that a range of local factors enabled and constrained novice teacher learning. These included shared industry-related language, the development and use of VET-related language, the physical environment, and social relationships. One interesting finding is that a communal table that was used daily by experienced and novice teachers served to support novice teacher learning. Another interesting finding is that shared morning tea breaks were valuable in providing a social setting in which novice teachers were able to learn by either seeking direct advice in a safe environment or by hearing stories shared by more experienced teachers.

The findings presented in this paper indicate that the basis of employment of novice VET teachers influences their learning to undertake the role of a teacher, with those employed casually to teach a few hours a week most at risk. Supervisor support was found to be of most value to teachers employed casually for just a few hours a week. However, the heavy workload of some supervisors impacted on their ability to provide this support.

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