This paper focuses on issues which affect the capability of TAFE providers to meet their clients' and stakeholders' needs and draws extensively on the reports of the consortium research program which examined ways to help build vocational education and training (VET) provider and workforce capability. The paper puts this research, most of which was completed in 2006 and 2007, into a contemporary framework. It suggests that TAFE providers need to be free of unnecessary central constraints to help them meet their strategic business needs. This includes more direct control of human resources matters and industrial relations.
Diana Wilkinson, Chief Social Researcher with the Scottish Government, assisted NCVER to facilitate a forum to discuss the development of national research priorities for the vocational education and training sector. This paper summarises Diana Wilkinson's impression of the forum and uses two contrasting case studies of Scotland and Australia to consider the extent to which it is feasible to align academic research investment with medium-term priority-setting.
Using data from the 2009 Australian Work and Life Index, this report examines how work-life pressures influence the capacity and motivation of individuals, particularly low-paid workers, to engage in education and training.
The preference of students to choose a career in events management over hospitality despite low demand for skills is the focus of this paper. The need for greater involvement of external stakeholders is identified as important in ensuring that students make an informed decision when choosing a career path. A model representing the ideal situation for student decision-making on career choice is proposed. The research was funded through the NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative and was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program.
An analysis of student verbatim responses in the Student Outcome Survey provides suggestions for how the vocational education and training (VET) system could be improved.
Innovation is an important aspect to teaching and learning in the VET sector, and a range of workshops conducted in 2009 identified some key ways of promoting this: using networks to spread new ideas, learning to change in small degrees rather than by radical reform, and encouraging practitioners to reflect on organisational change.
The perceptions of students, school and TAFE staff involved in V Tracks, an early intervention program for Aboriginal school students are explored in this paper. The study identifies outcomes, challenges and recommendations for future program design. Overall, V Tracks was found to improve student engagement in school and provide greater insights into the available education, training and employment pathways for students. NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity program funded this paper, which is based on research undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program.
The adoption of problem-based learning as a teaching method in the advertising and public relations programs offered by the Business TAFE School at RMIT University is explored in this paper. The effect of problem-based learning on student engagement, student learning and contextualised problem-solving was investigated and it was found that students perceive problem-based learning to be beneficial. Several success factors for this approach are also identified. The research for this paper was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program, a program funded through the NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative.
This paper reflects on the impact of the recent financial crisis on particular groups in Australian society and comments on whether the VET sector is well placed to meet the challenges of the recovery.
How the trend towards an integrated tertiary sector impacts on the way NCVER thinks about its research and statistical activities is briefly considered in this discussion paper.
This discussion paper arises from a research project investigating the extent to which practitioners believe the Certificate IV Training and Assessment (TAA04) qualification provides an effective foundation for the delivery and assessment of training in the VET environment. This paper focuses on the history of the TAA04 and outlines some of the key issues relating to the quality of delivery. The project is due for completion in late-2010.
The purpose of this paper is to describe what we know about apprenticeships and traineeships, with a view to assessing the likely impact of the current economic downturn on them.
The relationship between job requirements, individual skills and the participation of workers in further education and training, with an emphasis on older workers, is the focus of this report.
Paying particular attention to older workers, this report examines the relationship between the skills of workers and the skill requirements of the jobs in which they work.
This paper summarises the findings from the first year of a three-year research program investigating the role of vocational education and training (VET) for older workers.
This study explores the common features of high-quality traineeships using case studies from the cleaning, child care, construction, retail, finance and insurance, and meat processing areas.
NCVER's Academic Scholarship Program provided the opportunity for an investigation into the flexible delivery of vocational education and training (VET) in a remote Indigenous community. Through evaluation of the delivery of the Sunrise Health Service's Youth Worker Training Program from the perspective of the Wugularr community, this paper identifies the benefits of community engagement and flexible delivery.
This study provides an important innovation to the existing literature by explicitly attempting to measure 'cultural attachment' and its relationship with post-compulsory education and training.
The primary purpose of this project is to produce a set of guidelines on how to deliver adult literacy and numeracy education and training using a social capital approach.
This paper provides an account of the management strategies and processes that TAFE institutes use to evaluate their performance.