This book reports an attempt to replicate, for Australia, overseas survey results on the payoff to enterprise training. Some of the results are: * Australian firms provide extensive training for their incoming employees and capture nearly all the resulting productivity gains. * The profitability of firms is directly related to the amount and quality of training that they provide. * The profitability of training is particularly high for training that is highly specific, rapidly accomplished and related to the introduction of new technology. * Informal learning is regarded by many businesses as superior to formal classroom training in terms of its impact on profitability and productivity.
In this study a training evaluation process is developed to assist organisations in identifying the financial returns from training investment decisions. A well designed and delivered training program can be expected to generate significant financial returns that compare quite favourably with other forms of investment. Returns on investment for various training programs are presented.
This booklet is aimed at teachers of vocational education and training. It outlines the way we learn new information and provides information on programs which involve students in self-paced learning activities via online learning, video-conferencing, distance learning and campus-based flexible delivery programs. Teacher perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods provide valuable insights into how to go about implementing and modifying programs to achieve the best results for students. Also included is a model for developing, implementing and evaluating self-paced learning programs.
This publication is for those who are interested in looking at the pass and completion rates of students enrolled in courses delivered via different delivery strategies. It is also for those who are interested in finding out how students evaluate the different strategies they have experienced. The findings indicate that although it is difficult to determine which are the best delivery strategies for certain modules, there are trends which show that disproportionately high numbers of non-completions are observed in certain strategies.
The changes that have occurred in vocational education and training over the last decade have profound implications for the focus of evaluation. Funding is becoming tied to outputs rather than inputs; a transition is occurring from a supply-side system to one which has some demand-side characteristics; the range of training providers is more diverse than it was; and there has been a change in emphasis from external controls to quality assurance mechanisms. To ensure that future decisions on vocational education and training are well founded, a National Research and Evaluation Strategy has been developed which is administered by NCVER. This discussion paper is intended to inform the further development of the national strategy by strengthening its focus on evaluation.