This technical report looks at options for determining more about, firstly, students in VET who do not complete their training, and secondly, the longer term outcomes of students in VET who undertake apprenticeships and traineeships. The use of both administrative data and survey methodologies are explored, including from several overseas countries. It then provides views on the best technical options.
The use and value of qualifications has gained a significant amount of policy attention in recent years. This study examines the use of qualifications within the recruitment searching and decision-making processes undertaken by employers in the labour market. It uses data gained from a survey of 359 employers from across Australia. The results verify that employers place higher value on personal qualities, previous work experience and experience in their particular industry. Most employers acknowledge that while qualifications signal greater potential for learning and skills acquisition, they see them as weaker signals for more immediate competence.
A stocktake of issues and activities in vocational education and training in schools through the perspectives of the published literature and policy documentation between 1997 and 2003 is the subject of this report. It identifies progress made and concludes that vocational programs in schools are meeting expectations and have achieved a legitimate place in the school curriculum, but that several implementation issues remain.
The idea that individuals,enterprises and economies gain financially from increased participation in education or training is often assumed, but is not always easy to demonstrate or quantify. This report explores the benefits of further training for people with low levels of numeracy by analysing Australian and United States longitudinal data which allow links to be made between numeracy level, likelihood of training participation and the wages outcomes of training for less numerate workers. Analysis of the Australian data indicates that individuals with low numeracy skills are less likely to undertake further education, but gain positive and significant economic returns when they do. Continuing with formal schooling is positive and significant for individuals with very low numeracy skills.
It has long been accepted that adult literacy and numeracy is best taught and learned in real-life situations that relate to everyday needs. This means that opportunities for learning are everywhere, not just in formal learning situations. This report seeks to identify examples and principles of the successful integration of learning about adult literacy into Australian community and workplace settings. This fresh and critical approach leads the authors to draw a number of new and important findings about valuing and embedding a range of literacies into community and workplace activities rather than teaching literacy in isolation. It acknowledges that literacy and numeracy are fundamental to the growth of skills and networks, especially for communities who feel left behind and socially excluded.
Ensuring that people have the appropriate level of numeracy skills is particularly important in jobs which involve a risk to public safety and the environment. This research investigates the job-related numeracy requirements in the chemical spraying and handling operations of the horticulture, local government, outdoor recreation and warehousing industries. Findings from this study indicate that the worksite influences both the type of numeracy skills needed as well as how they are deployed. Numeracy in the workplace differs from formal, rule-based abstract mathematics taught in school and requires training that is relevant to the specific applications of the skill. Implications for the future practice of teaching numeracy on the job are offered and highlight the need to consciously develop critical thinking, learning-to-learn, planning and problem-solving skills in workers.
Increasingly, vocational education and training (VET) practitioners work with industry and within private enterprises in arrangements that provide training for workers. This report, based on interviews with TAFE practitioners and managers, enterprise managers and on-the-job learners, highlights the expanding roles of TAFE practitioners in these training arrangements. It finds that in private enterprises TAFE practitioners introduce new elements to learning, provide support to managers and workers, build links between the organisation and TAFE and raise training standards. They also foster a learning culture, support individual workers, and act as a model of lifelong learning. The impact of TAFE practitioners' work is also analysed from the perspective of the enterprises, and findings indicate that it is valued by industry counterparts. However, the success of the training arrangement, which can significantly improve learning in the workplace, depends on establishing effective relationships between TAFE and industry.
New information and communication technologies are changing literacy practices at an unprecedented rate. As literacies are being transformed by technological change, electronic communication and the globalisation of knowledge, this poses new questions and challenges for literacy educators. Using a case study approach, this report examines the interaction between new and emerging digital technologies, adult learning and literacies for both educators and learners. The findings demonstrate that changes to teaching practices associated with the use of information and communication technologies are possible. Some important findings also provide a base for developing systematic and informed approaches to further adult literacy education in an age where literacy practices are increasingly mediated by the use of information and communication technologies.
It is well documented that individuals with poor verbal, reading and writing skills face disadvantages. However, many individuals with such difficulties lead successful lives. This project investigated the ways in which ten individuals have achieved success despite difficulties with literacy and learning.
This project investigates the uptake of e-learning in two countries (Australia and Korea) which have experienced a rapid expansion of the use of information technology in education and training. A key finding is that although e-learning can increase flexibility and cost efficiencies in the delivery of training, it cannot on its own guarantee successful learning outcomes for students. The way in which the teacher and the learner utilise the technology continues to be important.
New ways of thinking about how language, literacy and numeracy skills are taught has coincided with a fundamental policy change in the vocational education and training sector. A major development has been the integration of literacy, language and numeracy skills into vocational training. The complexity of the issues makes it important to gain a better understanding of what actually happens in Australia, especially in the workplace. This study explores how training practitioners are using the reforms in the national training system, and their knowledge of new approaches to teaching and learning to integrate language, literacy and numeracy into workplace training programs in the community services sector. Although the study is small scale, it provides an informative snapshot of how a number of providers are integrating language, literacy and numeracy into vocational programs.
This report investigates factors that influence the decision-making process of applicants and the outcomes of post-school applications using the 2001 Survey of Education, Training and Information Technology. It finds that inability to obtain any place at a university or vocational education and training institute in 2001 was very low, but considerably higher in terms of getting a place in a preferred course at a preferred institution. The report adds to the understanding of what is known about the prevalence and causes of unmet student demand for tertiary education, a sensitive issue which is often not well understood.
This report explores the ways in which Indigenous Australians are learning through enterprise and small business development. It reveals that this learning will be more effective if it takes into account that Indigenous experience differs by location, with remote areas offering a significant challenge. Learning through Indigenous business is most effective where learning is tied to earning; the content is customised; it is carried out in parallel to real work; and is put into practice through employment in commercial business.
How employers perceive, use and value vocational education and training qualifications is an important, but also complex, issue. This report captures the views of a small number of employers within 14 different companies, over eight industries. The broad conclusion is that employers place high value on learning and capability and competence, irrespective of whether this leads to, or is reflected in, qualifications held. The detailed findings offer valuable insights for both employers and providers.
This report aims to provide a clearer understanding of how and why enterprises use nationally recognised type of training. It finds that an enterprise's decision to engage in recognised training is not made lightly and decisions are made afresh each time a new training need arises. Successfully embedding training in enterprises involves a three-phase process - engagement, extension and integration. In most cases, it is dependent on: positive initial engagement; extension of training through a 'VET evangelist' who 'sells' the benefits of recognised training and persuades management; and, integration of competency standards associated with recognised training into many human resource processes. The availability of funding strongly influences whether enterprises use recognised training. However, one of the key reasons why more enterprises have not taken up this training is lack of awareness.
A systematic review of research is a decision-making tool for policy and practice. It is a piece of research in its own right, using explicit and rigorous methods that follow a standard set of stages: to identify; critically appraise; and synthesise relevant research (both published and unpublished) to answer a specific question. This report documents the establishment of NCVER's own eight-step model for future systematic reviews of research.
This report investigates the characteristics and motivations of students who do not complete the training course they enrol in. It finds that non-completion is associated with poor educational background and unemployment and also finds that the numbers of students who leave vocational education and training without any achievements are over estimated, and improvements to data systems are needed.
This report is about employers and how they value and use qualifications in their business decisions. The research indicates clear differences in the value placed on and use made of qualifications by employers for different groups of workers and occupations. Qualifications are considered more important for higher-level occupations and employers use them predominantly to recruit new employees and to ensure regulatory compliance. Employers regard qualifications as a signal of potential for future learning and skills acquisition, not as a signal of immediate competence. Overall, employers drew a strong distinction between qualifications and experience, and favoured and valued the latter more in regard to many of their business decisions. The higher the level of enterprise change and innovation, the lower the level of value and use made of qualifications by employers. Also, small enterprises are more likely to be highly discriminating of qualifications and supporting development among their employees.
Movement in Australia's tertiary sector - between and within higher education and vocational education and training - is a key feature of Australia's post-compulsory education system. This report investigates the extent and nature of student traffic between the two sectors, nationally and in South Australia from 1997 to 2002. Movement from university to VET was dominated by women and mature-aged students studying part-time, and the move occurred some time after completing university. Often they chose to study in a different field of education to improve their prospects in their current career. On the other hand, VET to university students tended to be younger and studying full-time, and the move to higher education tended to occur soon after completing VET. Usually they chose to study in the same or a similar field of study to retrain for a different career.
Australia's innovation capacity is, in part, reliant on its teaching workforce - to teach and promote new technologies to industry. This pilot study examines how vocational education and training (VET) teachers, in particular TAFE teachers, maintain the currency of their skills and knowledge base. It also explores their role in the development and diffusion of innovative practices and new technologies in the manufacturing sector. Despite the lack of recognition of TAFE teachers in national innovation policies and programs, they do provide a technology diffusion function. However, there are impediments to maintaining the currency of teacher skills and equipment, including inadequate capital expenditure on equipment, an aging teaching workforce and reduced access to professional development and return-to-industry programs.